Doctoral student Lyle Hopkins used AI tools including GPT-5.5 and Claude Fable to fight energy company SSE Energy Supply in court over a bogus £1,091.01 bill, and won. SSE had spent more than 20 months billing him at business rates for an unused electricity meter linked to a non-existent flat address at his property, despite a company representative confirming by email that he was not liable, before sending debt collectors after him anyway. The case matters as an example of a self-represented litigant using AI to challenge a large company's legal claims, verifying the AI's arguments and case law himself rather than relying on it blindly.

A judge at the County Court at Oxford (St Aldate) ruled in Hopkins's favour on 17 July, awarding him £1,087.88 including expenses and interest, and found that further pursuit of the debt would amount to harassment. Hopkins, who could not afford a solicitor, said the AI generated legal arguments and checked case law once he supplied the facts, though he still had to verify everything himself and spent around £175 on AI subscriptions and API fees. He turned down a pre-hearing settlement offer from SSE because it required confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses, and despite winning, SSE sent him another bill for the same debt six days after the judgment.