Making a claim | Shropshire Council

Should you wish to submit a claim to us you'll need to complete, sign and return a claim form, having first read the guidance for making a claim on this page.

Before submitting your claim, if it relates to damage from the highway please report the problem and obtain a reference number.

There's no automatic entitlement to compensation - your claim will only be successful if we've been proven to be negligent. All claims will be dealt with fairly and as quickly as possible.

We'll use the information you provide to consider your claim, and this information will be shared with our insurers. Information will be processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018.

Advice before making a claim

Before you enter a claim for compensation (public liability claim) it's important to be aware of the following points:

All claims are assessed on the basis of whether we've been legally at fault for the incident. Often events occur which, whilst they're unfortunate, aren't the result of any party’s negligence. For this reason, there's no guarantee that submitting a public liability claim will automatically result in compensation, and in many cases it doesn't.
In law, we and our appointed Insurers, having responded to notification of a claim, are allowed three months to investigate the circumstances and reach a decision.
Claims can be submitted by you or by a solicitor acting on your behalf. We will treat all claims equally, regardless of how they are represented.
You may seek independent legal advice at any stage during the course of the claim.
Fraud is taken seriously at Shropshire Council and anyone found to be submitting a fraudulent claim will be prosecuted.

Claims process and timescales

If you wish to submit a claim against us you should be aware that the basis of any claim is that there's been a fault on our part. It's therefore necessary for you to prove that we have been at fault in law.

There's no automatic entitlement to compensation, but we'll try to settle all claims where there has been fault on our part as promptly as possible.

Once we receive the completed online claim form the following will happen:

Within 21 days we'll acknowledge receipt of your claim, give you of a claim number and confirm whether your claim will be handled by Shropshire Council or by our insurers
If your claim is to be dealt with by our insurers, we'll forward to them details of your claim and they'll then deal with the matter on our behalf. Any future correspondence from you should be forwarded directly to our insurers
Shropshire Council or our insurers will investigate the claim, obtain all relevant documentation and make a decision with regard to liability. In law we/our insurers have up to three months to reach a decision on liability. The length of investigations will depend on a number of factors, including the complexity of the individual claim
You'll then be contacted with a decision on liability and, where applicable, the amount of compensation being offered
If you're advised that there's no claim to be met, you have the right to submit additional information in support of your claim or seek independent legal advice

Supporting documents

To complete your claim you'll need:

The reference number of the fault you suspect caused damage. If the fault hasn't already been reported you can report it
The exact location of the incident with reference to an adjacent building or landmark
A full description of the incident - time, date and weather conditions
Photographic evidence, which clearly shows the defect in context with the surroundings, for example:

If you're claiming for vehicle damage:

Detail of the damage caused, and an independent estimate for repair (unless repair was required immediately, such as for a damaged windscreen, in which case you'll need to provide a copy of the receipt)
Copy of vehicle ownership (V5)
Copy of insurance certificate covering the date of the incident
Photographs of the damaged vehicle
Age of the damaged item – any offer made will not be on a new for old basis, and as such will be adjusted for wear and tear.

If you're claiming for property damage:

Your insurance certificate(s)
Details of the damage
Copies of estimates or receipted invoices for repairs
Photographs of the damaged property

If you are claiming for personal injury:

Details of the injury you sustained, with photographs if relevant
Your national insurance number
Your date of birth
Details of any medical attention you received in relation to your claim
Details of your earnings if your claim involves loss of earnings

Claim investigations are very in-depth and take some weeks to process. Please check that you've attached all documentation requested. The data you enter on this form must be correct and complete; failure to declare information may lead to your claim being delayed, and the input of false information may lead to prosecution. We may require further information/clarification from you during the investigation process.

Third party solicitors (MoJ Portal information)

All qualifying claims should be submitted directly to our appropriate insurer via the Ministry of Justice claims portal.

Please submit your employer's or public liability claim for all claims through the portal as follows:

Portal ID: C00108
Insurer: Zurich Insurance Company Ltd
PO Box 4937, Swindon, SN4 4PP
Policy number: QLA-02U008-0053

Where we're not responsible

There may be times where we're not responsible for the location or defect that caused your incident. In those instances, your claim will be directed to a third party.

Highways Act 1980 – Legal defences

Shropshire Council, as a Highways Authority, has a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act to maintain roads and pavements within its area of responsibility
It's recognised that the resources available to undertake this task are limited, and in order to make best use of these limited resources we have in place a system of regularly inspecting our roads and pavements so that defects can be identified and necessary repairs carried out
The frequency of these inspections will depend on the importance of the road or pavement and takes into account national guidelines
In addition to these inspections we'll respond to reports of road and pavement defects from other bodies and the public. However, it's obviously impossible for us to be aware of every defect on every road and pavement, given that defects may occur literally overnight, particularly in adverse weather conditions
Provided that we've adhered to our inspection programme and responded in adequate time to any other damage reports, Shropshire Council is legally considered to have acted ‘reasonably’, and therefore claims of negligence will be repudiated on the basis of a Section 58 defence
When we're advised of a highway defect which may affect the safety of other road users, the size of the defect may be recorded prior to making the site safe or carrying out repair work. Any repair which is carried out will be for safety reasons, and isn't an acceptance of liability, or an attempt to destroy evidence

Fraud

Whilst most claims are honestly made, unfortunately a small proportion of claims are fraudulent. As a result of this, our insurers use various anti-fraud measures, including registering a claimant’s details on databases that are shared with other insurers and other councils.

We're under a duty to protect the public funds we administer, and to this end may use the information you provide for the prevention and detection of fraud. We may also share this information with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds for these purposes.

Equality for all

If you require this information in a different accessible format such as in large print, Braille, or another language, please ask us.

Privacy notice

Who we are?

Shropshire Council is the local government authority for Shropshire. Our address is:

Shropshire Council, Guildhall, Frankwell Quay, Shrewsbury, England SY3 8HQ

For further details on how we use your information, please see our full privacy notice.

How do we collect information from you?

We collect information from you when you visit the Shropshire Council website and also when you contact us in writing, speak to us on the phone, by email or any other type of electronic communication, or talk to us face to face.

Who has access to your information?

We may share your information with the following third parties for the reasons detailed:

Insurance claims handlers – within the terms of our insurance policy liability claims are to be handled by the insurer’s appointed claims handlers. Information is shared with them in order that they can fully investigate the claim and come to a decision regarding liability.

Insurance company – our insurers will have sight of the information so that our underwriters can come to a decision on liability when required.

Solicitors – when a claim is litigated we'll appoint a firm of solicitors and they'll require sight of all documentation in order for them to represent us appropriately.

Internally with service areas against whom the claim is being made so that they can provide supporting documentation to allow full consideration of the claim. This may include payroll, HR and occupational health, depending on the type of claim.

Statutory agencies, such as the police and Action Fraud – we may share your information with statutory agencies in line with our legal obligations and/or in completion of our public tasks.

Other insurers where we have a duty to protect the public purse from fraudulent claims.

Contractors – where a contractor we've appointed is deemed to be at fault, we'll share your claim form with them so that they can take over the handling of your claim.

We won't sell or rent your information to third parties. We won't share your information with third parties for marketing purposes.

Disclaimer

The information given on our website is general advice with regard to pursuing a claim against Shropshire Council, doesn't constitute legal or other professional advice, and shouldn't be relied on as the basis for any decision or legal action.

You should obtain any appropriate professional advice relevant to your particular circumstances. Reasonable steps have been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information contained on this page, but Shropshire Council can't accept liability for any loss suffered due to reliance on the contents of the page.