Councils bucking trend of rising payouts over pothole damage
The amount of compensation paid by two councils to drivers for damage to their vehicles caused by potholes has dropped, while across the country it is rising.
Telford & Wrekin Council and Powys County Council both saw their compensation bills drop this year compared to last year. Shropshire Council was unable to provide figures.
Telford & Wrekin paid a total of £13,934 to 100 motorists in the year 2013-14, down on the £28,900 it paid to 154 people in 2012-13. The figure also dropped for Powys which paid £845.99 to 68 people in 2012, £1,116.47 to 109 people in 2013 and just £574.73 to 79 people this year.
A national survey by the insurance group LV= found that councils had spent £5 million in compensation for potholes and road damage in the financial years 2012-13 and 2013-14.
It gathered the figures from Freedom of Information requests to 143 local authorities in the UK and a survey of more than 2,000 people. The report said that councils in some of the areas worst hit by last winter's storms have seen claims for pothole damage rise by 23 per cent.
LV= said more than 26,000 compensation claims were made in the 2012/13 financial year – an increase of 13 per cent on the previous year.
Among the 16 per cent of drivers who had suffered car damage due to poor road surfaces in the past 12 months, the most common problem was tyre damage followed by suspension problems and broken wheel rims. The Local Government Association's transport spokesman Peter Box said: "Despite spiralling multi-million pound compensation costs and funding cuts, councils still fixed two million potholes last year.
"But we need long-term funding to tackle the ever-growing £12 billion roads repair backlog facing the nation."
He went on: "Last year's floods caused widespread destruction on our roads leaving people to drive on crumbling highways that are increasingly unfit for the 21st century."
