This article was initially written in early 2019 when we pondered what people tend to discuss when they randomly meet strangers. We suggested the weather as a favourite topic, but even then, we thought the state of the nation’s roads might crop up in conversation.
Well, whatever ups and downs many of us have experienced in the intervening years since this article first appeared on the Mooneerams Solicitors website, you can bet your bottom dollar the word ‘potholes’ is still likely to crop up in casual conversation, although probably now accompanied by a few choice expletives!
The nation’s roads have worsened in the intervening period. In August 2023, The Guardian ran a story which estimated we have 2 million potholes in the country. If true, this poses a severe risk to public safety and increases the likelihood of more car crashes and cycling accidents as well as more pothole injury accident claims.
An article published on the RAC’s website in April 2024 set out the findings of its annual Pothole Index report. We have summarised some of the more startling revelations contained in the report:
- RAC patrols were called out to 30,000 breakdowns related to potholes in 2023, up 33% from 2022.
- A motorist’s chances of breaking down because of pothole damage are nearly 1.69 times greater than in 2006 (the benchmark year), increasing the likelihood of needing to claim for pothole damage or sue the council for pothole damage.
- There were 29,375 pothole damage-related vehicle breakdowns in 2023, a 30% increase on the previous year’s figures.
Has the government offered financial help to mend the backlog of potholes?
The previous government pledged to spend £5 billion on highway maintenance between 2020 and 2025. However, the Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance (ALARM) Survey Report for 2023 indicated the increased average of £25.8 million highway budget allocated to each local authority in England and Wales for the current year represented a cut in funds after accounting for rising inflation.
On average, shortfalls in the year’s carriageway budget have increased by as much as 20%, and the amount now needed as a one-off cost to catch up with all the maintenance required to repair the country’s damaged roads would cost 16.3 billion pounds and take ten years to complete! This lack of funding may impact the ability to claim compensation from the council for pothole-related incidents.
The pothole situation is worsening, and the only way it will get better, even to the point of simply catching up with the repairs needed, is by investing in a vast amount of extra funding.
Whether the necessary funds are ever made available to local authorities to get to the point of even ‘catching up’ is anyone’s guess. It’s a frustrating situation that few of us can do anything about, but it’s crucial for road safety.
The new Labour Government pledged in its manifesto that if elected, it would fix up to a million potholes a year. Now that it has been given the opportunity to run the country for the next four years, it will be interesting to see if it delivers on its promise. The nation’s drivers, riders and pedestrians will certainly hope it does!
Whilst we can’t mend potholes, there is one practical thing that, as specialist personal injury solicitors, we at Mooneerams Solicitors can do: help people who suffer injury due to pothole accidents to get justice!
We do this by bringing successful pothole injury claims (public liability injury claims) against local authorities which breach their duty of care to members of the public.
Can Mooneerams handle all types of pothole accident claims?
Unfortunately, we cannot take on pothole accident claims for vehicle damage only claims. We’d love to help, but the current rules relating to the recovery of legal costs in damage-only claims make it uneconomical for us to represent you and for you to use our services.
However, if you are injured on the road in a pothole accident or road accident claim, we can handle your personal injury compensation claim together with the cost of any vehicle damage and financial losses brought about by the accident.
We claim ‘general damages’ for the injury suffered and ‘special damages’ for your monetary losses, such as the cost of repairs and loss of earnings.
When can you claim for pothole injury compensation?
For cyclists, motorcyclists, car drivers, passengers, or those involved in pedestrian accidents who suffer injury from inadvertently driving or walking over a defect in the road, claiming for a pothole accident is the solution to getting the justice they deserve.
Mooneerams solicitors will help you bring a claim against the council or provide advice on how to sue the council whose negligence in failing to maintain the road or highway was responsible for the accident you had and the injuries sustained.
Who is responsible for the maintenance of potholes?
- If your pothole accident happened in Wales, Traffic Cymru is responsible for maintaining the main ‘A’ roads and trunk roads, i.e., motorways. You should report the existence of potholes and any pothole accidents that occur on these types of roads to them.
- Pothole accidents on all other types of roads in the country should be reported to the relevant local authority, county, or borough council.
- If your pothole accident happens in England, the following authorities will be responsible:
- Motorways – Highways England
- Other roads – the relevant Local Authority, which has council responsibility for road maintenance
- Greater London – London Borough Council (although be aware that the land neighbouring some Tube stations may be owned by Transport for London).
- Utility Companies have a duty to repair roads after they have carried out proper maintenance work. If a pothole accident is caused by a utility company’s failure to repair the road after it has carried out its own maintenance work, then your claim must be reported to them, and your claim will be against them. This is important to know when determining who is responsible for road debris damage in the UK.
How deep does a pothole have to be to claim successfully in a personal injury claim?
It’s unlikely a local authority or the Highway Authority would accept liability in a pothole accident claim unless the defect is at least 40mm with a width of 300mm. However, there is no statutory rule on what measurements apply.
Sometimes, claims will succeed if the depth is less than 40mm. It depends on the nature of the defect and whether the road surface surrounding the pothole is defective.
At this stage, it’s best to contact a firm of personal injury solicitors, like Mooneerams, for advice on claim eligibility.
If you call us on 029 2048 3615, we’ll be happy to provide initial telephone advice, free of charge and without obligation.
How can I help to make my pothole claim successful?
If you suffer injury in a pothole accident, get medical treatment as soon as possible. In what appear to be serious injury cases, you may be taken to hospital as a result of a call made to the emergency services by witnesses to the accident.
However serious or minor your injury appears to be, as a priority, get treatment. A medical assessment of your injuries will be necessary for your claim and getting seen by a health professional as soon as possible will help. Other steps to take include:
- Get photographic evidence of the scene of the accident immediately or as soon after the accident as possible. You must take photos of the pothole unless it is unsafe to ever do so. (You cannot stop on the motorway to take photos of any offending potholes. If you do, you’ll be committing a criminal offence!)
- Measure the pothole and prove its depth by placing a ruler in it and taking a close-up photo showing the measurement. The same goes for measuring the pothole’s width; place a ruler across the width of the hole and take a picture. This evidence gathering is crucial.
- With so much CCTV footage available today, there’s a good chance the accident was caught on film. Check the accident scene for possible CCTV cameras nearby, and if you find any, ask the owner for a copy of the footage. If you ask Mooneerams to handle your claim, we’ll do this.
- Get the contact details of any witnesses to the accident so they can provide witness statements as to what they saw.
- If the police attended the accident, get hold of the incident number from them for the accident report.
- Report the accident to the relevant local or highway authority as part of the accident reporting process. The Government’s website now allows you to report a pothole defect online. This tool also lets you see whether the defect that caused your accident, has already been reported.
- Call Mooneerams and find out if you can make a claim against the council. If you have a valid pothole injury claim and you would like us to handle it for you, we’ll be happy to do so.
- Most pothole claims are funded using No Win No Fee Arrangements which take away the financial worry of claiming; if you lose, there’s nothing to pay. If you win you pay us a success fee, full details of which will be explained to you before you sign the No Win No Fee agreement.
Be aware of the time limits for making a claim – generally three years from the date of the accident.
What is the local authority’s duty to inspect and repair potholes?
Councils are under a duty to keep the roads free of known defects. When they become aware of a defect during a routine inspection or when a pothole is reported, they should rectify it within a reasonable period.
Section 58 of the Highways Act 1980 states that if a highway authority can prove it had taken
“such care as in all the circumstances was reasonably required to secure that the part of the highway to which the action relates was not dangerous for traffic“
it may defend any claim brought against it.
This has often given local authorities a solid defence to avoid paying out on pothole claims. If they can prove that they have done all that was ‘reasonably required’ to ensure the road was not dangerous to traffic, the claim will not succeed.
However:
- Many roads are in a terrible state, with multiple potholes blighting them.
- Potholes and other road defects can be accurately reported to the relevant highway authority, making this aspect of making a claim much more straightforward. The public, not just people injured in pothole accidents, regularly reports potholes to the appropriate authorities. It’s vital that members of the public report potholes when they see them.
- Because local authorities are faced with financial constraints regarding road maintenance, many long-standing potholes aren’t being repaired.
Each pothole injury claim is considered on its particular circumstances and merits.
If you have been injured in a pothole accident, call Mooneerams Solicitors on 029 2048 3615 to speak to one of our experienced personal injury lawyers.
We only handle personal injury claims. Check out our 5*client testimonials on ReviewSolicitors.
You will not be charged for our initial telephone advice and will not be obliged to pursue the claim further if you decide not to.
If you decide to proceed after speaking to us, we can act for you on a No Win No Fee basis, so you won’t have to worry about incurring legal fees if your claim isn’t successful.
Call us on 029 2048 3615. You will find Mooneerams refreshingly straightforward to deal with.
