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United Kingdom

Landlord insurance commissions not recoverable as insurance rent; implied market‑rate term: London Trocadero v Picturehouse Cinemas [2025] EWHC 1247 (Ch) (England and Wales)

Published on: 16 June 2025

Published by a LexisNexis Property Disputes expert
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Article summary

London Trocadero (2015) LLP v Picturehouse Cinemas Ltd and other companies [2025] EWHC 1247 (Ch)

What are the practical implications of this case?

In this matter, expert testimony indicated that landlord commissions of up to 37.5% were not unusual when the lease was entered into, and that some tenants may have been overcharged insurance rent by as much as 60%. This suggests that negotiating higher commissions and charging them back has been commonplace. Practitioners must ensure both landlord and tenant clients—particularly anyone within, or dealing with, the Criterion Group—are notified of this ruling without delay. They should assist clients to investigate quickly whether commissions have been received and, if so, what steps to take, keeping in view:

  • any limitation issues; and
  • the prospect that the Trocadero decision could be appealed.

The precise lease terms require thorough review, as outcomes may depend on the exact wording. Tenants ought to ask landlords to disclose the commission amounts that have been or are being received under insurance arrangements, and to interrogate service charge demands and accounts in detail...

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