Almost every pothole claim rejected by councils, report claims

Almost half of Welsh councils are rejecting almost every compensation claim they receive from drivers for pothole damage, according to recent data.

Carmarthenshire rejected over 99% of claims for pothole-related damages to vehicles in 2024, according to figures obtained by RAC motoring group.

Eight other Welsh local authorities also had refusal rates of over 90%, with only one - Wrexham Council - paying out on the majority of claims it received.

Carmarthenshire Council has been approached for comment.

Potholes have become a common complaint for many drivers, adding to car repair bills and even causing injuries to some passengers, cyclists or pedestrians.

Figures for 2024 showed that Carmarthenshire Council received 114 claims relating to pothole damages, but paid out on just one occasion - giving a refusal rate of 99.12%.

"We get people coming in more or less every week because of damage from potholes," says Aled Jenkins, who runs a garage in Porthyrhyd near Carmarthen.

"It causes a lot of trouble for cars, especially with their suspensions."

Amos Lawlor, who owns a garage in Cwmamman near Ammanford, says drivers seem more reluctant to claim despite pothole issues continuing to bother locals.

"Go back five, 10 years and you'd put in a claim and get paid, but now they're clamping down on that," he says.

"But I'm getting people coming in on a regular basis [because of pothole damage]. Even though it's a small garage here, it's roughly once a week or so.

"It's down to road conditions, they're not being maintained enough. You'll see a difference now after the latest frost we've been having, there's going to be more potholes again."

• Other councils who rejected almost all claims received included Pembrokeshire (98%), Swansea, Vale of Glamorgan and Conwy (97%)
• Neath Port Talbot, Caerphilly, Powys and Torfaen also refused over 94% of claims
• Wrexham, on the other hand, paid out on around two thirds of pothole claims (38/56), while Flintshire had a 50% record (82/164)
• Five councils – Blaenau Gwent, Ceredigion, Merthyr Tydfil, Rhondda Cynon Taf and Ynys Môn – did not provide data

In 2021, there were 1,066 claims for pothole-related damage among the Welsh councils that responded, a figure that rose by 26% in 2024, to 1,347.

Denbighshire and Wrexham were the only two areas to see a significant drop in the number of claims over the three-year period.

But across Wales, the proportion of successful claims dropped from 25% to 17% during that time.

Across the UK, the number of claims in 2024 is almost twice what it was in 2021, according to RAC.

But just 26% of claims led to a payout, with an average sum of £390 given to claimants.

The RAC estimates that a typical repair bill for a family car with damage worse than a puncture from a pothole is £590.

"It does seem that councils have a variety of different criteria for what they class as a pothole," said RAC's head of policy, Simon Williams.

"Often they have to be four centimetres deep and so many centimetres wide.

"If you hit one, it can cause a real jolt to the car and serious damage... not just damage to vehicles, it's also a serious road safety danger, particularly on two wheels.

Williams added: "With some councils not responding to our request for data, there's every chance that we're only seeing the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the claims that have been settled.

"But positively, councils received slightly fewer pothole compensation claims in 2024 than they did they year before."