‘Crater’ pothole takes Transport Secretary off the road: insurance experts reveal how to claim

With news just in that Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has been taken off the road after a ‘crater’ of a pothole took her Mini Cooper off the road,* the car insurance experts at Go.Compare are urging motorists to claim back their pothole damage – and revealing how to do so.

Research from the comparison site has revealed that between 2022 and 2024, councils across England and Wales paid out £10.2 million in pothole claims** – and Oxfordshire, where the Transport Secretary’s pothole encounter took place, is one of the top ten councils with the highest claims payouts.

Councils paying the most in pothole compensation claims to drivers (2022-2024):

Additionally, not all councils appear to be tackling the pothole problem in a timely manner. Go.Compare submitted a freedom of information request to 171 councils about their pothole repair times and found that Staffordshire was the slowest in 2024, taking an agonising 210 days on average to repair a pothole. Meanwhile, Oxfordshire, where Heidi Alexander fell foul of a pothole, took just 9 days on average.***

Tom Banks, motoring expert at Go.Compare Car insurance explains how you can give your pothole claim the best chance of success: “Potholes are a sadly familiar sight on our roads, so if you’ve hit one, you’re not alone. In fact, there were a reported 1 million cases across the country in 2024 alone.**

“If your car suffers any damage due to a pothole, we recommend making a claim as soon as you can. However, there are a few things to consider. Here’s our advice when it comes to claiming:

• Check it’s really a pothole: to be technically classed as a pothole, the hole needs to be at least 40mm deep, which is about the height of two 20p coins
  
  
• Gather evidence: You’ll need to show evidence to back up your claim. If it’s safe to do so, get a photo of the pothole and make a note of exactly where it is. You can use What3words to communicate its exact location, and remember the date and time you hit it. If anyone saw the incident it could be helpful to get a statement from them.
  
  
• Talk to your mechanic: Any damage you claim for must be due to impact with the pothole, so if your car has to go to the garage and requires work, make sure you keep a record of everything and ask your mechanic to confirm this in writing.
  
  
• Contact the right authority: Depending on the type of road, a different authority will be responsible. For example, red routes in London are run by Transport for London rather than National Highways. You can find out who to contact here.
  
  
• Insurance claims: A claim on your insurance policy shouldn't be your first port of call, but if you do decide to make a claim it’s worth noting that your insurance premiums could rise in the future as a result.”

For more information on how to make a pothole claim, visit here.