Four-fold increase in pothole compensation with £330,000 paid out over the past eight months
- Highways England pay out huge sum to motorists after severe winter weather
- New figures published revealed only £82,000 was paid out in the whole of 2017
- Claims included damage to shock absorbers and broken suspension springs
Motorists have claimed almost £330,000 in compensation for damage caused to their vehicles by potholes on England’s main roads.
Highways England has forked out the huge figure in the past eight months – a four-fold increase on the amount handed out to drivers in the whole of 2017.
The government agency which manages the country’s motorways and major A-roads has blamed the rise on severe weather damaging road surfaces earlier in the year.
The new figures have been published following a Freedom of Information request.
Some £329,000 was paid out between April 1 and November 30, compared with £82,000 in the previous 12 months.
It said the rise in payouts from 2017/18 to 2018/19 so far was due to severe weather at the start of 2018, with many claims processed after April 1.
Parts of the country saw freezing conditions brought by the so-called Beast from the East in February and March.
Damaged shock absorbers, broken suspension springs and distorted wheels are among the most common vehicle problems caused by potholes.
The number of potholes recorded on Highways England’s network rose from 11,000 in 2017 to 16,000 in the first 11 months of 2018.
A Highways England spokeswoman said: ‘Safety is our top priority and we know that good quality road surface is important to the four million drivers that use our roads each day.
‘We set stringent standards for pothole repairs on our roads, and also regularly inspect our roads to help reduce the potential for potholes to form.
‘Since April 2015 we have resurfaced over 3,000 miles of our network and plan to resurface over 1,000 miles this financial year.’
RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said: ‘Severe winter weather undoubtedly wreaks havoc on the roads, especially those that are not in top condition, but it’s shocking to see that a 46% rise in reported potholes has led to four times as much being paid out in compensation claims on Highways England managed roads.
‘We encourage Highways England to look carefully at its processes for identifying and repairing surface defects to ensure that any deficiencies in the road surface are fixed as soon as possible.
‘The consequences of a vehicle hitting a pothole on a high-speed road can not only be expensive but also potentially lethal.’
Highways England spent £209 million on road maintenance in 2017/18 – a drop of £68 million on the previous year.
But data showed they fixed more holes in the road despite the lower figure – rising from 10,878 in 2016/17 to 16,642 in 2017/18.