To make a public liability claim you need to send us either a formal letter of claim or a completed liability insurance claim form.

You can send the completed form to us by email to insurance@bcpcouncil.gov.uk or by post to:

Insurance Team
BCP Council
Town Hall
Bourne Avenue
Bournemouth
BH2 6DY

There may be additional time required if claims are sent in a non-electronic format. Additionally, do not submit original documents with your claim as these cannot be returned.

The more information you can give us at the start of the claim the faster we’ll be able to investigate it. We recommend you include maps and photographs too.

Claims involving roads and pavements

To make a claim, you must prove that the incident was directly caused by:

• a dangerous road or pavement
• a failure to properly maintain the location

Pothole damage claims

We inspect and maintain our roads in line with nationally recognised standards and a formal inspection programme. This helps us identify defects and plan repairs as quickly and safely as possible.

Repairs cannot always be carried out immediately. Additionally, bad weather, especially in winter, can cause potholes to appear or worsen quickly which creates a higher demand on the repairs service.

Claims for damage caused by potholes are considered under legal liability rules. This means that we are only responsible for damage in certain circumstances, for example, if we knew (or should reasonably have known) about a pothole and did not repair it within our set intervention timescales.

Because claims are paid from public funds, compensation is not automatic, even if your vehicle has been damaged. Each claim needs a detailed investigation to understand what happened and whether we are legally liable.

All claims are reviewed by our insurers, and you should normally receive a formal decision from them within 2 to 3 months.

When you report a pothole or submit a claim, clear information such as photos, exact locations or map pins really help our investigation process and improve road safety.

The claims process

We aim to respond to you with our insurance details within 35 working days of getting your letter. Letters of claim are forwarded to our insurance company.

If we need more information than you included in your letter of claim, we’ll respond within 35 days to request further information.

If the incident you’re claiming about was a result of works carried out by a utility company or contractor, then your claim may be against them, and not us. If this happens, we’ll let you know who you need to contact.

You’ll need to give us a single point of contact for you or your representative. We’ll give you the details of the person administering the claim on our behalf.

Claims can take some time to investigate and reach a decision on liability. Once our insurer has reached a decision, they will respond formally to you or your representative.

What you can do about property during the claim process

Losses can vary from one situation to another. Therefore, we cannot give you exact details of what you should do, but here’s some general advice. You might find it helpful if your property has been damaged.

You should tell both parties if you make a claim from us and your own insurer.

We won’t object if your property needs to be repaired for safety or legal reasons (for example, making sure a vehicle is roadworthy) before we have reached a decision on legal liability.

This doesn’t mean we’re admitting liability, and you should tell us when the repairs are being done.

You should be aware that repairing your property could destroy the evidence of damage. Remember to take lots of photos before repair work is done.