32,600 Compensation Claims Received Over Potholes

Britain's roads are peppered with almost 200,000 potholes, or one for every mile of road in Great Britain, according to official council data obtained via a freedom of information request by Britannia Rescue.

The combination of a harsh winter followed by a dry summer has particularly harmed road surfaces and exacerbated the problem.

UK councils have received 32,600 compensation claims in the past financial year for everything from potholes ruining wheel rims, to puncturing tyres and damaging suspension – an increase of 79% from the previous financial year.

Compensation claims for car damage resulting from potholes are costing councils a small fortune. The data shows that local authorities in England, Wales and Scotland paid out a total of £2.5 million in compensation for pothole or other road damage in the past financial year. One of the country’s largest local authorities, Lincolnshire County Council, reported pay-outs amounting to more than £358,665 in 2012/13 alone.

Councils say King Lane in Leeds, the B6273 South Moor Road / Moor Lane in Barnsley and Holly Lane in Banstead are some of the worst roads for potholes in the UK.

The problem is that road maintenance in the UK is severely under-funded with around £16 spent per driver on maintaining road surfaces and fixing potholes – less than 10% of the annual road tax bill. Short-term fixes are often chosen over longer term solutions, with close to a quarter (23%) of councils admitting they usually temporarily fix potholes rather than resurface the area. The average cost of repairing a pothole is around £50, meaning the amount paid out by councils in compensation could have been used to repair more than 50,000 potholes.

In the past 12 months, one in ten (9%) people say their car has been damaged as a result of poor road surfaces with the average repair costing £140. The most common problems are tyre damage (43%), damaged suspension (34%) and damaged wheel rims (26%).

Peter Horton, Britannia Rescue Managing Director, said: "Britain's pothole epidemic has resulted from years of underinvestment in our roads and has been exacerbated by recent harsh winters. Local authorities face difficult choices in the roads they prioritise for repair and we now have around 200,000 potholes on UK roads. Motorists should protect themselves and their vehicles by reducing their speed on potholed roads, and also reporting damaged roads to their local council."

(CD/IT)