Passing the energy sales contract to the heir

Whether an electricity supply contract passes to the heir following the customer’s death can be analysed, first and foremost, in terms of the energy supplier’s ability to suspend the supply of electricity. Where a consumer is in arrears with payment for services relating to the supply of gas or energy, the energy supplier shall notify in writing the consumer of gas, electricity or heat in a household, or a consumer of gas using such fuel for the production of electricity or heat, of its intention to suspend the supply of gas, electricity or heat, if the customer fails to settle outstanding and current debts within 14 days of receiving such notice or fails to submit, within that period, a request for an alternative solution to the suspension of electricity supply applied by the supplier.

In one such case, the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection considered a matter in which a postal item concerning outstanding payments and the intention to suspend the supply of gas, electricity or heat had been addressed by the transmission company to the name of a deceased person. The letter was not collected by her legal successors, with the result that no settlement was made and the utility company suspended the energy supply. In considering this case, the court quite rightly held that the heir had stepped into the deceased’s shoes in the contract with the energy supplier by continuing to use the electricity supply and paying the bills. It also held that, pursuant to Article 922(1) and (2) of the Civil Code, upon death, the rights and obligations of the deceased arising from the electricity supply contract pass to the heirs. The comprehensive contract binding the previous customer did not contain any provisions to the contrary, and electricity could continue to be supplied to the premises specified in the contract.

The Court of Appeal in Warsaw reached a similar conclusion in its judgment of 13 January 2017 Ref. No. VI ACa 1536/15, in which it ruled on a case where, two days after the customer’s death, her neighbour submitted a request for the removal of the electricity connection passing through her property, which supplied electricity to the deceased’s property, as well as for the removal of the meter owned by her. The meter was removed in the presence of the neighbour, who provided access to the meter. The heir lodged a complaint, arguing that the order had been issued without justification, at the request of an unauthorised person and without prior contact with the applicant.

In passing this judgment, the court also rightly held that, pursuant to Article 922(1) and (2) of the Civil Code, the deceased’s property rights and obligations pass upon his death to one or more persons, provided that the deceased’s rights and obligations strictly connected with his person, as well as rights which, upon his death, pass to designated persons regardless of whether they are heirs, do not form part of the estate. Thus, only property rights and obligations of a civil law nature are subject to inheritance within the meaning of this provision, i.e. those based on a civil law relationship. Undoubtedly, the rights and obligations arising from an electricity supply contract are of such a nature.

There is therefore no doubt that, since the rights arising from electricity supply contracts and comprehensive contracts do not cease upon the death or legal dissolution of the consumer, they form part of the estate as financial obligations and subsequently pass to the heirs.

Judgment of the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection of 7 July 2016, XVII AmE 5/16

The Court of Appeal in Warsaw, in its judgment of 13 January 2017, ref. no. VI ACa 1536/15