Our Ref:          FOI-4424-1718

Thank you for your request received on 7 February 2018 asking for information about personal injury claims. I apologise for the delay in my response.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm we do hold the information you require. You asked:
 
• Please disclose the amount paid in compensation in the financial years 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17 for personal injuries to TfL employees
• Please disclose how many individual claims this represented in each year
 
Please see the requested information below:
FINANCIAL YEAR TOTAL COMPENSATION PAID PER YEAR Number of Claims
2014-2015 536,512.94  62
2015-2016 688,376.51  55
2016-2017 813,619.73  42
Grand Total 2,038,509.18  159
 
• In each case in 2016/17 please disclose the amount paid in compensation;
• In each case in 2016/17 please disclose the total known cost of legal fees paid and the total overall (for all successful claims);
• In each case in 2016/17 please disclose the nature of the claim - for example: slipped on wet floor.
 
In accordance with the FOI Act, we are not obliged to supply the requested information as it is subject to a statutory exemption to the right of access to information under section 43(2).
 
In this instance the exemption has been applied as disclosure of the information you have requested is commercially sensitive. If the amount of compensation paid for a claim was disclosed then this information could be used to inflate the amount of a claim if the claimant believed other similar claims had received a higher amount.
 
The use of this exemption is subject to an assessment of the public interest in relation to the disclosure of the information concerned. We recognise the need for openness and transparency by public authorities and that there is some public interest in knowing how much has been awarded in compensation claim. However, each claim is taken on its own merit and disclosure of this information could make people unwilling to accept a reasonable offer. In this instance the public interest in ensuring that TfL is not subject to over inflated claims that could affect our available public funds outweighs the general public interest in increasing transparency of our processes.
 
If this is not the information you are looking for please feel free to contact me.
 
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.

Yours sincerely

Gemma Jacob
FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London
[email protected]