Recent claims data released under a freedom of information request has revealed the scale of the additional costs incurred by local authorities who fail to adequately repair the vast number of potholes and other similar defects on their roads. The additional costs are both financial – including repairs to damaged vehicles and equipment – and physical, including payment of compensation to drivers, cyclists and pedestrians who suffer injuries resulting from pothole related incidents. The data reveals that between April 2019 and March 2020, local authorities in England alone paid out around £8.3 million to cover both compensation and legal fees.
In one claim alone one of the poorest performing authorities, Surrey County Council, had to pay compensation of £100,000 to a cyclist who came off their bike having crashed into a pothole in Leith Hill Road, Dorking. Overall, the compensation paid by Surrey County Council represented the largest of 113 individual pothole claims made against the council last year, with the total exceeding £400,000. As an indicator of the scale of the pothole problem, which many expert observers say is getting steadily worse year on year, during the same period the council repaired over 49,000 potholes, at an average cost of around £75 per pothole.
Pothole Claims Compensation
Top 10 Areas The data also reveals the councils and local authorities who paid the most compensation to settle claims made against them for injury and vehicle damage. The top 10 are: 1. Manchester - £1,165,200 2. Derbyshire - £500,900 3. Essex - £472,100 4. Lincolnshire - £452,800 5. Surrey - £403,400 6. Lancashire - £352,600 7. East Sussex - £329,300 8. West Sussex - £317,500 9. St Helens - £225,600 10. Stoke - £215,800 Commenting on the data, a spokesperson for Surrey County Council said: “We have some of the country's busiest roads and this naturally takes its toll but we're working incredibly hard to improve Surrey's roads…This is reflected in our increased investment, with an extra £92m announced in our capital budget for improving and maintaining our roads and pavements over the next few years."
Pothole Injury Claims Advice from Bakers Solicitors
At Bakers we pride ourselves on our experience in representing claimants who have been injured through no fault of their own, helping them to receive compensation that they are properly entitled to. Our professional, friendly road accident claims team will give you an honest, free and ‘plain English’ appraisal of your claim and we love delighting our clients when they receive injury compensation they deserve.
If you would like us to handle your personal injury compensation claim, you can contact us online or by phone on 01252 744600.