Insurance Premiums and Claims Data

The request was partially successful.

Dear Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council,

Would I be able to have the following information on insurance premiums and claims?

1. The Public Liability premium (inclusive of IPT) for the Council in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017.
2. The total number of claims for Public Liability in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017.
3. The total value of all Public Liability claims (paid and reserved) in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017.
4. The Employers’ Liability premium (inclusive of IPT) for the Council in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017.
5. The total number of claims for Employers’ Liability in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017.
6. The total value of all Employers’ Liability claims (paid and reserved) in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017.

Thank you very much for your assistance.

Yours faithfully,

M Seaton

InformationRights, Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council

Dear Mr Seaton,

 

 

Thank you for your request for information about Insurance Premiums and
Claims Data, which was received on 01 December 2017.

 

In accordance with provisions within Freedom of Information Act 2000, the
council will respond to your request within 20 working days, saying
whether we have the information that you want, and if there will be any
charges. 

 

If, for any reason, we cannot provide you with the information, we will
tell you why. If we need to clarify your request, we will contact you
again.

 

In the meantime, if you need to contact me about your request, please do
so quoting the above reference number.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Fakhara Qanwal

 

InformationRights, Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council

Dear Mr M Seaton,

 

Freedom of Information Request RFI1500/17

 

Please accept my sincerest apologies for the delay in responding to your
Freedom of Information Request, I hope this information is still of use to
you. Please note that the information given in this response is as at the
date of your request. If you do have any queries or additional questions
regarding the information that has been provided please do not hesitate to
contact me direct on the details at the bottom of this email.

 

Further to your request for information about Insurance Premiums and
Claims Data I can tell you the following:

 

1.    The Public Liability premium (inclusive of IPT) for the Council in

 

a.    2008               

b.    2009

c.    2010

d.    2011

e.    2012

f.     2013

g.    2014

h.    2015

i.      2016

j.      2017

 

Disclosing our Public Liability premium could prejudice the next
procurement of this policy. Please see the refusal notice and the
exemption set out below.

 

2.    The total number of claims for Public Liability in

 

k.    2008                -           476

l.      2009                -           531

m.   2010                -           603

n.    2011                -           461

o.    2012                -           458

p.    2013                -           437

q.    2014                -           413

r.     2015                -           306

s.     2016                -           213

t.      2017                -           195

 

3.    The total value of all Public Liability claims (paid and reserved)
in

 

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Year |Paid |Outstanding |
|-------------+----------------------------+-----------------------------|
|2008 |552,549.31 |67,756.00 |
|-------------+----------------------------+-----------------------------|
|2009 |802,983.77 |13,033.00 |
|-------------+----------------------------+-----------------------------|
|2010 |670,733.68 |0.00 |
|-------------+----------------------------+-----------------------------|
|2011 |923,650.71 |7,000.00 |
|-------------+----------------------------+-----------------------------|
|2012 |1,423,683.74 |0.00 |
|-------------+----------------------------+-----------------------------|
|2013 |967,066.23 |601,795.40 |
|-------------+----------------------------+-----------------------------|
|2014 |670,922.01 |189,519.00 |
|-------------+----------------------------+-----------------------------|
|2015 |261,755.34 |491,906.00 |
|-------------+----------------------------+-----------------------------|
|2016 |140,632.68 |532,166.54 |
|-------------+----------------------------+-----------------------------|
|2017 |38,655.86 |644,292.50 |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

4.    The Employers’ Liability premium (inclusive of IPT) for the Council
in

 

a.    2008

b.    2009

c.    2010

d.    2011

e.    2012

f.     2013

g.    2014

h.    2015

i.      2016

j.      2017

 

Disclosing our Employer’s Liability premium could prejudice the next
procurement of this policy. Please see the refusal notice and the
exemption set out below.

 

5.    The total number of claims for Employers’ Liability in

 

a.    2008                -           29

b.    2009                -           36

c.    2010                -           32

d.    2011                -           18

e.    2012                -           14

f.     2013                -           18

g.    2014                -           22

h.    2015                -           9

i.      2016                -           6

j.      2017                -           12

 

6.    The total value of all Employers’ Liability claims (paid and
reserved) in

 

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Year |Paid |Outstanding |
|-------------+----------------------------+-----------------------------|
|2008 |163,938.27 |0.00 |
|-------------+----------------------------+-----------------------------|
|2009 |218,603.08 |32,166.00 |
|-------------+----------------------------+-----------------------------|
|2010 |188,631.57 |0.00 |
|-------------+----------------------------+-----------------------------|
|2011 |86,907.17 |0.00 |
|-------------+----------------------------+-----------------------------|
|2012 |79,512.20 |0.00 |
|-------------+----------------------------+-----------------------------|
|2013 |119,903.09 |38,381.60 |
|-------------+----------------------------+-----------------------------|
|2014 |66,913.51 |44,826.00 |
|-------------+----------------------------+-----------------------------|
|2015 |17,989.20 |116,136.60 |
|-------------+----------------------------+-----------------------------|
|2016 |5,369.00 |28,416.00 |
|-------------+----------------------------+-----------------------------|
|2017 |0.00 |86,799.50 |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

Section 43(2) of the Act sets out an exemption from the right to know if
release of the information is likely to prejudice the commercial interests
of any person (A person may be an individual, a company, the public
authority itself or any other legal entity). Section 43 is a qualified
exemption, it is therefore subject to the public interest. That means we
are also obliged to consider whether the ‘public interest’ in withholding
the information outweighs the ‘public interest’ in disclosing it.

 

For the Council commercial interest relates to the ability to participate
competitively in commercial activities, i.e. the purchase and sale of
goods or services and it is the Council’s view that the price or amount
that the Council has paid for services is directly linked to the Council’s
ability to participate competitively in the market place and is therefore
likely to have an adverse affect on ‘public purse’. The Council operates
within competitive environment and the release of fees paid for liability
premiums is likely to have a direct impact on future charges levied on the
Council by other firms in this market for this type of work by distorting
the market and making it inherently uncompetitive.  If this information
were to be released into the public domain, suppliers of these services
will undoubtedly be encouraged to raise their prices resulting in a
‘ratchet effect and a direct prejudice of the council’s ability to
bargain. It is inevitable that where suppliers are privy to information
setting out how much the Council has been paying, they are highly likely
to use this information to judge ‘ the depth of the Council’s purse’ and
seek to demand higher fees in the future for similar work.   

 

In addition as the this is part of an ongoing process, the release of this
information is likely to adversely affect the Council’s ability to bargain
in regard to costs charged for future services relating to this matter. It
is common practice in this market that professionals will seek to base
their charges around what the Council has been prepared to pay in the past
and therefore seek to charge well over and above any costs already
incurred.

 

In considering whether the public interest would be serviced by releasing
this information we have given due regard to the  presumption of
disclosure of publicly held information and the ongoing duty of public
bodies to  facilitate accountability and transparency in the spending of
public money. However we have also given regard to an overriding duty to
preserve the ‘public purse’ and wherever possible seek to make the most
effective use of public money to obtain value for money. Disclosure of the
information in this case is therefore likely to hinder the ability of the
Council and other public authorities to be able to negotiate commercial
agreements, by damaging their ability to carry out business deals and
negotiations effectively, contrary to the interests of the taxpayer and
the local community.

 

It is therefore the Council’s view that withholding this information,
under s.43(2) is a reasonable and appropriate measure to ensure that
increased pressure is not exerted on Council budgets by the release of
such information.

 

Most of the information that we provide in response to Freedom of
Information Act 2000 and Environmental Information Regulations 2004
requests will be subject to copyright protection.  In most cases the
copyright will be owned by Walsall Council. The copyright in respect of
other information may be owned by another person or organisation, as
indicated.

 

You are free to use any information supplied to you in response to this
request for your own non-commercial research or private study purposes.
The information may also be used for any other purpose allowed by a
limitation or exception in copyright law, such as news reporting.
 However, any other type of re-use, for example by publishing the
information in analogue or digital form, including on the internet, will
require the permission of the copyright owner.

 

I hope that the information provided is useful to you. However, if you are
dissatisfied, you should set out in writing your grounds for complaint and
send to: Information Risk & Governance Manager, Business Change, Civic
Centre, Darwall Street, Walsall, WS1 1TP.

 

If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for a decision.
Please remember that, generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you
have first exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the council. The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9
5AF. [1]https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/

 

Yours sincerely

 

Laurie Andrews

 

 

Laurie Andrews

Assurance Officer

Assurance Team, Resources and Transformation, Walsall Council, Civic
Centre, 3rd Floor (HR Suite), Darwall Street, Walsall WS1 1TP

Tel: 01922  65 5978

Fax: 01922  614210

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References

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