Making a claim against the Council

If you feel you have suffered injury, loss or damage to property as a result of our negligence, you may be able to claim compensation.

Fill in the Third Party Claim Form (pdf, 224kb) to inform us of your claim, providing as much detail as possible (including photographs if applicable). Please note that South Derbyshire District Council is not a Highway Authority and claims for damage to vehicles as a result of potholes should be directed to Derbyshire County Council - https://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/transport-roads/roads-traffic/claims/personal-injury-or-damage-to-property.aspx.

This should be sent to: Insurance Section, South Derbyshire District Council, Civic Offices, Civic Way, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11 0AH

We will try to respond to your claim within five working days of receipt, confirming acknowledgement, a claim reference and contact details of our insurers.

The claim will be handled initially by Protector Insurance, our insurer, which will contact you by post to inform you of its role.

Protector Insurance will carry out an investigation, taking witness statements, site visits, photographs, measurements noted and circumstances.

Once Protector Insurance has completed its investigation, it will decide whether we are liable or not and will write to you with their decision.

If it is found that we are responsible for your accident, Protector Insurance will settle your claim or, depending on the amount involved, your claim will be forwarded to our loss adjusters for consideration.

In the event of damage to a vehicle, the responsibility for authorising repairs is with the owner. In certain instances it may be necessary for an insurance assessor to view the vehicle before repairs are carried out.