3 October 2024
The Upper Tribunal has ruled that site owners are only entitled to recover from a resident the unit cost of gas and electricity that they pay to the utility provider plus a standing charge. No other charge is authorised unless it is included in the express terms of a resident’s agreement.
Summary of the Upper Tribunal Case
(Stanton and Others vs Fury Developments Ltd [2024])
The site owner installed pre-payment smart meters on pitches at Home Farm Park in Nantwich. A third-party provider (“POW”) arranged billing and administration on behalf of the site owner. Residents who refused a smart meter were levied a monthly meter reading charge of £20 (£240 per year). Those with a smart meter had to pay a 41p a day (£300 per year) administration fee.
Four residents applied to the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) for a determination of whether the administration fees were payable. The FTT said a £10 fee could be charged for monthly meter readings and the 41p daily charge for those with smart meters was payable. The residents disagreed with the FTT’s decision and appealed to the Upper Tribunal (UT).
The UT determined that neither of those fees were recoverable from the residents. Citing the case of PR Hardman and Others v Greenwood [2017] (‘Shortferry’) the UT ruled that the site owner is only entitled to recover from the resident, the unit cost of gas and electricity that it pays itself to the utility provider. No other charge is authorised unless it is included in the express terms of a resident’s agreement.
The UT ruled that if any of the four residents involved in the case had made payments in respect of manual meter readings or had paid the 41p daily charge at any stage, those payments were to be reimbursed by the respondent (the site owner) whether or not the residents made the payment to POW who acted as the site owner’s agents.
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