Claims for personal injury or loss or damage to personal possessions

We take claims against us for personal injury or loss or damage to personal possessions very seriously. If you’re considering making such a claim, please read our guide before you submit your claim.

Making a claim

You may claim compensation against us for personal injury or damage to personal property when you can prove that we're legally at fault.

Our Insurance team will deal with all claims made against L&Q and its associated subsidiaries.

Legislation requires us to investigate every claim to establish whether we're liable for the allegation made.

We also work within clearly defined timeframes to determine how your claim should be handled. This is known as the legal pre-action protocol – check the timescales section below for more details.

If we're able to provide evidence of carrying out our legal duties, you will not be entitled to compensation.

For example, if you've been in an accident and there has been a system of regular inspection and prompt repair, we will reject your claim. In addition, a court will likely uphold this decision if the claim progresses that far.

We always consider how a court would determine a claim when we make decisions on whether we’re liable and always provide full evidence to support our decision when we reject claims.

How to contact us

We request that all correspondence be sent by email to our Insurance team.

This includes, where possible, the service of legal claim forms and all other court documents.

If you do not have access to emails, you may post your claim to us at:

Insurance Team
L&Q
29-35 West Ham Lane
Stratford
London E15 4PH

Timescales once you've submitted your claim

You can expect the following responses from us during the pre-action protocol period:

Acknowledgment of your letter

We aim to acknowledge your letter within five working days.

Investigation period to decide on liability

We aim to establish liability within 40 working days from the date we acknowledge your letter. The actual time it takes us will depend on the type of claim we need to investigate.

To investigate your claim fully, we must check:

• inspection and repair records
• other records (previous complaints)
• legal documents, such as contracts and leases
• if a contractor or any other party involved

These investigations can take some time and we cannot influence how long it takes for other parties to respond. We appreciate your patience during this period.

Decision on liability

Once we’ve investigated your claim, we’ll decide whether to offer you compensation, reject your claim or refer it to another party.

If we establish that another party is responsible for your claim, they are, by law, responsible for claims arising from their actions.

We’ll notify you of this and where possible, provide details so that you can refer your claim to the appropriate party. This party is then responsible for dealing with your claim and not us.

If you’re unhappy with the outcome of your claim, please seek legal advice on the matter.

A complaint about the decision made on a claim is a legal matter and will not be considered via our complaints process or the Housing Ombudsman. The appropriate way to challenge a legal decision of ours or our insurer is by seeking legal advice through your solicitor or contacting Citizens Advice.

Fraudulent claims

As part of our fraud prevention processes, we will undertake several enquiries to validate the information you provide us with in connection with your claim.

We’re duty-bound to inform you that under the Fraud Act 2006 (and other legislation) any claim that is found to be false or involves the deliberate and dishonest withholding or exaggeration of material information to gain financial advantage will be reported to the police and/or privately prosecuted by L&Q or its insurers.