Pothole Claims

Get Our Free Money Tips Email!

For all the latest deals, guides and loopholes – join the 12m who get it. Don’t miss out

Marcel and Rebecca | Edited by Steve N

Updated thirteen Jul two thousand seventeen

Anyone who’s ever hit a pothole will have heard that horrible unexpected clunk. Your car’s been crocked and you know it’s going to cost.

Latest figures claim it would take fourteen years to clear the backlog of potholes, but whoever controls the road has a legal duty to maintain it to a fit standard. If they don’t, and your car’s bruised, they should pay for repairs. That’s the law – our straightforward, step-by-step guide shows you how to use it.

Let us know your tips. Claiming for pothole harm is a large and elaborate subject, and we expect to add to and develop this guide. Please give us your feedback, suggest improvements and tell us how your claim went in the Pothole claims forum thread.

In this guide.

‘I claimed Ј498 – a wonderful feeling of winning justice’

Potholes are a plague on Britain’s roads. The Local Government Association claims it would take fourteen years to clear the backlog of potholes, despite councils packing in almost two million per year, and the Government has pledged six billion to attempt and tackle the problem by 2021.

Whenever we ask you what you’d like us to campaign on, gigantic swathes of you say “potholes, potholes, potholes”. So we launched this major Ten,000-word (you don’t need to read it all) guide to help.

If you’ve hit a divot or a crack and your car’s bruised, the process of filing a claim can seem daunting, and many drivers don’t know where to begin. But if the authority which was responsible for maintaining the road failed to do so decently, it is possible to successfully claim for repairs in utter.

Of course, you can only claim if the authority was at fault. Potholes are unpreventable, particularly in winter, so the key question is whether it could and should have immovable it before your car went clunk.

Recall, in reporting a pothole, you’re being a good citizen. And if the authority was negligent and didn’t do the checks it should have, claiming for repairs can help put pressure on the powers that be to keep the road safe and in good condition. Identically however, this is taxpayers’ money and in the brief term claims can put local councils under real pressure, so you’ll need to determine for yourself what the right thing to do is.

It can be a long slog, but don’t be put off – we’ve seen many successes:

Two mangled alloys and one tyre, Ј735 worth of harm. Claim now lodged for the utter amount after originally being thrown out. Thank you MSE for the pothole claim guidelines.

I hit a pothole on the M20 motorway on my journey home from work and suffered a cut to a tyre. I claimed from the Highways Agency and got Ј530.

I went through the petite claims and Bucks County Council threw in the towel forty eight hours before the hearing. They paid me everything (Ј400) and the pothole hadn’t been reported before.

Our claim eventually went to the petite claims court. It enlargened to Ј498 with court fees, interest and compensation. It requires persistence and a lot of time. But it can result in a wonderful feeling of winning justice.

Surprise surprise my original claim was rejected by the local authority. Not to be deterred I sought the maintenance history through the FOI route which seemed to infer that problems in the street had not been actioned over the three months prior to my event.

Once I reported the harm and indicated my intention to claim, the repairs were ended the day after. The process has taken almost three months but my claim will now be paid in utter as a goodwill gesture albeit no liability is being accepted for the harm. I can live with that tho’! The moral – don’t be deterred.

The best advice is persevere. The forms sent to me were phrased to make me give up before I embarked. However I was so angry I ended every step (hurdle) and eventually I was compensated for the replacement wheel and tyre I required.

Before you embark, keep in mind that it isn’t always effortless to claim for pothole harm. While there are successes, there are sadly many instances where claims are rejected too.

Pothole claims – the need-to-knows

Before you get into actually making a claim, here are the big questions answered.

A pothole is a road defect that causes an instant risk or hazard

Potholes are usually caused by water seeping down into the road surface, then freezing and creating gaps that widen up into gaping crevices in the road.

According to many councils , in order to count as a pothole the fuckhole must be at least 40mm deep – about the height of two 20p coins. If the one you hit wasn’t that deep you can still claim, but it could be tougher.

If your car’s been bruised by a problem in the road which isn’t a pothole – if you’ve hit a lump of liberate pavement, for example – you may still be able to claim by following the step-by-step system below. But your chances depend on how the road defect is categorised by the authority responsible.

You need to prove it was the pothole wot dunnit

Hitting a pothole normally causes harm to a car’s tyres, wheels or axles, and you’ll often know instantaneously that something’s wrong (you’ll very likely hear it).

In order to claim for the harm, you’ll have to prove the pothole caused it – that the repairs you’re having to shell out for were specifically caused by your influence with the pothole. Your mechanic should be able to put this in writing for you.

If your vehicle already had a problem, and the pothole made it worse, you can still claim but you won’t get the total repair costs back.

Check who’s responsible – then report it!

As soon as you’ve hit a pothole, make sure you warn other drivers. Whether or not you intend to claim, calling it in will help to keep the roads safe (and if you do intend to make a claim further down the line, it’s significant to be able to display you did your civic duty.)

Even if you don’t think you’ll qualify for compensation after hitting a pothole, ALWAYS report it. We need to put pressure on the authorities to fix these problems. That’s not just about making it costly when they don’t fix ’em, it’s making sure they know about problems on their roads.

Different authorities are responsible for maintaining certain types of road, so you’ll need to check who to contact. The table below shows who’s in charge of what. To find out what road you’re on – very first check the road name on a map or sat nav and if you’re still stuck you can contact Highways England for help.

When you call up the relevant company, ask if claim forms can be sent to you, or if you can download them online.

How to report a pothole

(maintenance rock hard for Scottish Govt)

You can claim if your vehicle’s bruised and the authority responsible for the road failed to decently maintain it

Britain’s highway authorities and agencies are legally obliged to maintain roads to a safe standard. That includes fixing potholes.

If your vehicle’s been bruised and you believe the authorities haven’t maintained the roads decently, how much you can claim for generally depends on the extent of the harm to your vehicle. Typically, car harm claims tend to be around Ј300-Ј500. Some drivers who’ve claimed have successfully recouped the entire amount – in other cases, they’ve won part of the cost.

Some have also successfully claimed for injury resulting from a pothole collision, but this guide concentrates only on vehicle harm claims. If you intend to claim for private injury, you’ll need to seek legal advice.

There’s no explicit sentence in law which covers claiming for potholes, but there are laws which force authorities to keep the roads safe – and that’s what you’ll be claiming the authorities have failed to do.

• In England and Wales, the relevant legislation can be found in Parts 42-58 of the Highways Act 1980.
• In Scotland, it’s Part one of the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984.
• In Northern Ireland, it’s Article eight of the Roads (Northern Ireland) Order 1993.

For most pothole claims there’s a step-by-step procedure you can go after. But if your claim’s not successful, ultimately the last resort is to go to the petite claims court – except in Northern Ireland, where there is an ombudsman.

Quick questions

How long will claiming for pothole harm take?

It depends – it can be a lengthy process. We’ve heard of some claims being approved in as little as four weeks, but other cases take seven or eight months.

What are my chances of success?

Let’s be fair – submitting a claim for pothole harm can be a fair bit of work, and success is far from ensured. Even experts in the field admit it can be a challenging process.

How far back can you claim?

If you hit a pothole and harm your car it’s easiest to claim as soon as you can. However, officially the limit for retrospective claims is six years (five in Scotland) – that’s because that’s how far back you can go when filing for damages in the petite claims court.

If you hit a pothole years ago and didn’t gather any evidence, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to claim for harm now. But if you did collect evidence at the time but didn’t file a claim – or did file a claim and were rejected – you may still be able to make a total claim using a Freedom of Information request as we explain below.

However, there’s no assure you’ll be successful – and a utter claim takes a lot longer and involves more paperwork.

What about private roads?

Sometimes drivers may hit a pothole on a road managed by a business – for example, where a supermarket is responsible for the road or car park leading to its entrance.

Here the same legal principle applies – the private company in question still has a legal duty to keep the road safe (the rules are set out in the Occupiers Liability Act (OLA) one thousand nine hundred fifty seven for England, Wales and N Ireland – in Scotland it’s the Occupiers Liability Act (OLA) 1960).

Pothole pranged your bike? The information in this guide isn’t just for motorists. Albeit we’ve generally assumed you’ll be claiming for harm to a car, if you hit a pothole while on a bike the same rules and processes apply.

If you’ve hit a pothole, consider telling your insurer

Albeit this guide is about claiming for pothole harm from the authority responsible, you also need to consider claiming on your car insurance. And even if you don’t claim on your insurance (or you only have third-party cover), you’ll need to determine whether to notify your insurer.

Should I claim on my insurance?

There’s no doubt that claiming on your car insurance is an lighter process than claiming compensation from those responsible for maintaining the road (and doesn’t rely on you claiming from the taxpayer, either). But you need to factor in the cost of the harm, your excess and the effect on any no-claims bonus you have.

Bear in mind that you can’t claim twice – if you claim on your car insurance, there’s no point in claiming compensation as well. (If you did, then according to a legal technicality anything you got back from the responsible authority would be paid to your insurer.)

Should I notify my insurer otherwise?

Insurers tell us drivers should notify them of pothole harm instantly, regardless of whether they intend to claim. You’ll then usually have around five or six months before you have to file an insurance claim, which gives you time to see if a claim to the responsible authority will work very first.

Be aware if you do notify your insurer, there might be a risk in some cases of your premium being affected for the following year, even if you don’t actually claim. This is unlikely to quantify (plus big insurers have told us claiming WOULDN’T affect next year’s premium), but it’s something you should consider.

Still not had your question answered? Let us know in the forum discussion and we’ll attempt to add it to this section.

Is it right to claim? Martin’s view.

Our usual campaigns are about reclaiming money you’ve wrongly paid – not damages, which this guide is about. A compensation culture is dangerous and we need be wary of this, especially when taxpayers are footing the bill.

Yet the authorities have a legal duty to maintain roads so they’re safe for everyone to use. If they don’t and your car’s bruised, they should help pay the costs to repair it.

It’s significant to understand you can only claim anyway if the authority responsible for the road has been negligent. So if a cannon ball drops off a truck, causing a pothole which two minutes later damages your car, you’ve no right to claim – there’s nothing the authorities could’ve done to prevent that.

Even if you are eligible to claim, you have a decision to make. Some argue that compensation deprives authorities of much-needed cash to fix roads – others that the more people pursue their rights, the more incentive there is for authorities to improve the roads to avoid dealing with claims.

After gigantic user request to know pothole rights, we’ve delivered this guide for our users, we hope in a responsible, non-militant, easy-to-use way. You must determine whether to use them.

Harm from a pothole? Gather evidence

The very first thing to do is commence collecting the proof, pronto. No matter which authority you’re claiming from, your overall objective’s the same – to gather enough evidence to prove the authority was negligent.

If safe, take photos and measure the pothole’s depth

If you’ve a gauze measure handy, and if it’s safe (you won’t be able to do this on a motorway), measure the depth of the pothole and note it down. If it’s 40mm or more deep (harshly the height of two 20p coins) then bingo – it’s certainly worth pursuing. If it’s less, it’s still worth continuing, but you might not get the utter cost of repairs back. Measure the width too.

Take pictures straight away, or as quickly as it’s safe to do it. If you don’t have a camera when it happens, you can always come back. Things to photograph include:

Close-ups of the pothole. We don’t advocate stopping traffic, but it’s vital to act quickly. A handful of pictures displaying the width and depth of the pothole should be ok. If you can, measure the depth with a gauze measure, then take a picture with the gauze measure inwards it.

If that’s not possible, get any standard-sized object (a newspaper could do the job), put it inwards the pothole, and mark the depth on it to give you a metric.

The pothole’s position in the road. Take some mid-range pictures of its position in the road from different angles, demonstrating which lane it’s in. Check the pothole’s visible in these.

Road signs. Get more pictures of the instant spread of road including road signs. Photographs of nearby landmarks such as schools and prominent buildings will help pinpoint the spot.

Your car. You’ll need to showcase the harm done, so take several good quality pictures of anything that’s violated, severed, dented or scraped.

Be careful! You don’t have the right to walk on the motorway.

Yep, we’re stating the visible here, but if the pothole’s on a motorway or major carriageway anywhere in the UK, you can’t stop to take pictures. Not only is it unsafe, it’s also a criminal offence to walk unauthorised along a motorway. You also need to be careful about stopping in a dangerous place and getting out of your vehicle.

Your best bet in this case is looking for a nearby bridge that permits you to take pictures of the signs and general location.

Take notes and gather the paperwork

Any documentary evidence will boost your case, so it’s significant to collect as much supporting paperwork together as possible. Here are some of the things to consider (albeit don’t worry if you don’t have something for every point):

• The pothole’s exact position: Make a note of its location – eg, where it sits in the road, which lane it’s in (if that applies) and how many metres it is from the pavement. Note any landmarks on either side of the road. If there’s a prominent building nearby (say a church or a school), ensure you get the name correctly.
• The accident itself: Keep a record of the moment you hit the pothole. Write down the exact time and date, and attempt to describe the conditions – the weather, traffic and so on. Be as accurate as you can.
• Did anyone see you hit the pothole? If they did, and if it’s possible to contact them, ask if they’ll put something in writing for you. For example, if it was unlikely to see the pothole on treatment, or if it was clearly a hazard, ask if they’ll confirm this. This may help your claim further down the line.
• A map-like sketch: If you can, do a quick sketch of the pothole, the open up of road it’s on and a duo of buildings or signs either side. Don’t worry too much about the quality, it doesn’t have to be Van Gogh.

If possible, attempt to make any notes as soon as possible after the event, and date them. If the worst comes to the worst and you have to go to court, ‘contemporaneous’ notes (ie, those written at the time something happened) are generally considered more reliable.

Keep a record of the harm to your car

This bit’s crucial. Recall, you’re not claiming for general compensation as such, you’re reclaiming the cost of repairs to your car.

When you get your car looked at and then repaired, keep a copy of your bill and make sure it’s clearly itemised and dated. If possible, ask the mechanic to put it in writing that the harm was caused by a pothole – if you can, it’ll indeed help later on.

Attempt a rapid claim very first

This is the quickest way to claim from an authority. If you’ve already done it, and it’s not been successful, you’ll need to make a utter claim, which takes longer. See below for total info on how to make a utter claim.

By now you should know which authority’s responsible for the pothole you hit, and you should have reported it (if not, go back and do so now). You should also have a pack of evidence.

Forumite reduceditem was successful doing this, posting:

I claimed from Glasgow City Council for pothole harm that required both coil springs to be substituted. They sent me out a form that I finished and returned with photos.

Here’s how to file a rapid claim – and reminisce, if you’re not sure who to claim from and report the pothole to, check here:

• Councils in England, Wales or Scotland.Some councils in England, Wales and Scotland will send you a form to finish when you report a pothole. If not, you can check whether your council permits prompt claims by looking on its website. A utter list of council websites can be found at Gov.uk. If your council doesn’t have a rapid claims system, skip to How to make a utter claim.

Transport for London: You should be sent a form after reporting the pothole – if it doesn’t arrive, call three hundred forty three 222 1234. There are separate forms for drivers and cyclists. Once you’ve sent it off, TfL’s insurance provider Gallagher Bassett will investigate your claim. There’s no official timeframe for you to get a response however.

Highways England: Again, you should be sent a form when reporting the pothole. If not, call three hundred 123 5000. The form should arrive in fifteen days. After you send it in, the agency has ninety days to react.

Major roads in Scotland: All the agencies that look after motorways and A roads in Scotland should send you a form when you report a pothole – if not, call either Bear Scotland on eight hundred 028 1414, Scotland Transerv on eight hundred 028 one thousand four hundred fourteen or Amey on eight hundred 521 660. The form should arrive in two working days. Bear Scotland says responses generally take twenty eight days – Scotland Transerv give no rock-hard timeframe.

Traffic Wales: If you asked for a form when reporting the pothole, you should have been sent an information pack and claim form – if you didn’t or it hasn’t arrived, call three hundred 123 1213.

TransportNI (Northern Ireland’s Dept for Regional Development): You can download the form directly from the NIdirect.gov.uk.

Private roads: Claiming for pothole harm on a private road generally works in a similar way, but it’s a slightly different process.

Submitting a quick claim

The advantage in submitting a prompt claim if you can is that it’s just that – quick. The only thing you have to do is pack in the form you were sent by the authority and send it off, along with any evidence they request. However, it’s helpful at this stage to include any extra evidence you have to boost your case.

Use this checklist to recall what evidence to include

• Copies of repair invoices and proof of payment
• Copies of your mechanic’s statement on cause of harm
• A note (or map) of the pothole’s location
• Note of the date and time the harm occurred
• Photos of the harm
• Photos of the pothole if possible
• Notes from anyone who witnessed the incident

To strengthen your claim, we’ve also created a brief template letter to send alongside the form, which shortly outlines your case and makes it clear that if you don’t receive compensation for the harm to your car, you’re ready to take it further. Albeit you don’t have to send this, it’ll demonstrate the authority you’ve done your homework and are ready to take it on.

FREE template letter. Download a brief template letter to send in with your prompt claim.

Hurrah – the claim’s submitted

After you’ve sent the form off, it may take a while to hear back. When you do, one of the following three things will happen:

You win and get utter costs back – victory!

If this happens, congratulations! Your claim’s finished.

You get a partial suggest.

Be ready to compromise – it saves time and hassle. If the authority doesn’t suggest all the money for the repairs, just a chunk of it, it’s worth understanding that taking this further is going to take time and there’s no assure of success.

Is it suggesting you enough, and is it worth the time and effort of pursuing for the total amount? You may want to reply and say: “I think you should give me a little bit more” to see if it’ll give you a better suggest. If you’re still not sated, budge on to How to make a utter claim.

Your claim is rejected.

There’s a fair chance that after you’ve submitted a rapid claim, it’ll be turned down. If so:

Don’t be put off: this is fairly common. It’s a lot lighter for organisations to reject people now – even those who will succeed at the next stage.

If you’re rejected, the authority may well quote part of Section fifty eight of the Highways Act in its rejection letter. That says:

“This requires that a court shall have regard to whether the highway authority knew or could reasonably be expected to know, that the condition of the part of the highway to which the activity relates was likely to cause danger to users of the highway.”

It may sound coaxing, but don’t give up automatically. Even if the authority/agency was unaware of the pothole because it wasn’t reported, you still have a chance. That’s because you may still be able to prove the road wasn’t maintained decently. The next section shows you how to do that.

How to make a total claim

If you weren’t able to make a quick claim – or you did, and it was rejected – the next step is to make a utter claim. Be warned tho’, it’s not a ordinary process. We’ll take you through it step by step and give you template letters to make it as straightforward as possible.

In a nutshell, you’re going to do a Freedom of Information request to find out if the authority was probing and repairing the road as often as it was meant to. If you can prove it was negligent, you can argue it should pay for your repairs.

Often the authority will pay up if you’ve proved its negligence, but in a few cases you might need to go to the petite claims court.

Step 1: Get the road repair policy and inspection history

This is all about digging into the detail to help give your claim a thicker chance of success.

You’re going to use the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act to get information from the authority responsible for maintaining the road the pothole was on. This Act enables you to request data from public sector figures and they have to give it to you by law.

Don’t worry – it sounds complicated but it’s actually fairly plain. Plus, we’ve created a template letter you can use below, so we’ve already done the hard bit for you.

Its inspection logs that display how it maintained the road that bruised your vehicle.

Its policy for examining and repairing its roads. (In many cases, this will be the same as a national policy, but sometimes it differs so it’s best to check).

Sometimes the authority may say you don’t need an FOI request to get this info, but it’s lighter to do one all the same. Using an FOI request means the authority legally has to react within twenty working days. The system’s not ideal – sometimes it takes longer anyway – but most people find that an FOI’s the easiest way of making sure your request isn’t lost in the system.

How to make your FOI request

The simplest way of submitting an FOI request is to email the authority – technically, you don’t have to use any special form of words, just say you’re making an FOI request and ask them your questions. To save you the hassle tho’ we’ve put together a template letter for you to send – just pack in your details and send it off.

Warning: While FOI requests are free across most of the UK, it’s worth noting organisations in Scotland can charge a fee of up to 10% if they think it’ll cost them more than Ј100 to track down the information you need.

If this affects you, they’ll have to tell you what it’ll cost very first – then it’s up to you to determine if it’s worth it as there’s no ensure your claim will be successful. For more details see the Scottish Information Commissioner’s website.

If you do determine to send in an FOI request, use our template below.

Albeit in theory you can send your request to anyone at the authority and they should pass it on to be dealt with, in practice it’s best to contact the FOI department directly. This should be listed on the authority’s website – if not, call it up and ask.

The authority has twenty working days to react to your request. Usually, you’ll get a response before the twenty days is up. If you don’t, send a reminder on the 20th day. If they still don’t play ball, complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Be mindful of the influence of FOI requests, which can put real pressure on councils. Only submit one if you couldn’t use a rapid claim.

Step Two: Look at how the road was maintained

Once you’ve got the response to your FOI request, you’ll need to go through the information they’ve sent back with a fine toothed-comb. Be warned, this is NOT a five-minute job, so take a seat and make yourself a cuppa.

The very first thing to check is the inspection logs, which should tell you how often the road you came a cropper on was tested and repaired. Here are the key things you’re looking for:

How often were inspections done, and how were they done? Don’t just look at the frequency of inspections. Check the following:

• How were they carried out – by foot or in a van?
• If it was in a van, how rapid was the van travelling? Was this too prompt to see a pothole?
• Was there just one driver or a driver and an inspector?
• Did the road have a history of problems? If so, were inspections done more frequently?
• If the authority also had to do safety patrols, how were these carried out, and how frequent were they?

If the pothole had already been reported, what act was taken?

• How did the authority define the risk created by the pothole? How was it categorised?
• If it was known about, how long did it take to fix the pothole?
• If repairs were made, did it fix the pothole so that it was no longer a hazard?
• If no repairs were made, how long had the authority known about it before you hit it?

Step Trio: Check if the authority followed its own policy – and if that policy met national standards

When the authority responds it should send out its road maintenance policy. There are two things you need to check here: very first, what its own policy is for testing and repairing roads, and 2nd, whether this meets national standards.

The idea here is to see if the authority was negligent. If it didn’t inspect the road your pothole was on as often as it should have, or didn’t repair it as quickly as it should have, you’ve got a decent case. Sit down with the road maintenance policy and inspection logs in front of you and go through them line by line, matching up how they compare.

If you believe you have a case, you’ll need to build an argument. You need to see if there are any discrepancies inbetween the authority’s maintenance policy and what it actually did. The authority may have a justification for some discrepancies, but the more you can find, the better your chance of success. Here are the key things to look out for:

Claiming from a council?

Confusingly, individual councils in England, Scotland and Wales can make up their own road maintenance policies, albeit they’re often based around a national code of practice. So if you’re claiming from a council you’ll need to go through the policy they send you cautiously. In particular, check:

• How it defines road defects (ie, potholes).
• How quickly these defects should be repaired (eg, twenty four hours or twenty eight days).
• How often inspections should be carried out.
• Once they’ve emerged, how quickly these defects should be identified.
• How inspections should have been undertaken (eg, by a slow-moving vehicle with a camera).

There is also a separate document called the Well-maintained Highways Code of Practice which sets out national standards. However, even if the council followed its own rules, there’s a chance its rules weren’t adequate – so you might still be able to argue negligence.

Claiming from Highways England?

Highways England’s policy comes from two documents – the Network Management Manual and the Routine & Winter Service Code. Yes, they sound like a cure for insomnia – but know the right sections and they’ll give you extra ammunition.

What the winter code says: Potholes should be identified and verified within twenty four hours on motorways with intense traffic, or seven days on less busy carriageways (see flow diagram, Two.1.Two.1). The Network Management Manual tells Highways England how to do safety inspections.

What the manual says: Part three (part Three.1.Two.Five Safety Inspections) says inspections should be “carried out by two trained personnel operating from a slow moving vehicle”.

It adds: “In particular circumstances (eg, in town centres, principal shopping areas, subways, footbridges and at sophisticated road junctions) inspection personnel may need to proceed on foot either to confirm suspected faults or to finish the Inspection.

“Inspections must identify deficiencies which represent, or might lead to, a danger to the public and therefore require instant or urgent attention.”

What this means: The vehicle should be travelling at less than 40mph during the inspection. If the road that bruised your vehicle was at a elaborate junction, inspectors may need to have made checks on foot. Plus, if the pothole that bruised your vehicle created serious risk, it should have been repaired within twenty four hours of identification.

If two people are unavailable to do the inspection, then one person and a data capture device should be used.

If you find out from your FOI request that inspections were done at more than 40mph, or that there was just one driver and data capture devices weren’t used to substitute a 2nd person, this will help your claim.

What the winter code says: The code refers to potholes as ‘category one defects’ (see Annex Two.1.1) and sets out various requirements.

What it means: Potholes should be made safe within twenty four hours of being identified or reported if, as the code says, there’s an “instant or imminent risk of harm to a third party’s property or equipment”. Permanent repairs should then happen, where needed, in twenty eight days.

This also applies to potholes found on adjacent footways and cycle tracks the agency’s responsible for – so cyclists may be able to claim in these cases. Whatever category Highways England gives a road, the repair timeframe above applies to all of them.

Claiming from Traffic Wales?

Traffic Wales is the Government agency responsible for maintaining motorways and major trunk roads in Wales. This is the organisation you report the pothole to, tho’ your claim will be passed to the Welsh Government’s claim investigation unit.

The road maintenance policy Traffic Wales uses is the Trunk Road Maintenance Manual. This isn’t online so has to be requested, but you should have received Part Two: Routine Maintenance of Highways in the response to your FOI request. We’ve picked out the parts below that could support your claim below.

What the network manual says (p12, sec 1.1.Four.1): “Safety inspections are designed to identify those defects which are likely to create a danger to the public and therefore require instantaneous or urgent attention. Extra safety inspections may be required in response to reports or complaints from the police, other organisations and the public.”

What this means: Safety inspections on the road that bruised your car should have identified a pothole. If it wasn’t spotted before you hit it, the authority needs a good reason. It might be, for example, that inspections were done decently and at the required frequency, but the pothole emerged after the last inspection and wasn’t reported.

The manual goes on to dictate how often certain types of road should be studied.

What the manual says: Inspection category A and B roads “shall receive a safety inspection at intervals of seven days”. Inspection category C roads “shall receive a safety inspection at intervals of twenty eight days”.

What this means: In Wales, motorways including the M4, the M48 and the A48 (M) are all in category A, so should be examined once a week. Most major roads fit into category A and B, tho’ the manual does not provide a list of category C roads. More roads and categories are listed on page nine of Part Two: Routine Maintenance of Highways.

The manual also specifies how inspections should be carried out.

What the manual says: “Inspections shall normally be mobile inspections carried out from slow moving vehicles, with the occasional need to proceed on foot, at frequencies which reflect the importance of a particular road.”

What this means: Inspections should be carried out in a vehicle travelling slower than 40mph. So if you find that they were carried out at 40mph+, or needed to be done on foot and weren’t, this will help your claim.

In addition to safety inspection, in Wales extra ‘safety patrols’ should be carried out.

What the manual says (p12, Two.1.Four): “Safety patrols shall be undertaken on inspection category A roads (including weekends and bank holidays) inbetween the weekly safety inspections.”

What this means: These patrols are slightly more detailed than safety inspections. If they weren’t done on the road that bruised your vehicle, or they were and the pothole wasn’t logged and repaired, it’s a big boost to your claim.

Another critical thing Traffic Wales has to do decently is to fix defects (potholes) quickly. The manual categorises potholes as ‘category 1’ defects, as they present an instant hazard to drivers.

What the manual says (p10, sec 1.1.Three.Three): Category one defects are: “Those which require prompt attention because they represent an instantaneous or imminent hazard.”

It adds, Category one permanent repair: “Where possible the Permanent Repair should be made when the defect is identified or verified. If this is not possible, it should be effected as soon as possible thereafter within the maximum time available.”

What this means: Essentially, this shows that potholes should be made safe within a day, then stationary permanently within twenty eight days. So you’ll need to check if Traffic Wales obeyed this rule.

Claiming from Bear Scotland, Amey and Scotland Transerv?

Bear Scotland, Amey and Scotland Transerv are road maintenance agencies contracted by Transport Scotland – the Government figure that controls the country’s motorways. The agencies are responsible for maintaining big trunk roads, carriageways and motorways in north east and north west Scotland.

Transport Scotland tells us the contracts are based on the same principles but petite differences are taken into account based on the geographical areas. However, the the key bits we’ve quoted below are the same in all of the contracts.

You can see the contracts it holds for different areas on Transport Scotland’s website. Again they sound like a cure for insomnia, but the right sections will give you extra ammunition and you don’t have to read the entire thing either – we’ve picked the most relevant bits below.

What the contracts say: “Safety Inspections shall be carried out at frequencies not exceeding seven days on all Trunk Roads” to “identify Category one and Category two Defects”- that includes potholes. Inspections should check ” all that can be seen from a slow moving vehicle within the boundary of the Trunk Road”.

What this means: If you detect any of the maintenance companies failed to inspect the road often enough, or did but failed to identify the pothole, it’ll boost your claim. If you find out the inspection vehicle was travelling at 40mph+, that could also be a point to raise. Someone travelling at this speed can lightly miss a pothole.

From the off, the contract says Scottish ministers require that: “Risk of harm to or destruction of third party property within the unit shall be minimised.”

This is an underlying argument you can deploy. But the significant parts are in the nitty gritty. We’ve summarised them, but you can see ’em on the links we’ve provided below.

What the contract says: The Operating Company’s inspection team or initial Incident Response Resources shall make the Category one Defect safe when identified”. Improvised repairs should be carried out on potholes “no later than twenty four hours after they’re identified”. Permanent repairs should be done “within twenty eight days” of the pothole being logged.

What this means: If the pothole that bruised your vehicle was reported (or spotted during an inspection) before you hit it, it should’ve been logged onto Bear Scotland, Amey or Scotland Transerv’s system in a day. It should then have been repaired within the specified time period. Where the companies can’t do anything instantaneously about a pothole, it must put signs up. If they tell you it couldn’t repair the defect instantaneously, check if any signs were erected at the time, and if they were clear enough. If they weren’t, this could back your case.

You can read the sections we’ve summarised above, for the different maintenance companies who deal with north east, north west and south east Scotland, via the following links.

North-east Scotland: Click this Transport Scotland link and scroll down to Schedule seven Part 1, section Two.Two.

South-east Scotland: Click this Transport Scotland link, and scroll down to Schedule seven Part 1, section Two.Two.

North-west Scotland: Click this Transport Scotland link and scroll down to Schedule seven Part 1, section Two.Two.

For each area, Schedule one Part 1, Conditions of Contract gives you a definition of a category one defect (see page three of Definitions). It says category one defects are those which “present an instant or imminent hazard” – so potholes fall under this category.

Claiming from Northern Ireland’s Department for Infrastructure (DfI)?

The DfI (formerly the Department for Regional Development) has a division called DfI Roads that maintains some of the road network in Northern Ireland. Most of the motorway network’s are managed by two DBFO companies (Design, Build, Finance, Operate) – Highway Management City and Amey Roads NI.

DfI Roads is tied by a set of rules that dictate how it should inspect roads and how quickly it should fix potholes. These are included in a broader document called Road Maintenance Standards.

TransportNI has to inspect certain types of road at specific frequencies. For example, motorways have to be tested daily from Monday to Saturday.

It’s a little different for other types of road. The table showcase how often these other types should be probed:

Related movie: