Car insurance claims for pothole-related damage on Britain's roads more than doubled in January compared to the same month last year, according to AA Insurance*.
Over just four weeks, an estimated 1,000* cars in the UK were seriously damaged by potholes.
According to an AA/Populus study of nearly 23,000 AA members, a third said that they had suffered some damage to their vehicle caused by a pothole.
Of those, all had seen tyre damage, while 17% had suffered some wheel damage too.
Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance said “pothole damage is bad enough, but those making insurance claims are saying that there has been serious damage to suspension, steering and bodywork as well.
“In some cases, the driver has lost control or swerved to try to avoid the pothole and hit something else.”
The AA has already expressed serious concern over the deteriorating state of Britain’s roads following bouts of flooding, ice and snow, stating that unless the Government stems the pothole epidemic, the cost of claims will soar.
“[While] it takes a quarry-like pothole to cause the sort of damage that would justify an insurance claim” Mr Douglas added, “there are certainly some 'A-list' holes out there.”
Indeed, this observation is reflected by £35 million** worth of compensation claims and staff costs accumulated by local authorities last year.
*Based on AA Insurance claims and scaled-up to provide a national picture, around 1,000 insurance claims will have been made to insurer during the month of January.
** In 2011/12 £35 million was lost to compensation claims and extra staff costs (www.asphaltuk.org)
