Doncaster Borough Council – How To Sue For Compensation

This guide explores the concept of what makes a valid claim against Doncaster Borough Council.

claim against doncaster borough council

A guide about what could make a valid claim against Doncaster Borough Council

To claim against a local council, you would need to provide evidence that your injuries and losses are a direct result of a breach of their duty of care. This guide will explain what duty of care means in regards to a local council and how you could prove their negligence when it comes to an accident.

Making a claim could be made much easier by having a solicitor help your case. If you get in touch with our advisors for free legal advice, and they find you have a strong claim, they could connect you with a solicitor from our panel. However, you’ll be under no obligation to proceed with our services if you contact us.

Our advisors are available 24/7. You can:

Select a Section

  1. Could I Claim Compensation Against The Council For Personal Injury?
  2. Making A Data Breach Compensation Claim Against A Council
  3. Breaking Down Housing Disrepair Claims Against The Local Council
  4. Can I Make A No Win No Fee Claim Against Doncaster Borough Council?
  5. The Time Limit To Make A Claim
  6. Get Advice On A Potential Claim Against Doncaster Borough Council
  7. More Resources On Making A Claim Against Doncaster Borough Council

Could I Claim Compensation Against The Council For Personal Injury?

It is possible to claim compensation against a council for a personal injury, though you would need to prove that they had breached their duty of care towards you. In regards to personal injury, a duty of care entails taking all reasonably practicable steps to keep people safe.

For local councils, this means they are obligated by the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957 to keep members of the public from unreasonable harm when visiting their property. If this duty of care is breached, leading to your accident and injury, this is when you could claim against them.

Council-controlled property covers a variety of spaces such as certain parks and public walkways. Due to their wide reach, it’s possible to suffer a personal injury on council property in various ways.

For example, you could suffer from lacerations after tripping over barbed wire on council-controlled land. If the council was aware the barbed wire was a hazard and had not rectified it in a reasonable amount of time, you could claim compensation from them.

Potential Personal Injury Compensation Payouts

In this section, we will look at different potential compensation amounts attached to injuries. These figures are from the Judicial College Guidelines, which is a publication legal professionals use to help value injuries for claims.

InjurySeverityAmount
LegModerate£26,050 to £36,790
Eye Minor£3,710 to £8,200
NeckModerate (i)£23,460 to £36,120
BackSevere (ii)£69,600 to £82,980
Clavicle(e)£4,830 to £11,490
Pelvis & HipLesser (i)£3,710 to £11,820
HandSerious£27,220 to £58,100
AnkleVery Severe£46,980 to £65,420
KneeSevere (ii)£48,920 to £65,440
ToeSerious£9,010 to £12,900

Compensation for mental and physical injuries is known as general damages.

You could also be awarded special damages as part of your compensation. Special damages are awarded for any financial losses that your injuries have caused. Some examples of what you could claim for can include:

  • Travel expenses (such as to and from the hospital)
  • Adjustments to the home (if you’ve suffered a disability)
  • Medical treatments not covered by the NHS
  • Loss of earnings

You need to provide evidence of costs to claim special damages. For example, this could include payslips to show loss of earnings or receipts for travel expenses.

If you have evidence that justifies a claim against Doncaster Borough Council, why not get in touch?

Making A Data Breach Compensation Claim Against A Council

Here are some useful definitions in regards to data breaches:

  • A data breach is a breach of security causing the loss, destruction, disclosure, alteration of or access to personal information. Personal data is information that can identify you; for example, your name or a photograph of you.
  • A data controller is an organisation that decides how and why your personal information will be used. For example, an employer can be a data controller.
  • A data processor is a separate organisation that the data controller may rely on to process personal data on their behalf.

To make a data breach claim, you would need to prove that there was some form of positive wrongful conduct on the part of the data controller or processor.

A data controller or processor may have shown positive wrongful conduct by, for example, failing to provide data protection training for anyone handling the data. If this leads to a data breach and you suffer as a result, you could claim.

You would also need to prove that you suffered because of the breach. You could claim for financial losses and mental harm (or either).

The UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 are part of data protection legislation in the UK. Both laws outline that personal data should always be protected, no matter who is handling it. If your personal data was not appropriately protected by a council, causing you harm, you could be able to claim.

Some common examples of data breaches could include:

  • Sensitive paperwork containing personal data being lost or stolen
  • Personal data being emailed to the wrong, unauthorised person
  • Incorrect disposal of paperwork or hardware containing personal data

Breaking Down Housing Disrepair Claims Against The Local Council

If your house has been left in disrepair, causing you injury, you could be able to claim, depending on the circumstances.

The Defective Premises Act 1972 requires landlords to prevent damage to property or personal injury that defects in your home could cause. This duty can apply to the inhabitants and visitors.

If the council is obliged to maintain or repair your home, or it has a right to enter the property to do so, it may have a duty of care as outlined in the Act. If it does and knew about repairs needed (or ought to have known) and you suffered an injury as a result of their neglect, you could claim compensation.

Can I Make A No Win No Fee Claim Against Doncaster Borough Council?

No Win No Fee agreements can be very appealing as a way to fund your solicitor’s services. If your solicitor offers their services on a No Win No Fee basis, this means that you will not be required to pay any upfront or ongoing solicitor fees.

Also, if your claim does not succeed, you will not be required to pay any solicitor fees whatsoever. This can be helpful if you’ve already suffered financial losses due to your accident.

Your solicitor would take a success fee from your compensation amount if your claim is successful. They would only deduct this once the full compensation is paid. It will also be discussed beforehand to ensure you know exactly what you’re getting into. The success fee is also capped by law.

Our panel of solicitors offer their services on a No Win No Fee basis. If you’d like to find out more, why not get in touch?

The Time Limit To Make A Claim

The Limitation Act 1980 sets the standard for time limitations for different types of claims. As this article has looked at various claim types, we will discuss the time limitations attached to them individually.

To make a personal injury claim, the time limitation is generally 3 years from the accident date or from the date of knowledge. The date of knowledge describes the date when you realised that negligence had at least contributed to your injuries.

However, there are a few exceptions, such as in the case of minors or those with diminished mental capacity. For minors, a litigation friend (an eligible adult with the claimant’s best interests at heart) can start a claim on their behalf at any time until they turn 18. When the claimant has turned 18, they then have three years to start a claim themselves if nobody’s already done so.

For those with diminished mental capacity, a litigation friend is also required to make a claim. However, the time limitation is indefinitely suspended. If the claimant recovers their mental capacity, they’d have 3 years to claim from the date of recovery.

For data breach claims, the time limitation is generally 1 year for claims against public bodies like the local council. However, for any non-public bodies, the time limitation can be 6 years.

For housing disrepair claims, the time limitation is again 6 years, generally starting from the date of injury.

For more information on time limitations, get in touch with us today.

Get Advice On A Potential Claim Against Doncaster Borough Council

After reading this article, you may feel that you could be eligible to make a valid claim. Therefore, if you have evidence of a valid claim, get in touch with our team of advisors. They can provide you with expert legal advice about your situation. In addition, they could even pass you on to a solicitor from our panel if they think your claim has a good chance of success.

Get in touch with us now:

Our advisors are available 24/7. What’s more, they offer no-obligation free legal advice.

More Resources On Making A Claim Against Doncaster Borough Council

Thank you for reading our guide exploring what could make a valid claim against Doncaster Borough Council. We hope you found it helpful. This section includes some links that we believe could be helpful.

Find NHS Services Near You – A search for different NHS services.

Shelter – A charity aiming to help people struggling with housing issues.

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) – A government website on how to claim SSP if you’ve had to take time off work due to your injuries.

ICO Action – An informative page on the steps the ICO has taken to improve data security.

Guides On How To Sue The Local Council

If you have any questions about the justifications and evidence you might need to make a claim against Doncaster Borough Council, why not get in touch?

Article by MOR

Edited by VIC