Compensation for damage caused by council-owned trees
Case reference EIR2026/01574
Received 27 July 2026
Published 27 August 2026
Request
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please provide the following information concerning claims alleging that trees owned by the council, or situated on council-owned land, caused subsidence or other damage to property.
Please include claims handled by the council’s insurers where this information is held by or on behalf of the council.
For each of the financial years 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26, please provide:
1. The number of claims received during that financial year.
2. The total amount paid in compensation or settlement during that financial year.
For the FIVE largest compensation or settlement payments made during the three-year period, please provide:
A. The financial year in which the payment was made.
B. The amount paid.
C. The type of damage alleged.
D. The species of tree involved, where recorded.
E. Whether the tree was felled, pruned or retained.
F. A brief existing anonymised description of the claim, where held.
Please include payments relating to claims received before the requested period if the payment itself was made during the requested period.
Response
Thank you for your recent request under the Freedom of Information Act.
Please find the answers to your queries below:
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please provide the following information concerning claims alleging that trees owned by the council, or situated on council-owned land, caused subsidence or other damage to property.
Please include claims handled by the council’s insurers where this information is held by or on behalf of the council.
For each of the financial years 2023/24, 2024/25 and 2025/26, please provide:
1. The number of claims received during that financial year.
&
2. The total amount paid in compensation or settlement during that financial year.
|
|
2023/24 |
2024/25 |
2025/26 |
|
Claims to insurers |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
Compensation paid |
£0 |
£0 |
£0 |
For the FIVE largest compensation or settlement payments made during the three-year period, please provide:
Only one other tree related claim was settled in the above three-year period. The claim was received in the financial year 2019/20:
A. The financial year in which the payment was made.
2023/24.
B. The amount paid.
£1,674.00 – defence costs only.
C. The type of damage alleged.
Building subsidence.
D. The species of tree involved, where recorded.
Not recorded.
E. Whether the tree was felled, pruned or retained.
Tree removed.
F. A brief existing anonymised description of the claim, where held.
Alleged building subsidence – our tree was removed however liability was denied and the payment was defence costs only.
Yours sincerely,
FOI Team
Guildford Borough Council
Documents
This is Guildford Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
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