The Swedish court of appeal (hovrätten över Skåne och Blekinge) decided in May this year that the party ordering a transport service also is liable for payment of such service; regardless of if the parties have agreed that the receiver of the goods or any other party shall be the receiver of the invoice. 

In this case a seller of goods has agreed with a carrier that the freight should be invoiced the receiver of the goods. The seller had, via e-mail, booked the transport service and in the e-mail stated that the invoice should be sent to the receiver of the goods, the seller’s customer. The appeal court however stated that a reference to where the invoice shall be sent does not constitute such explicitness that is needed for a party that acts on another party’s behalf, i.e. under a power of attorney. The appeal court asserts that the seller of the goods has not been able to prove that the carrier has understood that the seller acted on behalf of the other party and that the carrier not should have understood that so was the case. The seller will therefore be responsible in relation to the carrier for the freight cost in the same manner as if the seller had ordered the services on its own behalf (without power of attorney). 

Thereafter the appeal court evaluated if the seller and the carrier had agreed that the receiver of the goods should be solely responsible for paying the freight. The appeal court states that the partied do not seem to have the same intention regarding the content of the agreement when it comes to which party that should be liable for payment. The carrier has apparently accepted to send the invoice to the receiver but the appeal court does not have the opinion that it is proved that the parties have agreed that the seller should not have the liability to pay the freight. The text in the e-mail only indicates the receiver of the invoice, not the party responsible for payment.