A vulnerable couple who say they were “destroyed” by an 18-month legal battle are hoping to find happiness again after winning a Court case against a renewable energy company that tried to sue them for more than £25,000.
Dennis and Pauline Burton, of Derby, sold their beloved cattery and feline spa business – which specialised in pedicures and lion cuts – for a tenth of its original cost as they needed a quick sale to help fund the case against Wood Boilers LLP.
After installing a biomass boiler and ancillary equipment at Mr and Mrs Burton’s home in February 2015, Wood Boilers – which supplies and installs renewable heat and energy devices – issued proceedings against the couple, alleging that they owed more than £25,000 after failing to return forms that would enable the company to receive £33,000 in renewable heat incentive (RHI) payments.
Oliver Maxwell, Associate in our expert Property Disputes team, supported the couple throughout the legal battle. He said:
“The entire ordeal has been extremely stressful and heart-breaking for Dennis and Pauline, who found themselves involved an 18-month legal battle – despite the fact that they hadn’t done anything wrong.
“I was completely confident that Dennis and Pauline were in the right, so I’m grateful that we were able to fight, and ultimately win, the case together. Now their nightmare is over, I hope that they can continue to live their lives in peace.”
Mrs Burton, who is registered deaf with speech, has been a veterinary nurse by trade since 1980 and has specialised in feline care for the past two decades. The 58-year-old said:
“Letting the cattery go was the only thing we could do. It was successful and my passion, but we had to make that decision. It really crushed me.”
Mr Burton, 63, added: “We’ve never been bothered about money, we just wanted happiness. We liked what we were doing, and it was nice that we got paid for it. But that has been taken away from us – we had to let it go because we desperately wanted to seek justice against a company that was taking complete advantage of us.”
After Mr and Mrs Burton’s boiler broke in November 2014, Wood Boilers, based in South Yorkshire, installed the equipment, which was supplied free of charge, for a nominal contribution of £100.
“We were short of money so I looked on Google to see if I could find an oil boiler or something different,” said Mrs Burton, who has three children and two granddaughters. “Wood Boilers was offering £9.99 a month for a boiler, so I emailed the company as the offer sounded ideal.
“We weren’t suitable due to not having any gas, so they recommended a wood pellet boiler, which they are said was green and would cut our bills by up to 70% a year. They were selling us a dream, but it turned out to be a nightmare.
“At the start, we were thrilled, and the house was lovely and warm. But then the boiler started breaking and it would cost us around £40 in wood pellets just to take a bath. I had my son stay one night with his wife and I had to tell her she couldn’t have a bath because I couldn’t afford it. It was so embarrassing.
“Engineers kept coming out to fix the boiler and I asked one of them why it was costing so much. He said it’s because the boiler was strong enough to heat a nursing home. It was suitable, but it was far too big for our needs.”
As part of the agreement, the couple entered into a lease with Wood Boilers, which placed certain obligations on Mr Burton – one being that he had to complete and return an annual declaration form confirming he was purchasing the wood pellets from certain registered, pre-approved suppliers.
In turn, the forms allowed Wood Boilers to apply to OFGEM – the Government regulator for gas and electricity markets in Great Britain – for RHI payments.
Wood Boilers alleged that Mr Burton, who struggles with reading and writing, failed to return the forms, which cancelled the RHI payments. The company issued proceedings against Mr Burton for the balance of the payments due for the remainder of the lease, which equated to just shy of £24,000, together with the costs of issuing the claim.
However, Mr Burton did not receive the claim form, so Wood Boilers obtained judgement in default for the sum of £25,346.16. The first Mr and Mrs Burton knew of this was when a bailiff appeared at their home after Wood Boilers transferred the matter to the High Court for enforcement purposes.
“When he said he was a bailiff, I just thought ‘congratulations’,” said Mrs Burton. “I didn’t owe anything to anyone, so I didn’t know what he wanted. But then he asked for £25,000 and I got really upset – I thought he was taking my house off me.”
The bailiff told the couple, who are considered vulnerable individuals, to apply to Court for a stay of execution, which would delay the Court order, and the hearing subsequently took place at Derby County Court on 10 April 2018. Mr Burton said:
“To see a bailiff at our door frightened me to death. We’re just normal people trying to get on with our lives. We’d never dealt with the courts before. It was all new to us and very stressful.”
The District Judge duly granted the set aside and told Mr Burton that, based upon the contents of the application, he likely had a claim for misrepresentation against Wood Boilers. The Judge ordered that Mr Burton be allowed to file a defence and counterclaim, advising him to seek legal advice.
Mr Burton consulted us and we filed the defence and counterclaim on the couple’s behalf. Mrs Burton said:
“We went straight to Nelsons as we’d used them a couple of times in the past. We knew of their reputation and we’re so thankful for their help. Oliver was brilliant throughout the whole process. He was a great help both legally and emotionally.”
Mr Burton’s defence was a simple denial that he had failed to comply with his obligation to return the annual declaration forms, which, due to his literacy issues, was administratively completed by Mrs Burton before he signed the form, which she posted.
The counterclaim alleged, among other things, that Wood Boilers had mis-sold the boiler based on representations that it would significantly reduce the family’s heating bills. However, evidence shows that the bills increased, rather than decreased.
At a hearing at Nottingham County Court on 24 June 2019, the Judge found that Mr Burton was not to blame for Wood Boilers’ loss of RHI payments as he had complied with his obligations under the lease to return the annual declaration forms. Because of this, Wood Boilers’ claim failed.
The Judge also favoured Mr Burton’s evidence and found that during pre-lease negotiations, Wood Boilers made representations as to the possible savings Mr Burton may be able to make on his heating bills.
Those representations, despite the evidence from Wood Boilers suggesting they were “mere sales puffs”, were of a kind that materially induced Mr Burton to agree to the installation of the equipment and enter into a lease. Since the representations turned out to be inaccurate, Mr Burton was entitled to withdraw from the lease agreement. Mrs Burton said:
“It might have been ‘sales puff’ to them but it’s our lives and it’s caused all of this. I got really ill throughout the whole court process. The doctors had to give me anxiety tablets, anti-depressants and sleeping tablets. It’s really humiliating having to ask your family for help. I wanted to hide under a stone.
“Wood Boilers offered for us to pay them £18,000 over four years as an out of court settlement. Most people would accept it because when you go to court, there’s no guarantee you’ll win.
“If we had lost, we could have had to pay them more than £60,000 because they were seeking their costs in addition to their damages claim. The costs they were claiming against us were just over £37,500. This would scare many people and force them to settle out of court. But we felt so strongly about the case that we were prepared to lose our house to get justice – I couldn’t let them get away with it. Someone needed to stand up against them.”
Mr Burton added: “Attending court is terrifying. It’s been horrendous and a nightmare from hell. To see Pauline crying her eyes out, head under the sheets every night because of the pressure was heart-breaking. When you’re going through it, you don’t know what the outcome is going to be. We’ve basically been existing for 18 months. We’ve had no happiness.”
Since Wood Boilers’ claim had failed and Mr Burton’s counterclaim had succeeded, the Judge ordered that Wood Boilers pay Mr Burton’s legal costs. Wood Boilers has also uninstalled the boiler equipment at the couple’s house. Mr Burton said:
“Pauline looks 10 years younger now the court case has ended. The pressure destroyed us. We were worried that the stress was going to kill us off, but we’re thankful it’s over, grateful for Nelsons’ and our family’s support, and happy to be able to continue with our lives.”
Oliver added:
“If you have been sold a similar dream story that turned into a nightmare, please do seek legal advice as it’s possible you might have a claim for misrepresentation.”