The Corporate Insurance team handles all claims made against the council for compensation for injury, damage or loss.
This could be claims arising from loss or injury to employees or others as a result of the council’s services, motor incidents involving our fleet, or housing tenants suffering damage or injury caused by the council.
Before making a claim
If you make a claim against the council, please note that:
- there is no automatic right to compensation
- we will not always be liable to compensate (events often occur that are not due to any negligence)
- negligence must be established for any claim to succeed
Whilst we treat all claimants fairly, we cannot provide you with legal advice. You may seek independent legal advice at any stage.
Make a claim
If you want to make an insurance claim against the council please contact us using the following details and we will send you a claim pack:
Email: insurance@newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk
Telephone: 01636 655324
Claims process
Once your letter of claim has been submitted to Corporate Insurance, you will receive acknowledgement within 5 working days.
If the information submitted is incomplete more information will be requested, however, your claim will not be classified as submitted until this is provided.
Timescales
Initial investigations into a submitted claim will be completed within 20 working days, once all necessary information has been received. If this cannot be met, we will provide an update with a new timescale.
All general enquiries will aim to be responded to within 5 working days.
It is essential you inform us of any changes in circumstances related to your claim in the meantime. If your claim is referred to our insurers you will be notified.
If there is no response to our communication within a 6 month period the claim will be closed.
Our insurers
You should receive written acknowledgement from our insurers within 15 working days from their receipt of the claim. If after 15 working days no acknowledgement has been received, contact us directly using the details above.
Our insurers will deal with your claim as soon as possible and you will be notified of their decision in writing. If you would like an update on your claim, please contact them directly.
If you are indebted to the council for any reason, this may be taken into account and could be deducted from any payment made to you in relation to your claim.
Questions about your claim
If you need to contact us about your claim always quote your name, address and claim reference number. This will verify we are talking to the correct person and ensure your enquiry is dealt with as quickly as possible.
You must inform us of any changes in your circumstances related to your claim as soon as possible.
We will only communicate directly with the claimant or their nominated legal representative. Written authorisation will be required if you want another individual to act on your behalf.
Insurance fraud prevention
All claims submitted will be investigated thoroughly and if we suspect someone has provided false or misleading information in relation to an insurance claim, the police will be informed, and action will be taken to prosecute and recover costs.
In order to help prevent fraud and protect public funds we may share information relating to claims with other organisations.
To report somebody making a fraudulent insurance claim against the council, call 01636 655324. Or you can write to us, marking your letter for the attention of Corporate Insurance or email directly using insurance@newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk.
Claims portal for solicitors
If you are a solicitor and wish to make a claim via the claims portal the council’s current liability insurer is Zurich Municipal and the policy number is QLA-10H081-0103. The portal ID is C00108.