Drivers whose cars have been damaged by potholes have received hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation. East Sussex County Council shelled out almost £550,000 to disgruntled motorists between June 2021 and May this year according to research by Select Car Leasing. East Sussex, which topped the Select Car Leasing list of councils which had stumped up the most in compensation, had more than 4,000 complaints made during the three-year period.
Around 1,800 of the complaints resulted in compensation. East Sussex County Council said it has repaired thousands of potholes in the last three years and has invested millions of pounds in road improvements . A spokesman said the council is seeing more road defects due to “more extreme” weather conditions.
The number of complaints in East Sussex that have resulted in compensation has increased dramatically in the three years. From June 2021 to May 2022, just under 15 per cent of complaints resulted in compensation. However, from June 2023 to May 2024 nearly 45 per cent of complaints resulted in compensation.
An East Sussex Highways spokeswoman said: “We note that not all highways authorities have responded, but we are not alone in seeing an increase in the number of potholes appearing in recent years, caused largely by the wetter and colder winters we have experienced. “Between June 2021 and May 2024 we repaired more than 68,000 potholes on carriageways and a further 21,461 on footpaths. We have employed additional crews t.