Request ID: FOI-2930-2223 Date published: 08 March 2023
You asked
Follow-on from FOI-2649-2223:
- I require information on incidents where liability was accepted in 2022;
- the request is for whatever you capture the information in (i.e. if you do 2022 calendar year then that, if you do financial year, then that - ideally the former)
- the claims you i am requesting information for are linked to all events captured that would fall under FOI and accessible under FOI
We answered
Our Ref: FOI-2930-2223
Thank you for your request received on 9 February 2023 asking for information about public liability and compensation.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and our information access policy. I can confirm we do hold the information you require.
Unfortunately, to provide the information you have requested would still exceed the ‘appropriate limit’ of £450 set by the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.
Under section 12 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to comply with a request if we estimate that the cost of determining whether we hold the information, locating and retrieving it and extracting it from other information would exceed the appropriate limit. This is calculated at £25 per hour for every hour spent on the activities described.
We have estimated that it would cost over £450 to provide a response to your current request. This is because it is estimated that it would take in excess of 18 working hours to retrieve and compile the information you have requested.
As previously advised, we are unable to report on whether a formal admission or acceptance of liability has been made due to the way that this information is recorded. We estimate that there are approximately 1,500 files that are captured by your narrowed request and these would all need to be manually reviewed to determine whether such an admission or acceptance was made. Please note that most claims are successfully defended, and those that we are required to settle are, more often than not, settled on a “without prejudice to liability” basis.
Any future requests that ask for information on cases were liability was admitted or accepted is likely to raise concerns about the appropriate limit being reached to answer it. Therefore you may instead wish to request information on how many claims had compensation payments made in 2022, and what the overall cost of these were. Please note however that we would not be able to provide information in relation to Docklands Light Railway, Crossrail or incidents involving buses as such incidents are not managed by TfL or their contracted claims handlers.
Although your request can take the form of a question, rather than a request for specific documents, we do not have to answer your question if it would require the creation of new information or the provision of a judgement, explanation, advice or opinion that was not already recorded at the time of your request.
Please note that we will not be taking further action until we receive your revised request.
In the meantime, if you have any queries or would like to discuss your request, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely
Gemma Jacob Senior FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
