Council pays out £120,000 in pothole-related claims

A council has spent more than £120,000 on pothole compensation claims since 2022, a Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed.

North Northamptonshire Council has received nearly 2,000 claims for pothole-related damages over the last four years.

Out of these claims, the authority rejected 1,502 and less than 500 were successful, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The authority said in a statement: "Maintaining the highway network is one of our key priorities and we are committed to continued investment in our roads."

The council paid £6,256 in pothole-related claims in 2022, £53,000 in 2023, £49,000 in 2024 and £14,600 last year - with several cases still pending a decision.

According to the FOI data, the number of pothole claims almost tripled from 224 in 2022 to 622 in 2023.

The council said claims were dependent on there being a routine process of highway safety inspections and repairs.

It added that any costs that could not be defended were covered by its highways service provider.

There were 198 pothole-related compensation claims lodged in January.

On average, the council paid out £305 to each successful claimant last year. The highest compensation paid out to a single complainant was £4,565 in 2023 and the highest individual payout in 2025 was £2,022.

North Northamptonshire Council said: "Winter weather has a big impact on highway surfaces, and we often see a peak in defects at this time of year.

"We inspect the roads and footways all year round but also ask that people report defects on the highway through our website.

"The council has no influence over whether a motorist makes a claim or not and all insurance claims are assessed on a case-by-case basis."

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