The biggest payouts on motorways and A-roads have been revealed from the nation’s plague of potholes. A Freedom of Information request has revealed how one person was so badly injured they received a totalof almost £300,000 in one incidenbt.
Although there are no details of the damage, the payout of £280,015 was made after a crash on the A45 in 2017 which goes from Birmingham Airport into the heart of the city, and also out past Coventry in the opposite direction. The shocking figures were revealed by The Mirror, obtained via an FOI to National Highways England, which monitors the motorways and major roads.
The next biggest payout was on the A120, which runs between Puckeridge in Hertfordshire and Harwich in Essex, and was also a personal injury compensation of £49,000 after an incident in 2014. The A120 was a frequent offender for bad potholes and registered around £75k in paid damages.
Last month the AA urged drivers to report every road surface crack “no matter how small” amid a surge in pothole-related breakdowns. The motoring organisation said the authorities did not ‘understand the true state of our roads’ and revealed that in April alone the company received more than 52,000 call outs to vehicles stranded due to faults likely to have been caused by potholes.
That represents a 29% increase on the same month in 2022. Common problems caused by potholes include damaged shock absorbers, broken suspension springs and distorted wheels.
Jack Cousens, AA head of roads policy, said: “While the worst are like deep caves, shallower splits that snake across the surface can catch the wheels of cyclists causing severe damage. On safety grounds alone, we need to do all we can to shine a light on the awful condition of UK roads.”
The cost of bringing pothole-plagued local roads in England and Wales up to scratch has been estimated at £14 billion. Meanwhile, the Government increased its Potholes Fund – which provides money to councils in England to tackle the issue – by £200 million to £700 million for the current financial year.
In terms of the worst payouts for pothole injuries all of the top 12 payouts were due to personal injury, with the biggest vehicle damage compensation claim being £9,797. The M6, being the country’s largest motorway, was understandably responsible for a large number of the pothole payouts.
The fourth and fifth biggest payouts, £20,000 and £16,306 respectively, were just two of thirteen compensation claims made after hitting potholes on the M6. In total almost £78,000 was paid out due to potholes along the road, with the southbound routes seemingly having more dangerous holes, but the northbound one having the single worst one along the road.
The A2 was another particularly bad offender, with a notably bad spot at Gravesend that has led to thousands being paid out.
Top ten biggest pothole payouts
A45 - £280,015
A120 - £49,000
A23 - £26,775
M6 Northbound - £20,000
M6 - £16,306
Non trunk road - £13,465
A2 - £12,204
M60 - £11,654
M20 - £11,000
A47 - £11,000
A Department for Transport spokeswoman has previously said: “We encourage people to report road issues to their local authority and we’re investing more than £5 billion from 2020 to 2025 to help them maintain local roads, with an extra £200 million announced at the Budget.
“This will help local authorities fix millions of potholes a year and resurface roads up and down the country, making journeys smoother and safer for everyone.”
