Hampshire County Council had 1,175 claims for damages to vehicles and accidents due to potholes

A total of 1,175 claims have been submitted to the county council this year regarding damages to vehicles and accidents due to potholes, it has been revealed.

At the Hampshire County Council annual meeting last Thursday (May 18), Cllr Jackie Porter asked Cllr Nick Adams-King how many motorists and cyclists have made claims, whether successfully or not, for damaged vehicles and accidents due to potholes in the first three months of 2023, writes Natalia Forero of the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Cllr Adams-King said that from 1st January to 31st March, there were 1,175 claims.

He said: “The majority of the claims would not yet have the decision made on liability. Most would still be on the highways team for processing.”

Using her supplementary question, Cllr Porter asked again whether that was an usual figure or could vary throughout the year.

Cllr Adams-King said: “I cannot do a ‘like for like’. I would say that looking at previous years, we are ahead of the average that we would normally have.”

He reminded the chamber that people have six years to submit a claim.

In March, Hampshire County Council received £5,954,400 from the government’s spring budget to help local communities to tackle and repair potholes.

At the time Cllr Nick Adams-King, the county council’s executive lead member for universal services, said that over the winter, the county council repaired 16,748 potholes and other road defects due to increased reported issues.