Appointment of Forensic Accountant on Crossrail Compensation Claim case

Tfl requires a Forensic Accountant(BTVK) to provide further expert witness consultancy advice in respect of compulsory acquisition of land. Baker Tilly have been engaging with the claimant's forensic accountant for some time and have a long standing knowledge of the claim and the pertinent issues likely to arise. Prior to contract expiry in 2021 it appeared that the parties were close to final agreement with only three differences. Following legal advice, TfL's assessment has changed and TfL require BTVK to undertake additional analysis of elements of the claim. The total award estimate is £189,930 expected to cover pre/post mediation reporting, ADR mediation, Tribunal process and ad-hoc advice work. BTVK has already provided considerable input on this case including analysis of accounts data provided by the claimant, summary reports and liaison with the claimant's forensic accountant. TfL need to retain BTVK through a mediation and if necessary, a tribunal process, as the appointment of another expert at this stage would involve the new expert having to undertake their own analysis of the underlying data and to come up with their own conclusions, resulting in a duplication of work and further delay. This would therefore involve unnecessary additional expense both for TfL directly and on the claim. A change in supplier would require any new contractor to start the accounts analysis completely afresh (as no Forensic Accountant will rely on the work of a previous advisor, especially where they are to potentially present evidence at Tribunal), which would mean a repeat of the extensive work currently already undertaken. BTVK have provided advise where required on this case since 2014. This may result in a newly appointed Forensic Accountant producing a different analysis to the analysis that TfL has currently responded to.