Pothole pitfalls costs motorists £1.7bn last year - Worst areas of the nation revealed​

The analysis by RIFT shows that the propensity of hitting a pothole could be all the higher at present, as there’s been an 18% year on year drop in the number of potholes being filled by local authorities across England and Wales. 

Last year (2022-23), just 1.4m potholes were eradicated from our roads and while this may seem like a lot, it’s 300,000 less than the 1.7m filled the year before and significantly less than the peak of 2.7m filled per year seen back in 2014-15. 

As a result, the total sum spent on making our road surfaces acceptable totalled £93.7bn last year, a 13% cut on the money invested into tarmac the previous year. Why? With the average cost of filling a pothole climbing from £63.18 to £66.93 annually, the data suggests cost saving measures from local councils could be to blame.

So what’s the result of local authorities putting off their pothole maintenance? Well, research from Kwik Fit has found that in the last year alone, 13.3m cars were damaged due to potholes, with the average repair bill coming in at £127. That’s a total cost of almost £1.7bn to the nation's motorists.

According to the latest data, Northumberland is the nation’s pothole hotspot with 51,703, followed by Cornwall (24,836) and North Yorkshire (22,094). 

However, on an annual basis, the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham has seen a 118% increase in the number of potholes posing a potential danger to motorists, followed by the neighbouring borough of Kensington and Chelsea which ranks second with a 107% increase.

Bracknell Forest in the South East ranks third nationally with an increase of 88%, with Nottingham (+75%) seeing the fourth largest increase nationally and the largest jump in the East Midlands.

Halton ranks sixth overall and has seen the largest pothole increase in the North West at 65%, while other areas to make the top 10 include Havering (+68%), Greenwich (+47%), Southampton (+47%), Lambeth (+47%) and Southwark (+45%).

Middlesbrough in the North East (+28%), Wiltshire in the South West (+16%), Central Bedfordshire in the East of England (+12%) also rank within the top 20. 

Certainly, you can take steps to reduce the potential risks. However, there are situations where factors beyond your influence come into play. In such cases, you might have the opportunity to file a claim for any resulting damages.

Potholes can cause wheel cracks, damage and alignment issues, as well as problems with your suspension. 

If you do hit a pot hole, you should: -

• Check for any visible damage as soon as it is safe to do so. 
• Check for any vibrations while driving and if your steering is properly aligned, or if it’s pulling to one side. 
• If you believe there has been damage caused, take it to a garage as soon as possible to verify this. 

• When looking to claim for pothole damage, you should first of all return to the pot hole in question. Take notes and, if safe to do so, photos of the pot hole. 
• It’s also a good idea to include an object to give a sense of scale to the pot hole. 
• Take note of the exact location and it’s also a good idea to include contact details for any witnesses if applicable

• It’s important that you let your local county, city or borough council know about the pothole. 
• England and Wales: https://www.gov.uk/report-pothole
• Scotland: https://www.mygov.scot/report-pothole 
• Northern Ireland: https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/services/report-pothole-or-other-surface-defect 

• Always secure a number of quotes to compare prices.
• Keep copies of all quotes, invoices and receipts as evidence when making your claim as you may well be able to claim compensation from the council. 
• Write to the council responsible for fixing the pothole and include all the information from the incident itself to the repair of your vehicle. 
• The local highway authority can’t be held responsible for a pothole they didn’t know about, so reporting it is key. 
• You will need to argue that the council has failed in its responsibility to keep you safe by fixing large potholes within the area. 
• If they reject your claim, you have the right to appeal and when doing so, ask for the council’s road inspection report when reclaiming.