Pothole damaged your car: how to report it and try to claim

Potholes wreck tyres, wheels and suspension. Before seeking compensation, work out who is responsible for the road and report the pothole.

Who is responsible for the road?

Most roads in England and Wales are the responsibility of the local council. Motorways and major A roads in England are managed by National Highways. You can report a pothole through the service on gov.uk, which finds your council by postcode and gives National Highways' contacts for major roads (an online form or a 24‑hour phone line). In Scotland you report through mygov.scot and in Northern Ireland through nidirect.

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What is the duty to maintain based on?

The key law is the Highways Act 1980. Its section 41 places a duty on the highway authority to maintain a highway maintainable at public expense. A claim for damage rests on this duty.

Why might a claim be refused?

The authority has a legal defence — section 58 of the same Act. If it can prove it took "such care as in all the circumstances was reasonably required" to keep the road safe — that is, a system of regular inspection and timely repair — a claim can be refused. The court weighs up the character of the road, expected traffic, whether the authority knew of the danger and whether warning signs were in place.

How to improve your chances

Gather evidence straight away: photograph the pothole and the damage, note the exact location, date and time, and measure the depth if you can. Keep your repair receipts. Then send the authority a written claim setting out what happened, with evidence. If it refuses on section 58 grounds, you can challenge the refusal, including through the small claims court. It is no guarantee of payment, but without evidence there is no chance at all.

Is it worth claiming at all?

When deciding whether to claim, weigh the cost of the damage against the effort. For a small sum many drivers simply use their insurance — but remember a claim can affect your no‑claims bonus and excess. If the repair is expensive and the pothole was clearly long‑standing and already reported, a claim against the highway authority is worth a try.

It helps to ask the authority in advance when that stretch of road was last inspected and repaired — such requests are often granted. If it turns out the pothole was known about and nothing was done, the section 58 defence from the 1980 Act is weaker. Reporting the pothole through the service on gov.uk is useful in itself: it fixes the date from which the authority officially knew about the problem.