Professional Negligence

Managing Agent Failure — Six Shopping Centres

How do you protect operational continuity and recover value after a property manager fails?

Following a change in property management after extensive tendering, the outgoing firm placed itself into immediate insolvency. Client property records and monies were not transferred.

Approach

The response combined forensic accounting, IT recovery, insolvency law, evidence preservation, insurer negotiations and two rounds of mediation. Service charges were rebuilt so the centres could continue to operate while negligence and recovery claims were pursued.

Outcome

• £4.95m settlement paid by insurers after seven years
• Monies held in bank accounts released by the administrator
• Service-charge records rebuilt
• Operational continuity maintained across the portfolio

A complex professional-negligence claim needs commercial control as well as legal strategy.