How do I make a claim?
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We are currently dealing with high levels of insurance claims. We are working through the applications as quickly as our resources allow, and are currently handling claims received approximately 16 weeks ago. Once your claim has been reviewed you will receive further correspondence explaining the next step in the process.
Some claims will be passed to our term maintenance contractor, if we believe liability rests with them rather than us. You will be advised of this by our insurance section. They are also dealing with large workloads and are working to get through the backlog as quickly as possible.
If you proceed with your claim we will undertake a full and thorough investigation for a decision to be made in respect of legal liability in accordance with the relevant highways law. This will happen regardless of the value of your claim. These investigations take a substantial amount of staff resources away from delivering highway services, and although we have a Public Liability Insurance Policy, any successful claims under £250,000 have to be paid from our own funds which would otherwise go towards providing services.
Please consider carefully whether to proceed with a claim. It may be more appropriate to approach your insurance company if you have suffered a financial loss. Your insurance company may take the matter up with the local authority if they believe there is a case to answer.
Devon County Council has a system of inspection in place that allows many of the insurance claims we receive to be defended.
The percentage of personal injury and damage only claims where payment was made
- 2018 – damage only 19%, personal injury – 9%
- 2019 – damage only 26%, personal injury – 5%
- 2020 – damage only 31%, personal injury – 12%
- 2021 – damage only 20%, personal injury – 6%
- 2022 – damage only 20%, personal injury – 2%
To make a claim please choose an option below and complete the relevant online form.
If you are unable to complete the online form, please contact us and we can provide a paper application. Please do not send us any original documents as we are unable to return them. Also do not send in disks, USB sticks or any other device containing documents or photos as we are unable to look at them.