The roads that damage your car the most

We reveal Britain's worst potholed roads...

Here’s a question for all you philosophers out there; at what point does a large pothole become a small crater?

Granted, it’s probably not a question that Plato would have laboured over for too long. But it does point to a growing problem on the roads of the UK that is costing unfortunate motorists hundreds of pounds every year.

Holy roads

The campaign site potholes.co.uk recently conducted a survey to find out which of Britain’s roads have the worst potholes. The B6343 running out of Morpeth in Northumberland was the worst major road while Fieldhead Lane, a road running along the northern edge of the Peak District in Yorkshire, was voted the worst minor road. One motorist described the latter route as ‘more like an off-road assault course’ than a highway!

In the table below are the top five worst roads for potholes; if you click on each name you’ll be able to take a virtual stroll down the road in question using Google Street View, and see the potholes for yourself.

Source: potholes.co.uk

Potholes are a major cause of axle and suspension failure; a fault that makes up a third of all mechanical issues within vehicles. Potholes.co.uk estimates that the average repair cost for damage done by Britain’s rocky roads is £335; meaning that drivers could be shelling out £3 million every day on pothole-related faults. That’s £1 billion every year!

But despite these staggering sums, road maintenance in the UK is severely underfunded. Potholes.co.uk estimates that the average frequency for a road to be resurfaced is just once every 65 years.

In the last Budget the Chancellor did put aside £100m to tackle this problem, but with the UK’s roads suffering after two harsh winters; even this sum of money will not fully fix the problem. Indeed, potholes.co.uk estimates that even if every council was given all the funding it needed to repair their broken roads, it would still take 11 years to catch up with the current backlog.

So what can you do if your vehicle is damaged by a rogue pothole?

Make a claim

One way to recoup any repair bills brought about by potholes is to make a claim directly to the relevant authority; this will usually be a local council. Potholes.co.uk has put together a handy guide on exactly how to do this; here’s a summary...

1. Get some evidence: Try and gather as much information as possible about the pothole as soon as you hit it. Take a photo of the hole and – if it’s safe to do so – measure the size of it.

If the road is extremely damaged, ensure that you know exactly which pothole you hit - draw a diagram of the road area to help you remember. Note down everything about the road and the moment you hit the hole. Which wheels were affected? What type of road was the pothole one? What type of traffic uses the road?

2. Report the pothole: Inform the council as soon as possible after the accident of the pothole; give full details of the damaged road and leave your contact details. This will show the authorities that you’re acting responsibly by helping others to avoid the pothole. You can also flag up the damaged road using the reporting tool on potholes.co.uk.

3. Submit an FOI request: Before making a claim it’s a good idea to submit a Freedom Of Information request to the relevant council to establish if the road has been properly maintained and kept safe. You can get a full rundown on how to do this by heading to this page.

4. Make the claim: Write a detailed letter to the relevant authority outlining all the facts of the accident that you noted down at the time. Include any photos or drawings as well as any bills for the repair of your vehicle. Don’t worry if you haven’t heard back regarding the FOI request as you do not necessarily need to include any of these details yet.

5. Check their defence: Chances are the authority will come back to you stating that it did all it could to make sure the road was safe and hence can legally defend your claim. You’ll need to check this defence by looking at the FOI request and contrasting it with the national code of good practice for highway maintenance as well as the claims it has made regarding its innocence. Take a look at this page for some more details as to what you should be looking for.

If the council has complied with all the guidelines, you’re out of luck. If it hasn't, write another letter pointing out its failures, include any evidence that can back up your case (take copies!) and reiterate your initial demands.

6. Legal advice and court: If the authority is still not playing ball at this stage you may want to think about getting some legal advice and taking it to a small claims court.

But making a claim isn’t the only way you can claw back pothole related repair bills...

Car insurance

If you don’t fancy making a claim against the relevant authority (or can’t), you can always use your car insurance to pay for any pothole-related damage. According to the AA, last winter’s cold weather resulted in a threefold increase in pothole-related claims; with the average amount for a claim standing at just over £1,300.

The AA said this average may have been pushed up because many people are reluctant to make a claim and sacrifice their no claims bonus for smaller repairs. One way around this, if you have been accident free for several years, is to protect your no claims bonus. Read Get 60% off your car insurance to find out more and head to Make a successful car insurance claim for some tips on dealing with your insurer after an accident.

Your sightings

Have you been hit by a nasty pot-hole on the roads of Britain recently? Did you manage to make a successful claim?

Is so, you can let us all know by posting in the comment box below.

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