Personal injuries

East Sussex County Council is responsible for the inspection and maintenance of roads and footpaths in East Sussex. We have a programme of inspection and maintenance works to repair defects.

Our standards

We have set the following standards to ensure that we meet our responsibilities:

• footways and paved areas that have a ‘trip’ hazard of 25mm (1 inch) high
• roads or carriageways that have a ‘pothole’ hazard of 40mm (1.5 inch) deep and more than 300mm (1 foot) in diameter in the running lane.

This means that we will address defects that fall below these standards.

Reporting a defect

Please tell us about defects or potential hazards by contacting one of the four local highway offices.

Alternatively you can use our fault reporting system.

Reporting a personal injury

If you want to claim against us for a personal injury, you must prove that

• the highway where the incident occurred had not been maintained appropriately (according to its importance and use) and was therefore dangerous
• the defect was the direct cause of your accident.

If these can be proved, then we must show that we took all reasonable steps to ensure the highway was safe. In practice, this means that all inspections and repairs carried out form the basis of our statutory defence against any claim under the Highways Act 1980. We can deny a claim if we believe we can rely on this statutory defence.

If you decide to claim you should contact the appropriate local highway office who will provide you with a claim form. You will need to provide full details of the following:

• exact location of incident
• time, date and weather
• direction of travel, by foot or vehicle – photographs and sketch plan would be helpful
• detail of damage or injury suffered
• why you believe we are responsible for the incident.

For vehicle claims you may also need to provide:

• two independent estimates for repair, unless repair was required immediately
• proof of vehicle ownership
• copy of current MOT and insurance certificate
• date of last service
• any other relevant factors.

When we receive your claim we will:

• acknowledge receipt, and tell you if we have enough information to investigate the claim, within 21 days
• either produce evidence to refute the claim or accept liability, if we have sufficient information, within 90 days.

If the incident has occurred as a result of works carried out by a utility company or contractor, then your claim may be against them and not us. We will tell you if this is the case.