Difficulties In Recovering Overpayments

It is often assumed that overpayments to a contractor or subcontractor can be recovered, but the recent case of Furmans v shows that this is not always so.

The relevant facts were:

• A agreed to perform work for B for a daily rate. The agreement was relatively informal, and did not use any standard form of contract
• Despite the daily rate being agreed, there was no agreement on the number of hours that A would work each day. B alleged that there was an agreement that A's personnel would work an 11 or 12 hour day, which A denied. A's personnel were only working a 9 hour day, which B said was inadequate
• Despite its complaints that A wasn't working the required hours, B's site supervisor signed-off A's invoices, which were calculated using the daily rate. B paid these invoices. B also paid amounts claimed by A for worker accommodation, which A said weren't included in the daily rate - although B disagreed