The Highways Act 1980 acknowledges that it is not possible to keep the road network entirely free from defects and that it is unreasonable to expect local authorities to be aware of all defects and to repair them immediately.
Section 58 of the Highways Act provides us with a defence against applications for compensation made against the authority. It allows for the period between inspections to be reasonable and for repairs to be undertaken once defects have been found. If the authority can show from its documented records that at the time of its last inspection, i.e. before the incident- that the defect was not present or not considered to be dangerous the Section 58 defence is likely to succeed.
Fraud statement
It is an offence to make a fraudulent application for financial loss or personal injury or to exaggerate an application. We have a duty to protect public funds and will use the information you provide for the detection and prevention of fraud.
Any application that is found to have been fraudulently intimated or exaggerated, whether during the processing of the application or subsequently, may be passed to the Police or Crown Prosecution Service and may be subject to a criminal prosecution.
We have a responsibility to our taxpayers to ensure that all applications for compensation are legitimate. All legitimate applications are assessed individually and fairly and, only where we are liable, will compensation be paid. We have an anti-fraud system in place with our insurers to assist them in detecting dishonest applicants and taking appropriate action.
Applying for compensation against the council
To successfully apply for compensation from us you will need to prove negligence, and that we have been at fault in law. There is no automatic entitlement to compensation, just because an incident has happened it does not mean we are liable.
Other insurance cover
We recommend that you make a claim on your own insurance first (for example, home contents, buildings, or motor insurance). This is because settlement will most likely be on a “new for old” basis and you will not need to prove that anyone is at fault for the loss, so it is likely that your claim will be dealt with more quickly. Your insurers may attempt to seek recovery of their outlay from us if they feel we were at fault. A successful recovery by your insurers will mean that your premiums and any no claim discounts are unlikely to be affected.
Spillage / debris on road
We cannot be held liable for the actions of others. If a spillage or debris is left on the road you can report it to us.
Hitting an unlit island or chicane
We cannot be held liable if drivers hit, e.g. unlit traffic islands and street furniture. Street furniture is laid out in a specific place for a variety of reasons and would have sufficient road marking and reflective marking around it to indicate its presence.
It would be visible in daylight and evident to oncoming traffic that they must drive as the road allows. Street lighting would show its presence at night, and of course, road users (while driving at the correct speed) headlights would provide adequate illumination to indicate street furniture position in relation to the occupied vehicle and the island's perimeter.
Before you make an application for compensation
You can apply using the online form. You will need an email address to complete the form. If you do not have an email address or cannot complete the form yourself you can ask a friend, relative or other representative to complete it on your behalf. Similarly, a postal form can be requested if necessary.
If the incident resulted in personal injury and you are the applicant and are under 18 years of age (a minor) you must nominate a parent or other representative to make this application on your behalf.
You will need to provide evidence that at the time of the incident:
- a defect existed on a road, pavement or public footpath maintained by us
- the defect is one that is considered to be dangerous
- the defect was the direct cause of the incident or injury, and that you have suffered a loss. We do not accept applications for compensation for damage that has occurred over a period of time
This evidence must be supplied in the following way. Please note that if you do not include this mandatory information your application cannot be processed and will be rejected:
- you must provide a copy of your motor insurance certificate, valid at the time of the incident
- you must provide photographic evidence of any damage to your property. If no photographs are supplied, your application will be automatically rejected as it has no merit (no proof of damage)
- you must provide photographic evidence of the location, showcasing the wider area and including any landmarks if possible. Please mark the exact defect with an ‘X’ and show your direction of travel - If photographs are unavailable, you may wish to use online map services to provide the precise location. The nearest house number or streetlamp column would also be of assistance - This will enable us to conduct our formal investigations
- you must provide photographic evidence of the defect on the road, pavement, or public footpath. A photograph of a pothole in the road does not indicate any form of neglect by the Highways department; instead, it merely illustrates that a pothole has appeared in that location - Photographs are required to identify the location of the defect and produce the correct highways report in relation to your application, even if the defect has been repaired, a photograph must be supplied; this will enable the correct report to be produced regarding your application
- you must provide copies of 2 independent estimates or the invoice / receipts where the repairs have been carried out. These must state that the work is for the repair of the damage for which you are seeking compensation. A purchase receipt or garage bill on its own does not validate your application, as this can be classed as general maintenance
- a copy of your MOT certificate is not required as this will be checked online, and note will be taken of any advisories / failures
What happens after you have submitted your application
You will receive an automated acknowledgment of your application submission, which will notify you of your reference number. We will quote this reference in any correspondence to you.
Your application will be logged on our database. There may be occasions when it'll be necessary to forward your application for compensation to our external insurance file handlers for consideration. This will depend on the value of your application and whether any injuries were sustained. If this is the case with your application, then you will be informed.
An investigation will take place to determine whether compensation can be made to you.
We will try to process your application as quickly as possible, however this could take up to 90 days from the date we receive the complete mandatory documentation. Although, this may vary depending on the complexity and nature of your application.
Please do not chase the progress of your application until 90 days have passed, we cannot provide updates before this time.
During and following periods of severe weather, it may take us longer to respond to your application.
You will need to provide personal information and documentation to enable us to investigate and process your application.
The information you provide to us will be processed in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). Details of the information we hold about you and how we process it are set out in our insurance claims privacy notice.
Please be respectful to our staff when communicating about your application.
Final outcome
Once an investigation has taken place the file handler will make a decision based on our legal liability.
If there is no liability, no offer of compensation will be made, and you will be informed.
If liability is accepted, you will receive an offer of compensation with the relevant form attached to sign and return.
It is the authorities’ strict protocol that when compensation for damage is paid out, payment is only made for the repair of the damaged / replacement part of the vehicle on a like for like basis (not new for old). The authority will not pay out for additional costs, documentation copies, loss of time, photograph fees, or any other out of pocket expenses and it will not consider compensation for cosmetic reasons, i.e. a full set of alloys (where only one is damaged); as this is betterment of the pre-incident condition of the vehicle.
Where liability is accepted by us, the file handler may require original receipts or replacement estimates and confirmation of the age of the items in order to determine the amount of compensation payable. Please be aware that any offer of settlement will be adjusted for wear and tear.
Where any MOT advisories / failures are relevant to the damage outlined in your application, a deduction will be made for wear and tear if we are found to be liable, or your application may be rejected in its entirety.
Make an application for compensation
Make an insurance claim
If the fault has not already been repaired and you have not reported it to us, you can do so now.
Our team will need the reference number provided to locate the fault involved. A claim can't be submitted without a reported fault reference number. However, if the fault has been repaired then you do not need to do this step, and a reference number will not be needed.
If you don't want to submit an application, you can still report the defect or fault on a road or footway. This is the easiest way to report a fault.
Only apply if you have read and understood all the information outlined; you have reported the defect; you have all the mandatory documentation to hand, and you believe us to be liable in this instance.