Bizarre reasons people tried to claim injury compensation from Lincolnshire councils

Falling off donkeys, walking into noticeboards and getting friction burns from slides are just some of the things people have tried to get compensation for from Greater Lincolnshire councils over the past five years.

A Freedom Of Information request to all the district councils, Lincolnshire County Council and North and North East Lincolnshire councils asked for details of both successful and unsuccessful claims.

The figures reveal Greater Lincolnshire councils have paid at least £263,246.89, however, not all authorities could give all their figures so the final tally is likely to be higher.

East Lindsey District Council was the district with the most claims with 52 incidents reported, however, 18 of those claims were not ELDC’s responsibility.

One person reportedly injured themselves falling off a donkey. Photo: creativecommons.org/Jeffrey Beall

Claims to the authority included a person falling off a donkey, one running into an information board frame, another hitting their head on an ashtray attached to a wall and another tripping on a barrier on the beach.

Its biggest claim over the past five years was for £14,202 for an injury caused after a fall in a car park.

A spokesman for ELDC said: “The amount of public open space owned by East Lindsey District Council is far greater than any other Council in Lincolnshire. As a result, it could be expected that we might receive more claims.

Having said that, we do sometimes receive claims inadvertently where people believe we are responsible for a piece of land.

Of those that responded, the highest successful claim was from North Kesteven District Council who paid out £32,414 for a slip/trip or fall claim.

In total the authority paid out £63,671 to five successful claimants, however, successfully fought off 19 claims totalling more than £187,202.

A total of 24 claims were made to the authority including an injury from a dog bite, a person being struck by a sign in high winds and one not following safe systems of work.

North Kesteven District Council paid out the most in a single compensation claim.

Meanwhile, in the county’s capital someone unsuccessfully tried to claim compensation from the City of Lincoln Council for slipping on bird droppings.

The authority has had to pay out more than £21,000 in compensation, with all of its claims from the past five years taking place in 2014/15.

The most successfully claimed for was £10,128.96 from a fall in a skatepark, while another managed to claim £8,447.99 for cutting their knee on glass.

Other claims included a low-sited sign and a banister giving way (successful), trips on drain covers, falls at home and falls on paving slabs (unsuccessful).

Boston Borough Council has dealt with 16 claims over the past five years. The most it has paid out in that time was £21,060 for a slip, but claims have also included trips and falls – one claim currently open is for a trip over a loose paving slab with the complainant wanting up to £20,000.

Two people in Boston are trying to claim compensation for friction burns gained from slides.

Two others from last year, still open, are for friction burns from slides with the complainants asking for figures of both £2,050 and up to £10,000.

South Kesteven has dealt with 28 claims against it in the past five years with the most paid being £32,205 for a trip. In total it has paid out £146,247.89, but has managed to fight off £332,968 of claims.

West Lindsey District Council has had just one claim over the past five years which was successful in 2016/17 and saw the authority pay out £8,045 for noise induced hearing loss.

Of the three bigger authorities, North East Lincolnshire Council was the only one to return information.

It has had 263 claims made against it over the past five years, however, just seven of those were successful. The most the authority paid out was £10,000 in 2015 – though the claimant had asked for £100,000.

Lincolnshire County Council and North Lincolnshire both refused to answer the FOI claiming that fetching the information would exceed both time limits and cost limits. It is unclear if this is because of a high number of claims or the level of detail within.

• South Holland District Council is yet to respond to the request.

SUBSCRIBE TO LOCAL DEMOCRACY WEEKLY, our exclusive email newsletter with highlights from coverage every week, as well as insights and analysis from our local democracy reporters.