25 December 2023 , 22:30
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Drivers made 63 compensation claims a day for pothole damage last year, figures reveal today.
More than 23,000 claims were made by drivers in England last year, whose cars were damaged by crater-filled roads. Data obtained through freedom of information requests shows the number of claims rose to 23,042 in 2022/23, almost double the 13,579 complaints the previous year.
Meanwhile, compensation paid out to motorists rose to £1.77million in 2022/23, up 6% from £1.66million the previous year. The Liberal Democrats, who obtained the figures from 85 local authorities in England, accused the Government of overseeing a "pothole pandemic on our roads".
Rishi Sunak inspects a pothole during a visit to Darlington earlier this year (PA)Surrey County Council had the highest number of payout claims with 2,351 in 2022/23, more than triple the previous year. This was followed by Essex County Council with 1,701, and West Sussex with 1,639.
Some councils are also making massive payouts for pothole damage. Last year, Stoke-on-Trent City Council had one payout of almost £40,000, more than any other council. Leeds City Council had a single pothole payout of £36,000, Kensington and Chelsea had a payout of £26,000 and Surrey County Council of £31,000.
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Liberal Democrat local government spokesperson Helen Morgan said: “This Conservative government has overseen a pothole pandemic on our roads. It’s now become almost impossible to drive in some parts of the country without having to swerve to avoid potholes.
“This has led to thousands of drivers having to claim for damage to their vehicles or even personal injury caused by crater-filled roads. The Government is firmly to blame for this failure to maintain our roads properly after having slashed funding for local road repairs.
She warned that cash-strapped councils were struggling to fund road repairs - and called for funding for highway maintenance budgets to be urgently restored.
A Department for Transport spokeswoman said: "We are investing an extra £8.3 billion to resurface roads across the country, the biggest ever funding increase for local road maintenance. This is enough to resurface more than 5,000 miles of roads and is on top of the more than £5.5 billion that we have already invested in highway maintenance."