Potholes ‘cost at least £1m a month’

Potholes are costing drivers and insurers at least £1 million a month in total due to massive car repair bills, according to estimates from the AA.

The motoring organisation said the number of pothole-related claims it had seen during the first four months of 2018 alone was more than for the whole of 2017.

Based on its share of Britain’s car insurance market, the broker estimated that nationally, there will have been over 4,200 claims for pothole damage so far this year compared with just over 3,500 estimated claims across last year.

It described the number of potholes as an “epidemic” and a “national embarrassment”.

With an estimated average repair bill of around £1,000 when drivers make a claim, the total this year so far comes to “an eyewatering” £4.2m, it said, or more than £1m per month.