Make a liability claim

Information and guidance on how to make a liability claim.

Reduced service

Both our insurance department and our external claims handlers are operating at reduced capacity throughout July.

Correspondence will take longer to respond to than the stated time and telephone calls will only be answered between 10am and 2pm if there is capacity to do so until further notice. Thank you for your patience during this time.

Making a claim

If you are looking to make a claim as you have incurred any injury, damage or loss that you allege is the result of the Council's negligence, you may be able to pursue a liability claim.

You must be able to prove the Council are at fault for any claim to be successful.

Compensation

Under our Public Liability Insurance policy there is no automatic right to compensation.

In the event that proceedings are to be issued, unless directed otherwise, ensure these are served to:

South London Legal Partnership
7th floor
Merton Civic Centre
London Road
Morden
SM4 5DX

Service will not be accepted by fax or DX. Service by email may be accepted by SLLP by prior agreement. Email to Byron.Britton@merton.gov.uk.

If you are a solicitor (CNFs only)

If your incident date is on or after 1 April 2018, please submit your Employers' and Public Liability Claims through the portal:

  • Portal ID: D00019
  • Insurer: QBE (claims handled by Gallagher Bassett)
  • Policy Number: Y123543QBE0118A

If your incident date is before 1 April 2018, please submit your Employers' and Public Liability Claims through the portal with our previous insurers:

  • Portal ID: C00108
  • Insurer: Zurich Municipal
  • Policy Number: QLA-01E2310433-9

If you are the person claiming

If you believe the Council are responsible for the injury/damage you have sustained, you may be able to make a claim.

Highway claims

If the claim you wish to pursue relates to an incident on the highway, complete the highway claim form.

To report incidents on red routes, contact Transport for London.

All other claims

If you need to submit a housing public liability claim you can do this online.

If you fail to provide sufficient and precise information this will result in your claim being delayed until you provide us with this information.

If you would prefer to send us any information or documentation via the post, please use the address below.

Insurance Group,
Room 300
Town Hall Third Floor,
Wandsworth High Street,
London SW18 2PU

Note that we are currently unable to deal with post as quickly as emails. We would strongly recommend that all correspondence is via email whenever possible to avoid delays.

Make a liability claim

How long does a claim process take? 

Each public liability claim varies depending on a range of factors. Because of this unfortunately we cannot estimate how long a claim will take to be dealt with by our insurers.

How much will I get?

Each claim is looked at on its own merits, and all payments are made following legal guidelines.

There is no automatic right to compensation. You must prove that we are legally liable for the loss or damage.

If you are claiming for loss or damage to your property, or contents, deductions will be taken for wear and tear, depending upon the age of the items. It may be quicker and easier to claim on your own contents insurance policy, which is likely to be new for old cover.

Please also note that you will need to authorise any invoices to contractors for repairs to your property. We cannot do this on your behalf. You will also need to pay the contractors directly following completion of the works. Any payments that you are entitled to will be paid directly to you, and not the contractor.