Major damage to theatre during a live show!

The Challenge

Lovetts’ client is a major operator of theatre venues in the UK. What do you do when a hirer causes substantial damage to your theatre, then goes bust?

The defendants hired a theatre in a major city for a live show involving a well-known troupe. During the act, the whole audience was invited on-stage to dance with the group, resulting in major damage to the stage costing over £15,000 in repairs. Unfortunately, the defendants went into liquidation before legal action could be taken to recovery the money. Could anything be done?

The Solution

Our client assumed the debt would have to be written off. However, we examined carefully the application of the Third Parties (Rights against Insurers) Act 1930 and whether our clients had a claim against the insurers of the liquidated company. They were represented by their loss adjusters, Cunningham Lindsey, who initially refused to make any payment because the defendant denied liability.

The Benefit

Despite this, after correspondence advocating our client’s legal entitlement, Lovetts secured a payment of over £7,500 in settlement which, in the circumstances, was beyond our client’s expectations.