Croydon Council has paid out £1.4 million in personal injury claims over three years and recorded more claims than any other London borough during the same period, new data reveals.
Croydon recorded 1,213 claims from members of the public between 2022 and 2025, paying out an average of £6,812.54 for each of the 205 claims it settled.
Highway-related incidents account for the largest category of claims against Croydon, but the council says this is linked to the borough’s large road and footpath network.
Data obtained through Freedom of Information requests by Personal Injury Solicitors London showed that Croydon Council recorded 1,023 claims over the three-year period.
However this was actually fewer than the 1,213 confirmed by the council itself when asked by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).
Claimants have up to three years from the date of an incident to bring a claim, meaning new cases can relate to incidents from previous years. The council said this rolling process may explain the discrepancy in the figures.
Croydon recorded considerably more claims than the other 24 London boroughs that responded to the request, with Barnet ranking second with 422.
However, Croydon’s £1.4 million spend on settled personal injury claims was not the highest in London during this period. The data revealed that Ealing paid out the most, at £2,089,522, followed by Hillingdon at £2,075,697.15 and Lewisham at £1,820,155.
The council said that settlement figures can fluctuate over time, as some claims involve interim payments before a final settlement is reached. As a result, both claim numbers and settlement costs are subject to regular change.
Defending their record, a council spokesperson told the LDRS: “Every injury matters, but the number of claims submitted should not be confused with the number upheld.”
Of the 1,213 public liability claims Croydon Council received between 2022 and 2025, the vast majority (1,008) were rejected.
The spokesperson added: “Comparisons between councils need to account for population, the scale of the services and infrastructure they manage, and whether the same categories of claim have been included.”
Croydon currently maintains 726km of roads and 1,235km of footpaths, the largest network of any London borough.
However, the volume and cost of the personal injury claims have prompted criticism from political opponents. Stuart King, leader of Croydon’s Labour opposition, said: “The council’s settlement of public liability claims worth £1.4 million since Mayor Jason Perry took office raises legitimate questions about the protection of public money and the effectiveness of its risk management.”
He added: “The Mayor needs to come clean on why those claims arose, whether incidents could have been prevented and what action has been taken to stop the same problems recurring.”
In response, the council said decisive action was under way to repair road surfaces and prevent accidents. It also said its latest figures showed that personal injury claims had fallen by approximately 20 per cent.
The spokesperson added: “The council has approved a £17.5 million highways improvement programme for 2026/27, repaired more than 3,000 potholes this year and introduced a dedicated ‘pothole patrol’ to identify and repair defects throughout the year.”
The data gathered by Personal Injury Solicitors London found that the 25 responding London councils received a combined 6,691 claims over the three-year period.
Patrick Mallon, a solicitor at the firm, told the LDRS that these figures “show the importance of local councils upholding their statutory duty to both their employees and their residents”.
“We’ve seen far too many avoidable accidents happen over the years. Even simple slips, trips and falls have the potential to turn someone’s life upside down,” he added.
“We turn to our councils for help and support and to keep us safe in our neighbourhoods. We hope that in shining a light on these figures, more action can be taken to ensure public and employee safety.”
