How to climb out of a pothole with pots of cash

There are some subjects that drive us all to distraction. The problem with the UK’s potholes often dominates my radio call-in shows and I regularly hear from frustrated readers about their battles over damage to their vehicles.

There’s a bit of a hole in the data about the scale of the pothole problem. But the best estimates suggest that it would cost well over £25 billion to fix the nation’s potholes – and current funds allocated to do this fall woefully short.

So what are your rights if you need to make a pothole complaint? Here’s my guide.

Estimates suggest it would cost well over £25 billion to fix the nation’s potholes (Picture: Tim Thursfield)

What do I do if I hit a pothole?

Safety must come first, so pull over when it's safe to do so and assess the damage. Bear in mind not all damage may be visible at first, so be alert for unusual noises or other signs that things might not be right.

Make a few notes while you can, including the exact location of the pothole. If it’s safe to take pictures, snap what you can from the safety of the pavement.

When you get home, do a bit of online sleuthing. There are whole forums, social media pages and websites devoted to reporting potholes – and there’s a distinct possibility yours will be mentioned somewhere!

How do I make a claim?

You’ll need to report the pothole to the local authority, city or council or highway agency that is responsible for that stretch of road. This is where things get confusing, because you must follow the process that applies in the specific country where the pothole is.

The simplest way to get started is to type ‘report a pothole gov.uk’ into a search engine. This will take you to the page with links to report or complain about a pothole in each country in the UK. For highways and trunk roads, type the name of the country where the pothole peril occurred, along with ‘highway pothole’ into a search engine and follow the claim guidelines.

Many claim handlers will argue that they aren’t liable for damage unless the pothole has been reported previously. This is where your online research comes in!

What do I include in my claim?

The more information you can provide about the incident, the better, including:

• A full breakdown of what happened, including dates, times and other factors that might help (visibility, weather conditions, etc.)
• The location of the pothole and details about it (size, depth, where it is on the road).
• The extent of the damage.
• The full cost of repairs (with proof).
• Evidence that the pothole has been around for a while/been reported already.

You can pre-emptively request to see the council’s road repair reports and other documents they hold about repairs to the road.

Send copies of the documents, not originals. You may want to photo them too, just in case you’re able to submit an online claim.

What if my claim is turned down?

The claims handler will contact you and will usually give you their decision in writing. If your claim has been rejected, then you can appeal, but you’ll have to counter their findings. Most people do this by putting in Freedom of Information (FoI) requests on things like road maintenance and repairs or information about other complaints made or reports about the pothole in question.

Once you’ve got the information you need, make a formal appeal to the council/highway agency setting out your objections to the conclusions drawn in the original decision. But if they don’t agree with you, then ultimately you’ll need to take them to the Small Claims Court.

This might seem a little intimidating, but it’s actually quite easy to do. The process is different for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, but you can start the process online and it’s not that expensive (depending on how much you’re claiming). Get started at this link.

Many readers have told me about their successful small claims cases, so if you’re furious enough to take it further, it could just work out for you.

Martyn James is a leading consumer rights campaigner, TV and radio broadcaster and journalist. Read more from him at this link.