£67k paid out to Derbyshire drivers for pothole damage

Potholes have cost Derbyshire County Council almost £67,000 in compensation claims in just one year.
Pesky potholes.Pesky potholes.
Pesky potholes.

The council paid out £66,831 to 271 drivers whose cars were damaged in 2013/14.

Neighbouring authority Nottinghamshire County Council awarded £23,562 to 75 claimants during the same period.

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A total of 614 people attempted to claim money for pothole damage in Derbyshire last year but only the 271 were successful.

During 2012/13, the council paid out £23,657 to 99 claimants for pothole damage.

The information was released in a Freedom on Information request from the RAC Foundation.

Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said the figures were “likely to be the tip of the iceberg” and said councils were not given enough money for roads.

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“Many drivers will be put off by the time involved in claiming against a council and many authorities do their best to deter claimants coming forward,” he said.

“But the fundamental problem lies not at the doors of our town halls but with central Government. Despite occasional one-off grants related to periods of harsh weather, they are simply not giving councils enough money to keep their road networks up to scratch.”

Derbyshire County Council was awarded nearly £100,000 from the Government to fix the county’s potholes in an announcement just before Christmas.

Earlier this month, the authority announced it had has 1,776 potholes to repair on the region’s roads and said it was committed to tackling the problem.