Claims for compensation for potholes have DOUBLE in a year, but 76% of municipalities refused to pay out

Research has shown that claims for pothole compensation have doubled in one year, but most municipalities reject them.

Worse still, this could be just the tip of the iceberg.

A Freedom of Information request filed by the RAC has revealed that claims for pothole compensation made to 18 local authorities with the longest road network in Britain more than doubled in the 12 months between 2022 and 2023 are.

The bad news for fed up drivers is that the chances of a successful claim for pothole compensation are slim, with 76 percent of councils refusing more than three-quarters of the claims they received last year.

The municipalities paid out only 15 percent of all damage claims received in 2023.

It comes after the chancellor’s £500 million commitment to potholes in the autumn budget was branded ‘a drop in the ocean’.

The FOI to 21 councils (18 of which responded) – covering almost 92,200 miles of local roads – found compensation claims skyrocketed from 8,327 to 20,432 between 2022 and 2023.

Despite the huge increase in the number of claims year-on-year, 17 municipalities paid only 3,131 of the 20,432 claims submitted by drivers in 2023.

The RAC estimates this amounts to a total of around £824,000, paid out at an average of just £260 per claim.

This doesn’t help drivers much, as it’s about 43 percent less than the amount drivers can expect to pay.

According to data from the RAC garage, drivers will have to pay up to around £460 for pothole damage – if their car needs to be repaired for something more serious than a flat tire.

RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: ‘These findings are a stark reminder that the continued poor condition of many of Britain’s local roads is burning holes in the budgets of both local authorities and motorists.’

How successful is your claim for compensation from a municipality likely to be? And which municipalities will be least inclined to award compensation?

The FOI data shows that just 13 of the 17 councils (76 percent) that paid drivers any compensation for pothole damage rejected more than three-quarters of the claims they received in 2023.

Surrey refused the largest number of road damages claims last year, rejecting 86 per cent (2,954) of the 3,418 claims it received in 2023. Only Shropshire Council paid more than 30 percent of the compensation claims received, paying 68 percent. of 546 claims in 2023

Unfortunately, it is highly unlikely that your claim for pothole compensation will be successful.

The FOI data shows that just 13 of the 17 councils (76 percent) that paid drivers any compensation for pothole damage refused more than three-quarters of the claims they received in 2023.

As claims for pothole damage have increased, the number of claims rejected by municipalities has also slowly increased. Between 2021 and 2023, the average number of denied claims increased by five percentage points, from 76 to 81 percent.

And the RAC also found that five councils were refusing claims for nine in 10 potholes in 2023.

Gloucestershire County Council refused 98 percent of its 829 claims; Essex County Council refused 95 percent of its 2,560 claims; Kent and Cornwall Councils both refused 92 per cent of their respective 1,884 and 407 claims and Powys County Council refused 90 per cent of 107 claims.

Surrey refused the largest number of road damages claims last year, rejecting 86 per cent (2,954) of the 3,418 claims it received in 2023.

Only Shropshire Council paid more than 30 percent of the compensation claims it received, paying 68 percent of 546 claims in 2023.

Why do municipalities refuse to pay pothole compensation claims?

An RAC survey earlier this year found that 206 councils were taking different approaches to identifying and repairing potholes

The RAC also asked councils how many compensation claims they refused because they were unaware of the pothole in question, under section 58 2d of the Highways Act 1980.

Of the 8,172 claims for compensation rejected by the nine municipalities that answered the question, an overwhelming majority – 74 percent (6,028) – were rejected on these grounds.

Gloucestershire and Hertfordshire councils both stated that any claim (100 percent) they refused was because they did not know a particular pothole existed.

How many claims were there per kilometer of road?

Eighteen municipalities have provided data on the number of claims per kilometer of road.

Surrey received the equivalent of one pothole claim for every kilometer of its 5,410 kilometer road network – a total of 3,418 claims in 2023.

Hampshire, Essex and Hertfordshire all received a pothole claim for every two miles of their respective 5,641, 5,188 and 3,110 miles of roads.

Hampshire had 2,654 claims, Essex 2,560 and Hertfordshire received 1,914 in 2023.

Kent and Lincolnshire had claims for every three miles of their 5,822 and 5,559 mile networks, with a total of 1,884 and 1,771 claims respectively.

Meanwhile, Gloucestershire had claims for every four miles of its 3,496-mile stretch, making a total of 829 claims last year.

Municipalities spend so much on legal costs: should they just pay pothole claims?

Last year, 13 of the 18 councils that responded to the FOI paid more than £166,000 in legal fees defending against drivers’ pothole claims.

The biggest chunk of this was Lincolnshire County Council, which spent almost £96,000 defending against some of the 1,771 pothole claims it received in 2023.

Devon County Council was the second biggest spender, albeit at a much lower figure of £33,232, while Essex County Council spent almost £20,000 (£19,685).

All other authorities spent less than £10,000.

Williams noted: ‘Although some municipalities appeared to prioritize paying legal fees over settling pothole claims, the time and monetary costs of defending claims appear to far outweigh the costs of compensating drivers for the damage done to their vehicle at all.

‘Even if a driver successfully pursues compensation, the average figure of £260 is often well below the cost of repairing a hole-in-the-wall car for something more serious than a flat tyre.’