Public liability claims made against National Highways
Case reference FOI2026/00676
Received 4 May 2026
Published 11 October 2026
Request
Please provide the following information in relation to public liability claims made against National Highways over the past five years:
1. The total number of claims relating to pedestrian accidents, including slips, trips, and falls, occurring on land or infrastructure managed by National Highways (including footways, footbridges, service areas, and pedestrian access routes).
2. A breakdown of these claims by location type, where available (e.g. footways, footbridges, crossings, service areas).
3. The total amount paid out in compensation for these claims.
4. The average compensation payment per successful claim.
5. The highest single compensation payment made.
6. The number of claims that were:
* Settled with compensation
* Defended and rejected
1. Any available information on the most common causes of these incidents (e.g. surface defects, potholes, drainage issues, contamination, inadequate maintenance).
2. Any available data relating specifically to:
* Changes in level
* Surface deterioration
* Wet or contaminated surfaces
Response
1. The total number of claims relating to pedestrian accidents, including slips, trips, and falls, occurring on land or infrastructure managed by National Highways (including footways, footbridges, service areas, and pedestrian access routes).
We have recorded 15 claims linking to pedestrian incidents in the last 5 years.
2. A breakdown of these claims by location type, where available (e.g. footways, footbridges, crossings, service areas).
|
Claim Location Type |
Total |
|---|---|
|
Footway |
7 |
|
Cycle Path |
4 |
|
Hardshoulder |
1 |
|
Crossing |
2 |
|
Footbridge |
1 |
|
Total |
15 |
3. The total amount paid out in compensation for these claims.
We've accepted liability and settled £3435.00 in total on these claims.
4. The average compensation payment per successful claim.
The average accepted liability settlement figures are £1,145.00 on these claims.
5. The highest single compensation payment made.
The highest single accepted liability settlement is £1800.00.
6. The number of claims that were:
* Settled with compensation
We have accepted liability on 3 claims in total.
* Defended and rejected
We have denied / rejected liability on 10 claims in total.
1. Any available information on the most common causes of these incidents (e.g. surface defects, potholes, drainage issues, contamination, inadequate maintenance).
|
Incident Cause |
Total |
|---|---|
|
Road Surface |
2 |
|
Slip/Trip/Fall |
2 |
|
Lighting |
2 |
|
Man Hole/Iron Works |
2 |
|
Drainage/Flooding |
1 |
|
Road Sign/Traffic Cone |
1 |
|
Winter Maintenance (Carriageways) - Ice |
1 |
|
Cycle Path -Vegetation |
1 |
|
Blank |
1 |
|
Pedestrian Guard Rail |
1 |
|
Road Pavements & other NH Land |
1 |
|
Grand Total |
15 |
2. Any available data relating specifically to:
*Changes in level
*Surface deterioration
* Wet or contaminated surfaces
Unfortunately, we have no available data to show these specific elements, as such in accordance with Section 1(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, National Highways does not hold the information that you requested.
Advice and Assistance
Please note the following areas to consider with the data provided:
• Data outputs rely on claims information being captured or available
• All data taken from our Claims Management System (CMS/CRM)
• Only showing data linking to the red claims where description of incident or description of cause is relating to pedestrian / pedestrians only. Manual filtering of data/information was completed to populate figures.
• The timeframe used was incidents recorded between 1st April 2021 to 5th May 2026, or last 5 years as requested.
Documents
This is National Highways' response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
You can browse our other responses or make a new FOI request.