£6m pay-outs in street falls

Reporter: RICHARD HOOTON
Date online: 06 July 2010

Compensation culture blamed as Oldham tops county league

OLDHAM Council has agreed to pay out nearly £6 million in compensation for trips and falls over the last five years.

Council chiefs have blamed the “compensation culture” for the huge pay-outs, which includes £1.7 million in the past year on 120 claims.

It’s the highest out of all the councils in Greater Manchester with Wigan paying out £6,500 last year, which it says is a tribute to the efficiency of the road-maintenance team quickly repairing potholes or raised flagstones.

The figures vary wildly across Greater Manchester, where more than £9 million was paid out in total last year, with Salford paying £1.5 million and Stockport £1.2 million but Tameside paying out £196,000.

The pay-outs to people who have tripped and fallen on pavements and roads impacts on the highways-repair budget.

A set figure of £2,500 per settled claim comes out of Oldham’s budget, meaning £300,000 came from last year’s £6 million budget that could have been spent on repairing roads. The rest comes out of an insurance fund and contingency pot.

Oldham Council points out that it can take several years for claims to reach settlement, making it difficult to compare on a yearly basis.

Councillor John McCann, cabinet member for regeneration and environment, said the £1.7 million was slightly above the average it had paid out each year over the past decade.

He believed it was not unlike those paid by neighbouring or geographically similar authorities.

He said: “Oldham Council faces personal-injury claims for slips, trips and falls on an ongoing basis. We are no different from any other local authority in the UK in this regard in a compensation culture which will reportedly see specialist firms net a record turnover of £7.5 billion this year.

“To weed out bogus claims and ensure money is not unnecessarily or unfairly awarded, we thoroughly investigate each claim. Typically around two-thirds of claims submitted to us are not paid because we prove we have no responsibility.

“We are also now pursuing drivers when we discover that they have damaged infrastructure such as walls and signposts.

“We actively pursue their insurers for these costs to save taxpayers’ money.

“Our highways budget for this year is around £6 million and, clearly, improving the state of the roads is a national problem set against the backdrop of an economic recession.

“We remain focused on spending money in priority areas across the borough.”

In December, the council warned it would prosecute anyone making false compensation claims after two Oldham men were jailed for a total of 10 months for perjury.

John Maybury (41) claimed he had fallen on what he alleged were defective steps in a passageway on Primrose Bank and persuaded friend Jason Costigan to support his claim.

But a police investigation discovered Costigan was not there when he fell.


£190,000 for pothole trip

The cases vary from people tripping over potholes to slipping on ice.

A leaked list of pay-outs shows they range from £50 to tens of thousands. They include:

:: £160 for a man who hit a pothole while cycling in March. He damaged his bike and suffered cuts and bruises.

:: Nearly £130,000 and another £60,000 expected to be paid to a woman who fell because of a pothole in January, 2006.

:: £115,000 for a claimant for tripping over a rocking paving flag in February, 2008.

:: £110,000 for a person who broke a leg after tripping on a defective footway in March, 2006.

:: £22,500 for a woman who slipped on ice in December, 2008.

:: £60,000 for a man who slipped on grass-covered cobble stones while taking out his wheelie bin in September, 2007.

:: £35,000 for a woman who fell off her horse when it stumbled on an uneven road in March, 2008.

:: £31,000 to a child who suffered severe cuts to a leg when it went down an uncovered grid while playing in May, 2006.