Pot hole claims in Northumberland remain low despite slight increase
by James Robinson · ChronicleLiveThe number of pot hole claims made against Northumberland County Council has increased - but remains lower than most comparable authorities.
Figures provided by the RAC via an FOI request show that the council saw 137 claims in 2023 - an increase of 13% on 2022, when there were 121 claims. However, this was the second lowest out of the 18 councils in the UK with the longest road networks - only Powys in Wales had fewer claims with 107.
In comparison, Surrey saw 3,418 over the same period. According to Government statistics, the county has 3,105 miles of roads. The RAC asked the council to provide the number of successful claims and the average payout, but information was not given.
Coun John Riddle, Northumberland County Council's cabinet member for highways, said: "This is a great position to be in and is testament to our teams out there and to our commitment to tackle potholes. We have had huge challenges following the wettest winter for 200 years and, before then, Storm Arwen both of which caused very serious damage to our roads.
"Given we have over 3,000 miles of roads, many of which are small rural ones, to come out with these results is hugely pleasing and shows that the extra money we have put into our roads has been worth it."
However, nationally the figures show that 13 of the 18 councils that provided Freedom of Information data to the RAC paid out more than £166,000 in legal fees to defend pothole claims from drivers. Lincolnshire County Council alone spent nearly £96,000 defending itself against some of the 1,771 pothole claims it received in 2023.
The RAC's head of policy Simon Williams said: “These findings are a stark reminder that the ongoing poor condition of many of the UK’s local roads is burning holes in the budgets of both local authorities and drivers.
“While some councils appeared to prioritise paying legal fees over settling pothole claims, the cost in time and money of defending claims appears to far outweigh the expense of reimbursing drivers for the damage done to their vehicle in the first place. Even if a driver successfully pursued compensation, the average sum paid out of £260 is often well below the cost to fix a pot hole-damaged car, for anything more serious than a punctured tyre.
“We have long argued that local authorities need greater certainty of funding so they can tackle to the root cause of the UK’s pothole plague. For this reason, we’re pleased they’ll receive £500m to soon start the process of improving their road networks.
"It’s vital that this money is used by councils not to merely fill potholes, but to carry out preventative maintenance – through surface dressing roads at regular intervals to stop roads falling apart in the first place. Roads that are beyond reasonable repair should be resurfaced.”
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