HOW MUCH IS COMPENSATION COSTING YOU & YOUR COUNCIL?

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1 HOW MUCH IS COMPENSATION COSTING YOU & YOUR COUNCIL? Researchers at BBC Inside Out Midlands have been collecting compensation figures from all 48 councils in our television region since May The following table shows the total amount that each council has paid in liability premiums, compensation (paid by or on behalf of each council) and how many claims have been made to each council (both successful and unsuccessful). The information was obtained using two Freedom of Information requests. The BBC would like to thank the councils and their staff for the time and effort spent providing us with this information. All figures are totals for the last five years (April 2003 March 2008): the information has been provided in this way to ensure a single year s figures do not unfairly skew the information and also to ensure that commercially sensitive annual figures (such as renewal premiums) are not revealed. (NB: Some councils could only provide figures in insurance years.) There is no direct correlation between the number of claims and the amounts paid out for the same years. Council totals are not directly comparable: each council has various definitions for compensation and compiles its figures differently. Some council s premium figures may be lower, because they pay more in insurance excess. In the last five years most county, metropolitan and unitary authorities have taken on the responsibility for highways, which significantly increases the number of claims they receive, as well as payouts and premiums. There will be obvious variations based on population and the nature of the area that a council serves. PREMIUM TOTALS: This is the amount the council has paid in liability insurance premiums in the last five years. Premiums can be significantly lower if the council pays a higher excess on claims. PAYOUT TOTALS: This is the total amount of compensation that a council has paid out over the last five years regardless of when the claims were made. This figure includes payments made on the council s behalf by its insurers. CLAIMS MADE: This is the total number of compensation claims made to the council in the last 5 years, regardless of whether they were successful or unsuccessful. The claims were either listed by the date of the incident or by the date submitted to the council.

2 COUNCIL Walsall Birmingham Solihull Wolverhampton PREMIUM TOTALS PAYOUT TOTALS 983,505 3,965, ,790,541 16,779, ,857 3,019, NOT GIVEN 1,205, Dudley 1,653,561 4,174, Sandwell 1,254,825 6,367, Coventry 1,656,539 3,889, Herefordshire 1,321,687 1,306, Staffordshire County Council 2,758,391 3,738, Stafford 1,265, , CLAIMS MADE NOTES This council withheld its premium information. It claimed that giving the BBC this information could affect the tendering process. However, other councils in a similar situation did not ask for their premiums to be withheld. This council withheld the figure for the 2007/08 liability premium, for commercial reasons.

3 Lichfield Staffordshire Moorlands Newcastle-under-Lyme East Staffordshire South Staffordshire Cannock Chase Tamworth Stoke-on-Trent Warwickshire Stratford-on-Avon Warwick Rugby North Warwickshire Nuneaton & Bedworth 1,108, , , , ,159, , , , , , , ,007, ,491, ,787, , , , ,560 64, ,104 9, ,501,647 1,149,

4 Shropshire North Shropshire South Shropshire Bridgnorth Shrewsbury and Atcham Oswestry Telford & Wrekin Worcestershire Wyre Forest 1,479, , ,680 NOT GIVEN ,608 2, , , , ,009, , NOT GIVEN 1,936, NOT GIVEN 2,915, ,136 67, This council did not provide the BBC with accurate information about how much was paid out in compensation (in total) for the requested years. This council withheld its premium information. It claimed that giving the BBC this information could affect the tendering process. However, other councils in a similar situation did not ask for their premiums to be withheld. This council withheld its premium information. It claimed that giving the BBC this information could affect the tendering process. However, other councils in a similar situation did not ask for their premiums to be withheld.

5 Malvern Hills Wychavon Worcester Bromsgrove Redditch Gloucestershire Stroud Cotswold Forest of Dean Tewkesbury Cheltenham Gloucester 0 24, ,691 13, ,417 NOT GIVEN ,047 60, , , ,666,281 2,181, , , ,439 45, ,577 32, ,127 22, ,907 91, ,763 NOT GIVEN NOT GIVEN This council did not provide the BBC with accurate information about how much was paid out in compensation (in total) for the requested years. This council did not provide the BBC with accurate information about how many claims they had received. Nor did they provide us with information about how

6 TOTALS PREMIUMS PAYOUTS CLAIMS 45,066,829 62,096,367 39,810 much their liability premiums costed. Payout figures are a four year total only ( was not provided) All efforts have been made to ensure that the information in this table is accurate although the BBC has had to interpret many different types of compensation information to compile this table. The BBC has relied on the councils to provide correct and accurate information.