Check your claim progress
Introduction
Use this page to make a claim against Somerset Council for personal injury, property damage, highway incidents or incidents involving council vehicles. You can also find out what information you need and what happens after you submit a claim.
Please note:
- Anyone can make a claim. We will only pay compensation if we are legally responsible.
- If you have insurance cover, consider contacting your insurer first. They may settle your loss and recover costs on your behalf.
- We will take action against fraudulent claims. This may include prosecution.
Before you make a claim
If you want to claim for personal injury or property damage, read all the information on this page before you complete the claim form.
Before you complete the form:
- make sure you have all relevant information and evidence
- provide details of any injuries, damage or losses
- include photographs, receipts or other supporting documents where available
- read our privacy and fraud prevention information
If you do not provide enough information, we will not treat your submission as a formal claim. We will return it and ask for more information.
You must be 18 or over to complete the form. If you are under 18, a parent or guardian must complete the form for you.
Solicitor claims
If you are a third-party solicitor and want to submit a new employer’s liability, public liability or road traffic accident claim through the Council’s Claims Portal, use portal code G00422.
Highways claims
If you are making a highway claim yourself, complete the claim form below. If you are claiming for personal injury on behalf of someone else, you may need the claimant’s date of birth and National Insurance number.
If a road defect contributed to an accident, you may be able to recover your losses. You must show that we failed to meet our legal duties.
We have robust inspection and maintenance processes to help keep roads safe.
Our inspections, repairs and records help demonstrate compliance with our legal duties under the Highways Act 1980 and support our defence against claims.
The Highway Safety Inspection Manual describes how we comply with the national standards for road inspections and maintenance.
Our highways team prepares a full accident report for the location of the incident. The report includes maintenance records, photographs and supporting evidence.
Motor insurance claims
If a Somerset Council vehicle was involved in the incident, send the following information to the insurance team.
Email: insurance@somerset.gov.uk
Post: Insurance, County Hall, The Crescent, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 4DY
Information to provide
- Your full name and address
- Vehicle registration number
- Date of the incident
- Location of the incident
- Description of what happened
- Details of any damage
- Your insurance details, if necessary
Make an insurance claim
If you wish to make a claim for personal injury or property damage please use the form below. Complete every section of the form. This helps us investigate your claim.
Insurance Claim
What happens next
We will acknowledge your claim within 7 working days. We will tell you whether we have enough information to investigate.
We aim to complete our investigation within 90 days. We will then tell you whether we accept liability or believe we can defend the claim.
If delays occur, we will keep you informed.
Privacy and fraud checks
The Legal Background
The Highways Act 1980 is the main legislation for highway claims.
By making a claim, you are claiming that the council did not meet its legal duty to maintain the highway under section 41 of the Highways Act 1980. The council may rely on its inspection and maintenance records when responding to claims.
We may pass claims to contractors, utility companies or other organisations where appropriate.
Fraud prevention
We must protect public funds. We may use the information you provide to prevent and detect fraud.
We may also share information with organisations that audit or manage public funds.
Under the Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) Act 1997, we must report all personal injury claims to the Department for Work and Pensions.
We may share claim information with anti-fraud databases used by the insurance industry. For more information, visit the GOV.UK website.
Highway safety inspection manual
The Highway Safety Inspection Manual explains:
- legal duties under the Highways Act 1980
- highway inspection frequencies
- defect investigation criteria
- repair response times
- recording and management of highway defects
