Council reject nearly £400,000 of pothole-related compensation claims in Mansfield
Nearly £400,000 of compensation claims submitted by motorists and residents who sustained vehicle damage or personal injury in Mansfield as a result of a pothole have been thrown out in the last five years.
A Freedom of Information request submitted by The Chad revealed Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC) refused to pay a total of £388,834.19 in pothole-related compensation claims relating to the Mansfield area between 2022 and 2026.
The authority received 756 pothole-related compensation claims, relating to vehicle damage and personal injury, during this period but paid out just £49,920.04 to residents out of a possible £438,754.23.
Data shows the council paid out no compensation in relation to personal injury at all in 2022, 2023, 2025 or 2026 but paid out £9,950.00 in 2024. A total of £235,710 of personal injury claims were rejected during this time period.
Meanwhile a total of £153,124.19 of vehicle damage claims were rejected between 2022 and 2026 with just £39,970.04 paid out over the five year period to disgruntled motorists.
Figures show the most amount of claims received was in 2024 with a total of 205. The lowest number of claims received was 96 in 2025.
So far this year a total of 160 pothole-related claims have been received.
Cars damaged by a pothole cost an average of £164 to repair, according to research from CarSupermarket.com with punctured tyres, suspension issues and damaged alloys said to be the most prevalent damage sustained from them.
Recent highway network surveys show that 15.9 per cent of Nottinghamshire’s roads are in a poor condition and require urgent maintenance, while 21.7 per cent are likely to need repairs “soon”.
Drivers have the right to put in a claim if their vehicle has been damaged by a pothole but must be able to prove that the road caused their vehicle damage, that it cost money to fix and crucially that the authority was negligent and failed to repair a road it knew was in disrepair. If the council can prove it had no knowledge of the pothole it does not have to pay the compensation.
Motorists have complained that the procedure of claiming for pothole-related vehicle damage is unfair and impractical.
Posting on Facebook resident Maria Patricia Bough said: “Our car had snapped suspension picked up on the MOT. Because I couldn't say where or which pothole we were left with a £400 bill.
“Tried insurance claim at NCC to be turned down because I couldn't depict which pothole caused the problem or say the exact date, time and place it happened, yet every road in the county back then was impassable without hitting at least one pothole.”
A spokesperson from Nottinghamshire County Council said: "Each claim received by Nottinghamshire County Council is investigated based on the evidence provided to determine whether the Council has adhered to its policy and the requirements of the Highways Act 1980, the legal framework in place to deal with the management and operations of the road network in England and Wales.
"If the Council can evidence that it has adhered to its policy the claim will be repudiated, however if it is found the Council has not adhered to its policy and is found to be legally liable for the incident then the claim will be settled. As demonstrated by the data provided, in most cases the Council can evidence that it has a reasonable system of inspection and maintenance in place and can demonstrate that it has adhered to its policy."
The figures come after Nottinghamshire County Council revealed plans to inject an extra £58.75m into fixing roads as part of record-breaking investment.