Councils should fix the roads rather than pay out for pothole-damaged cars

LAST year, a driver made a claim against a council every 17 minutes, due to their car being damaged by a pothole. We all know the state of our roads is poor, but that figure is startling.

This translates to 85 claims in a day, almost 600 in a week and just over 31,000 in a year. It’s a wonder councils have time to do anything other than deal with compensation requests.

Perhaps the way they keep the paperwork moving is their penchant for rejecting claims, as just a quarter end up successful. That means some 23,000 motorists were left out of pocket over the last year because the council didn’t see fit to foot the bill for their pothole-damaged motors.

Of course, some areas are better and more generous than others. If you’re caught with a buckled wheel or snapped suspension in Bolton or Herefordshire, then your luck is in, with a 100 per cent success rate. But in Barking and Dagenham, Bristol, Bromley or Darlington no claims at all were successful.

It’s little wonder councils fight against cases, though, as claims cost on average £400. Start signing off on several of these, and the bill soon adds up. Just ask bean counters in Surrey, who spent £143,060 on claims in the last year – the highest in the UK.

In total, £1,784,238 was paid out in 2015-16 by councils in England, Scotland and Wales, and with a pothole repair estimated to cost £40, you have to wonder if councils would be better served fixing some 44,000 potholes than having to shell out on compensation. Sure, it’d be a drop in the ocean compared to what’s needed to fix the roads. But it’d be a start.

“Surrey spent £143,060 on claims in the last year, which was the highest total in the UK”