Electricity contract

[zaffy]

Before my daughter died, I moved in with her and have continued to live here ever since trying to keep her small livery yard going, as I think she would want.
As with all bills, I had the electricity bill transferred to my name.
The direct debit payments for the electricity seemed high, so many months on, I looked closely at the invoices and noticed the kwh charge is 46.37 per kwh.
The contract is a Market Tracking Tariff for 60 months.
I researched on Google and it seems the average kwh price is approx 27.00 per kwh.
I contacted the company "Why so high?"
The electricity company said they would review my pricing in April but no guarantee if it would go up or down and that I could do nothing about it because I signed the contract in 2021.
After finishing the call, I realised that my daughter signed the contract.
Am I legally bound into the contract even though at that point my daughter was well and I had nothing to do with it.
Thank you so much for reading.

[R0b]

As with all bills, I had the electricity bill transferred to my name.

This above is likely to kill any argument you might have. The fact you agreed to transfer the electricity bills in your name and continue paying those bills after your daughter passed away is evidence that the contract was transferred over to you. I'm not sure why you would think that you can have the bills in your name and pay for them but then not be responsible for the contract, that's not how it works.

If you genuinely did not want to be liable for that, you should have closed the account down after your daughter passed away and then set up a new account in your name. Even if you can argue you never took on your daughter's contract, there might be a deemed contract because you are still using and paying for the energy - this may be why the rates are so high, which is a bit like a mobile or internet contract where you have a deal for a period of time then go back to the standard rates until you either switch supplier or agree a new deal.

You need to confirm with the energy supplier whether you have taken over the contract from your daughter, in which case you need a copy of that contract and any amendments to it since 2021 to determine if the rates are correct. There should be something in the terms and conditions for this type of situation where the account holder has passed away and what happens to the contract. It is common for new paperwork to be sent out and re-signed confirming you agree to take on the contract but it can be done verbally also if the contract allows.

Otherwise if not, I suspect you may be on a deemed contract on a rolling monthly basis and you need to look at getting a deal ASAP either with the current supplier or a new one.

Just to point out, the average kwh you mentioned sounds like an average price based on the consumer rate under the current energy price guarantee for consumers. I could be wrong, but I believe a market tracking tariff is more of a business energy contract rather than a consumer one. Those types of contracts tend track the wholesale energy costs and other costs that may be factored in to determine the energy price and reviewed at certain intervals which means costs either go up or down.

[Pezza54]

Tracking tariffs can be double the unit rate in the winter compared with the summer months when demand for electricity and gas is a lot less.(the tracking tariff is less than the average 27p per kwh)
A utility company has to have significant exit fees for a tracking tariff to prevent consumers from joining the tracking tariff in the Spring and leaving at the start of Winter every year.

[zaffy]

Rob and Pezza, thank you so much for your thorough responses. So very helpful. Think I will just have to let the matter rest. The story of my life, yet again, wise after the event.