Study shows pothole compensation claim made every 17 minutes

13/10/2016 | HIGHWAYS REPORTERS

A study carried out by the RAC Foundation shows that drivers made at least 31,483 claims against councils for vehicle damage caused by poor road conditions in the last financial year.

This equates to a claim being submitted every seventeen minutes in 2015/16. However, councils only paid out in just over a quarter (26.9%) of cases.

The analysis by the RAC Foundation is based on data collected from 204 out the 207 local authorities in Great Britain.

The average value of a claim was £432, though the average value of a successful claim was lower at £306.

The council with the highest number of claims made against it was Hampshire (1,952), followed by Surrey (1,412) and Hertfordshire (1,369).



































































ENGLAND

(and GB)
 2015/16
Local AuthorityRank based on 2015/16 number of claimsNumber of claimsValue of Successful ClaimsNumber of Successful ClaimsPercentage of completed claims that were successful
Hampshire11,952£103,48030632%
Surrey21,412£143,06026227%
Hertfordshire31,369£88,45918414%
Kent41,120£30,94811210%
Lancashire5930£38,6299617%

 

The Scottish council with the highest number of claims was Glasgow with 794 claims.

 



































































SCOTLAND 2015/16
Local AuthorityRank based on 2015/16 number of claimsNumber of claimsValue of Successful ClaimsNumber of Successful ClaimsPercentage of completed claims that were successful
Glasgow City1794£13,929579%
Edinburgh2512£29,32917354%
Perth and Kinross3339£11,5624137%
Renfrewshire4287£21,35111655%
Dumfries & Galloway5275£6,3122821%

 

The Welsh council with the highest number of claims was Cardiff with 237 claims.

 











































































WALES 2015/16
Local AuthorityRank based on 2015/16 number of claimsNumber of claimsValue of Successful ClaimsNumber of Successful ClaimsPercentage of completed claims that were successful
Cardiff1237£11,9525150%
The Vale of Glamorgan2173£7,3273956%
Swansea397£58467%
Powys477£7,8782054%
Neath Port Talbot5=76£30671777%
Bridgend5=76£8,2344066%

The only council in Great Britain to receive no claims for vehicle damage caused by potholes in 2015/16 was the Isles of Scilly. Orkney Council and the City of London received just one claim each.

The total number of claims received in 2015/16 by councils across Great Britain (31,483) is about a 9% increase on the previous year (28,971 claims in 2014/15) but less than the 48,945 claims made in 2013/14.

Three-year summary table:

 























































































 Claims received by council highways authoritiesNumber of successful claims

(Percentage of all claims that were successful)
Value of successful claims
 2013/142014/152015/162013/142014/152015/162013/142014/152015/16
England42,94325,34825,4719,872

(23%)
6,143

(26%)
4,832

(27%)
£2,922,367£1,876,056£1,559,232
Scotland4,5112,7464,7331,126

(25%)
520

(21%)
749

(27%)
£228,161£98,141£162,674
Wales1,4918771,279266

(18%)
134

(17%)
249

(33%)
£72,960£30,585£62,332
GB48,94528,97131,48311,264

(26%)
6,797

(25%)
5,830

(27%)
£3,223,488£2,004,782£1,784,238

(Note, an exact comparison cannot be made because of slight annual differences in the number of councils who responded to FOI requests and whose data was subsequently used:
201 councils in 2013/14, 200 councils in 2014/15, 204 councils in 2015/16.)

The government’s own assessment is that there is a road maintenance backlog of up to £8.6 billion. The latest annual ALARM survey of local authority highways departments puts it at £11.8 billion.

The figures do not take into account either the size of the authority or the traffic volumes on their roads and hence there is no assessment of the rate of claims per mile of road under management or rate of claims per vehicle mile.

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “These figures are symptomatic of the inadequate funding available for local road maintenance. Year in, year out, the backlog of work on local roads is estimated to run to several billion pounds.

"A pitted road surface isn’t just a problem for motorists – for those on two wheels it can be life threatening. Just last week the Chancellor acknowledged that there had been decades of underfunding in the nation’s infrastructure and that he was keen to support targeted, value-for-money public investment. Providing the funds to fix our roads would be a great place to start and would show rapid results.”

Highways InProfile

latest magazine issue
Highways jobs

Team Leader LGV Driver

£27,711.00 - £30,559.00, Grade 6, 37 hours, Permanent
An exciting opportunity exists in the Council’s Street Scene Services for a Team Leader LGV Driver working from our Depot at South Kirkby. Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Recruiter: Wakefield Council

Head of Highways and Transportation

£86,196
North Tyneside Council is committed to delivering outstanding services to people and places across the borough. North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear
Recruiter: North Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council

Works Technician

£37,399 (plus unsocial hours allowance)
The Works Technician is responsible for ensuring that the London Trams civils and off-track infrastructure Croydon (City/Town), London (Greater)
Recruiter: Transport for London

Parking Officer

£31,524 - £35,448
Our workforce is key to making this happen. Greenwich, London (Greater)
Recruiter: Royal Borough of Greenwich

Streetcare Operative / LGV Driver WMF2091e

£27,711.00 - £28,624.00
Westmorland and Furness Council is seeking to employ an enthusiastic and motivated LGV Driver Ulverston, Cumbria
Recruiter: Westmorland and Furness Council

Highway Network Technician - WMF2090e

£27,711 - £28,624
We are looking to recruit a friendly and motivated candidate to join our Highways Maintenance Team as Highways Network Technician. Kendal, Cumbria
Recruiter: Westmorland and Furness Council

Strategic Sites Transport Planner

£47,754 - £51,802 (Plus £4000 Market Forces Supplement) (Pay award pending)
Worcestershire County Council and Wychavon District Council are seeking to appoint an ambitious transport planner. Pershore, Worcestershire
Recruiter: Malvern Hills District Council and Wychavon District Council

Transportation Planning Officer

Band F, SCP 26-31 (£36,124 - £40,476 per annum)
Have you got a degree in Civil Engineering, Transportation Planning, Geography or Town Planning? Sandwell, West Midlands
Recruiter: Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

REL Skip Driver

£27,711.00 - £30,559.00, Grade 6, 37 hours, Permanent
An opportunity exists in the Council’s Street Scene Services for an REL Skip Driver working from our depot at Castleford. Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Recruiter: Wakefield Council

Mechanical and Electrical Engineer

£37,035- £41,511
We have an exciting opening to join our Property Team as a Mechanical & Electrical Engineer. Harrogate, North Yorkshire
Recruiter: North Yorkshire Council

Project Chargehand (4 Posts)

Grade 9 £31,344 - £33,253 per annum (Pending Pay Award)
We are looking for Project chargehands to lead teams working on highway maintenance and construction projects. Derbyshire
Recruiter: Derbyshire County Council

0846 Head of Highways and Transportation

£86,196 pa
North Tyneside Council is committed to delivering outstanding services to people and places across the borough. North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear / Various
Recruiter: North Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council

Roadworker/Driver (3 Posts)

Grade 7 £26,248 - £28,161 per annum (Pending Pay Award)
We’re looking for roadworker/drivers to be part of our team Derbyshire
Recruiter: Derbyshire County Council

Street Cleansing Driver / Operative (Pavement Sweeper)

£25,584.00 - £27,269.00, Grade 5, 37 hours, Permanent
An opportunity exists in the Council’s Street Scene Services for a Street Cleansing Driver / Operative Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Recruiter: Wakefield Council

Technical Assistant for Streetworks

£24,309 - £28,163 per annum
The Streetworks Department has an exciting new opening in the service for a Technical Assistant. North Yorkshire / Countywide
Recruiter: North Yorkshire Council

Highways Project Engineer

£30,559 - £41,511
We hybrid work with a mixture of working from home and from our offices in Skipton Skipton, North Yorkshire
Recruiter: North Yorkshire Council

Transportation Planning Officer

Band F, SCP 26-31 (£36,124 - £40,476 per annum)
Have you got a degree in Civil Engineering, Transportation Planning, Geography or Town Planning? Sandwell, West Midlands
Recruiter: Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

Senior Technician – Highway Drainage

Grade 9 £31,344 - £33,253 per annum
The Highway Drainage Management Team is an established team within the Highways Service Derbyshire
Recruiter: Derbyshire County Council

Solicitor

NJC34 (43,693) - NJC39 (48,710)
North East Lincolnshire Council’s Legal Services team is a dynamic and integral part of the Council North East Lincolnshire
Recruiter: North East Lincolnshire Council

Prestige Gardener x2

£27,711.00 - £30,559.00, Grade 6, 37 hours, Permanent
The post holder will be part of a Street Scene Team to deliver a high quality citizen focused Street Scene service Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Recruiter: Wakefield Council
SUBSCRIBE NOW

Latest Video

Subscribe to Highways today to ensure you keep your finger on the pulse of everything happening in the UK road network throughout the year.

SUBSCRIBE NOW