Have you been overcharged for insurance by your landlord?

A recent court decision could open the door for many commercial tenants to reclaim money from their landlords. In May 2025, the High Court ruled that landlords cannot simply pass on insurance commission costs to tenants if the lease does not clearly allow it.

The Trocadero case: What happened?

In London Trocadero (2015) LLP v Picturehouse Cinemas Ltd, the landlord, Trocadero, owned the Trocadero Centre in London. As is common, Trocadero arranged the building’s insurance and recharged the cost to its tenants as “insurance rent.”

However, Trocadero had an arrangement with its insurance broker to add high commission fees on top of the genuine insurance premium, sometimes as much as 65%. Much of this commission was then paid back to the landlord, effectively putting extra money into the landlord’s pocket rather than covering the cost of insurance.

Picturehouse Cinemas challenged this and won.

The court’s decision:

The court agreed with Picturehouse and found that:

✅ The lease only required tenants to pay the premium to keep the building insured, not additional commission.

✅ The landlord could not justify the commission as part of the genuine cost of arranging the insurance.

✅ Picturehouse was entitled to recover the money it had already paid, as the landlord had been unjustly enriched.

In the end, Picturehouse recovered a substantial six-figure sum.

What does this mean for tenants?

This ruling is important because many commercial landlords have similar commission-sharing arrangements. If your lease does not clearly allow the landlord to charge a commission or extra fee, you may be able to claim this money back. Depending on your circumstances, you could claim for payments going back up to 6 years, or in some cases, even up to 12 years.

Can tenants claim the money back?

Yes, but there are usually some conditions. To bring a successful claim, tenants typically need to show:

They did not know they were paying the landlord’s commission.

The landlord knew it was receiving the commission.

Insurance could have been arranged at the same level without the commission.

The commission was not required by the insurer.

The amount the landlord kept was disproportionate to the work done in arranging the insurance.

What should you do?

If you pay insurance rent under your lease, it is worth checking the wording and asking questions:

Does your lease say you must only pay the premium, or does it allow the landlord to add extra fees?

Have you been provided with a clear breakdown of what you are paying for?

If you think you might have overpaid, it is important to act promptly. Claims for unjust enrichment are generally time-limited to six years.

At Oliver & Co, we are employee-owned and take pride in putting our clients first. Our Dispute and Litigation team can help review your lease and payments to see if you could have a claim, and support you in recovering money that may be rightfully yours.