Pothole damage so bad one in five cars has been written off
One in five cars damaged by potholes on UK roads are left in such a state of disrepair that they have to be scrapped, insurer Allianz has said.
About 11.5 million potholes are estimated to inflict the UK’s roads with a multi-billion pound repair backlog hanging over the Government and local councils alike.
The insurer said the amount it has paid out on pothole claims alone has almost trebled over the last five years, rising from £1 million in 2019 to £2.8 million since January this year.
Similarly, the number of pothole-related claims has almost doubled, up from 475 in 2019 to 832 cases over the last 11 months.
Caroline Johnson, the claims director at Allianz UK, said many pothole collisions “result in damaged wheels, wrecked suspension, and misaligned bodywork” among other problems.
“Our roads are blighted by potholes and it is astonishing to see the problems they cause,” she said.
“In one in five cases, the damage is so severe and structural that it is not worth the cost of trying to repair the car.”
Last year, a driver was awarded a £53,000 payout after their BMW 7 Series was written off after hitting a pothole at night while travelling at 60mph on the A12 near Chelmsford.
Another incident resulted in a £36,000 Audi A3 Sportback 40 TFSI hitting a pothole on a B-road at 15mph. The damage to one of the wheels and the car’s underside left it classed as a “total loss”.
Earlier this year, the Asphalt Industry Alliance warned bringing all of the nation’s highways back up to good condition would cost more than £16 billion.
Rick Green, the alliance’s chairman, warned earlier this year that the road maintenance backlog was growing and that 34,000 miles of roads will need to be totally rebuilt within the next five years thanks to their poor condition.
“We need to get to the point where local authority highway engineers can plan and proactively carry out repairs and preventative works in the most timely and efficient way to the greatest benefit of all road users – rather than just having enough money to address immediate and urgent needs,” he said.
The Government has promised to tackle the pothole menace and high car insurance premiums.
Louise Haigh, the Transport Secretary, vowed to fix “up to one million more potholes per year” in September.
She also announced a clampdown on “spiralling” car insurance costs in October, launching a task force to look at whether consumers are receiving “fair value for money”.
Ms Johnson said the average cost of fixing pothole damage to cars now stands at £4,000.
“It has become more expensive to repair cars for many reasons, including the cost of parts and specialist labour, so fixing any pothole-damaged car adds to the overall cost that insurers and ultimately consumers face.”
Data from comparison website Moneysupermarket show over the last five years, premiums have risen by 34 per cent on average.
While Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, announced £500 million for road repairs in October’s Budget, it was unclear whether this was new funding or a portion of the £8.3 billion previously allocated by the Conservatives to local road maintenance, following the cancellation of HS2’s Phase 2 to Leeds.