Motorists lose out on pothole cash - Councils won't pay for potholes damage

Motorists are missing out on compensation worth hundreds of millions of pounds as councils rebuff claims that potholed roads have damaged their cars.

An annual survey of local authorities shows that the amount of cash paid out to motorists has fallen again, even though 96% admit their carriageways are in such a bad state of repair that they actually present a safety risk to motorists.

Figures from the Asphalt Industry Alliance's 2007 Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (Alarm) survey show that payments totalled £39 million, down from £47 million in 2006 and £93 million in 2005. Independent warranty provider Warranty Direct estimates £320 million of damage is caused by potholes each year.

Although motorists are entitled to compensation, because councils have a legal duty to maintain roads, local authorities complain they receive half the money they need to maintain carriageways and are fighting claims.

Highways engineers from councils are quoted in the report saying: 'A lot more effort is put into rebuffing claims immediately', 'Our authority takes on every single claim now, and a lot of them disappear' and 'We've defended a lot, which has put people off.'

Paul Watters, head of public affairs for the AA, said: 'Our fear is that, by systematically defending legitimate claims, drivers are forced to go down even more expensive and time-consuming legal routes to get compensation.

'This could further erode road maintenance budgets that are better spent improving road surfaces and removing the cause of damage and driver anger.'

Councils in the Alarm survey say it would take more than 11 years to clear the backlog of road repairs, and say they filled 589,000 potholes last year at a cost of £33 million.