Hampshire County Council paid out more than £5m in personal injury settlements between April 2021 and March 2024, a figure higher than over 100 other local authorities.

Accident Claims Advice approached metropolitan borough councils, county councils and Welsh councils, alongside London borough councils, to learn how much has been paid to personal injury claimants.

The data was gathered by Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to councils.

In total, 102 councils confirmed that £60m had been paid out across 31,315 settled cases.

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Hampshire County Council led the way for payouts, with the council spending £5,172,059.25, which was 8.5 per cent of the national total.

Council leader Nick Adams-King was recently forced to assure residents that the council was “not going bust” amid a funding shortfall rising above £170m.

The council’s situation has not been helped by a major personal injury claim outlay.

Out of the total, £2.4m was paid out between April 2023 and March 2024.

This figure is the highest of all 102 responding councils by a margin of more than a million pounds.

No council reported paying as high a figure in any of the three financial years spanning April 2021 to March 2024.

The 2023/24 total represents a significant leap in payments when compared to the 2022/23 amount, which was £1.1m.

Another seven-figure outlay was recorded in 2021/22, as the council paid £1.6m to personal injury claimants.

As many as 704 claims were settled across the three years, with an average payout of £7,347.

As such, the average Hampshire claimant received much more than the national average of £1,693.81.

Among the noted causes for injuries that led to these claims were road defects, inadequate equipment, and harm inflicted by street furniture.

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Manchester City Council and Leeds  City Council follow Hampshire in the rankings.

Accident Claims Advice said numerous councils provided incomplete figures, owing to many cases still being in progress, meaning the true figure is almost certainly higher.

Claims for personal injury can be made against councils for a variety of reasons. These included slips, trips and falls; workplace accidents and industrial disease; road traffic accidents caused by potholes and road defects; and criminal injury, including assaults and physical or sexual abuse.

A spokesperson for Hampshire County Council said: “Considering Hampshire is the third largest shire authority, serving a population of 1.4 million, when looking at the number of claims made, the total for the three financial years is a little over 700 (704) and far lower than that for other authorities such as Essex or Manchester. 

"It's important to understand that the £5 million paid out for all types of damage claims – not limited to personal injury – does not directly correspond with the number of claims made during those three financial years and will include claims made before 2020-21.

"While the payout figure may appear to be high, this is largely due to a high insurance excess, allowing us to keep our ongoing insurance premiums as low as possible. Any claims for damages or injury are always rigorously investigated.”