Compensation claims for Pothole Damage

Compensation claims made against the council for pothole damage.



Please can you provide the following information for the last five full financial years (2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25, and 2025/26), broken down by year:



1) The total number of compensation claims received by the council relating to vehicle damage, personal injury, or any other damage caused by potholes.

 

2) The total number of these claims that were successfully defended or rejected by the council.

 

3) The total number of these claims that were settled (either in or out of court) where the council paid compensation.

 

4) The total monetary value (£) paid out in compensation for these claims.



5) The total monetary value (£) spent on legal costs, administrative fees, or other associated costs incurred in defending these claims (excluding the compensation itself).

 

If the data for Question 5 is not recorded separately from general liability defense costs, please state this and answer questions 1 to 4. 

Please provide this information in a spreadsheet format (.csv or .xlsx). 
 

The period for the financial years requested is 01/04/21 to 31/03/26

1) The total number of compensation claims received by the council relating to vehicle damage, personal injury, or any other damage caused by potholes is:

2021/22 - 1801

2022/23 - 1461

2023/24 - 2002

2024/25 - 1148

2025/26 - 1878

2) The total number of these claims that were successfully defended or rejected by the council are: 2021/22 – 1011

2022/23 – 1058

2023/24 - 1579

2024/25 - 939

2025/26 – 429

 3) The total number of these claims that were settled (either in or out of court) where the council paid compensation is: 2021/22 - 789 2022/23 - 393 2023/24 - 415 2024/25 - 200 2025/26 - 170

4) The total monetary value (£) paid out in compensation for these claims.

Is: 2021/22 - £180,619.25

2022/23 - £145,370.08

2023/24 - £204,689.87

2024/25 - £113,684.91

2025/26 - £44,425.45

5) The total monetary value (£) spent on legal costs, administrative fees, or other associated costs incurred in defending these claims (excluding the compensation itself) is:

2021/22 - £101,117.76

2022/23 - £110,459.79

2023/24 - £162,213.17

2024/25 - £119,141.13

2025/26 - £1,940.89