If you have suffered personal injury or damage to your property due to the council’s actions, you may consider making a compensation claim.
For a claim to succeed, it will be necessary for you to prove that the council acted negligently or failed in its statutory duty under civil law.
Events often occur that are unfortunate but not due to any party's negligence. As such, there is no automatic entitlement to compensation or any guarantee that making a claim against the council will result in the claim being successful.
If you wish to make a compensation claim against the council, you must first complete an incident report form.
Please read the Liability claims against Lambeth Council - guidance before completing the incident report form.
Incident Report Form
If your claim includes personal injury, you must complete the medical mandate form, as this is mandatory.
Medical Mandate Form
The medical mandate form must be fully completed, dated and signed to authorise us to obtain your medical records from your GP or hospital.
Complete by post
If you cannot complete the electronic incident report form, you have the option to download and make a claim by post.
What you need to know
As the claimant, you are responsible for proving your claim. You must provide supporting evidence, including relevant documents, photographs or videos of damage, accurate dates and locations, and copies of any previous reports. These should be included when submitting your incident report form.
If possible, retain any damaged property as it may be required for our inspection.
We will acknowledge receipt of your completed and signed incident report form within 10 working days. Please note that some claims may be managed internally by the insurance team, while others may be handled externally by claim handlers working on our behalf, such as insurers, loss adjusters or solicitors.
We will keep you informed throughout the process, ensuring you have all the necessary information regarding the handling of your claim.
The Council may take up to 90 days to make a liability decision after receiving the fully completed incident report form.
If the provided information is insufficient (e.g., the exact location is not clearly identified), this may delay the decision-making process.
Once our investigation is concluded, we will notify you in writing of our final decision.
If the council is deemed legally liable for your loss, its liability is limited to the value of the loss immediately before the incident. This means that any payments made will not be on a 'new for old’ basis, as claims are handled on an indemnity basis.
On property damage claims, you will be required to provide at least two repair estimates. These estimates will be reviewed to ensure they are reasonable and proportionate to the loss.
If the claim relates to personal injury, we will require medical evidence from your GP or hospital.
Please refrain from contacting us about the status of your claim during this time, as this will only cause delays with your claim. If required, we will reach out to you if we need any additional information.
Next steps
You are free to seek independent legal advice regarding your claim and can instruct a solicitor to act on your behalf.
You may find that making a claim through your own insurance is quicker and more straightforward. If your insurer believes the council is liable, they will pursue recovery of their outlay on your behalf.
If we have rejected your compensation claim, we will provide you with the reasons for the decision. The following leaflet unhappy with the outcome of your claim leaflet which clearly outlines your further options.