If you have had an accident that was contributed to by a defect on the road, you may be able to claim reimbursement of your losses if you can prove that we have failed in our duties.

We have a robust system to demonstrate that we take all reasonable steps to make sure roads are safe. In practice, this means that all inspections and repairs carried out form the basis of the authority’s statutory defence against any claim under the Highways Act 1980.

The Highway Safety Inspection Manual describes how we comply with the national standards for road inspections and maintenance. You can also find out about the Code of Practice for well maintained highways infrastructure on the UK Road Leadership Group website.

The Legal Background

The key Act governing highways claims is the Highways Act 1980. By making a claim, you are stating that the Council has been negligent and/or has not fulfilled its statutory obligations in terms of the above Act – in particular, Section 41 – “the duty to maintain”.

Claims may be redirected to third parties, such as Council contractors or utility companies, as appropriate.

If you have been involved in an incident with a Somerset Council vehicle, please provide the following information to our insurance team, using these contact details.

Email: insurance@somerset.gov.uk

Post: Insurance, County Hall, The Crescent, Taunton, Somerset, TA1 4DY

• Your full name and address
• The vehicle registration
• The date of the incident
• Where the incident happened
• The circumstances of incident
• The damage sustained
• Your insurance details if necessary

Before making a claim for compensation against the Council, please note the following:

• Everybody has the right to make a claim, but the Council will only give compensation if it is legally at fault for the incident.
• If you are insured privately for the damage or injury sustained, such as motor insurance, you may wish to report the claim to your insurers. If you are covered, they will settle your loss in full and then pursue recovery against the Council on your behalf, reducing the administrative burden on you.
• Fraudulent claims will be prosecuted and could result in imprisonment.

Failure to provide sufficient information in your letter or claim form will result in it not being considered a letter of claim and it will be returned to you for more information.

When you contact us, we will acknowledge receipt of your claim within 7 working days and tell you if we have enough information to investigate it.

We expect to have finished our investigations of your incident within 40 working days and will tell you whether we consider ourselves to be able to successfully defend this matter in the courts or concede.

If there are any delays in our investigation, which will significantly extend the life of the claim, we will make every effort to tell you.

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

In accordance with the Social Security (Recovery of Benefits) Act 1997, the Council are legally required to report all claims for personal injury to the Department for Work and Pensions.

We may pass information on your claim to the Motor Insurance Anti-fraud and Theft Register, run by the Association of British Insurers. For more information, visit the GOV.UK website.