10 most expensive compensation payouts in Derby due to potholes revealed

Some of the highest pothole damage compensation payouts in recent years have cost taxpayers in Derby almost £70,000, new figures show.

One person who sustained serious injuries from a pothole was given more than £14,000 in damages by Derby City Council in 2014.

A Freedom of Information request was submitted to the authority asking for details on the “top ten most expensive compensation payouts related to a pothole incident”. The person who requested the information asked for incidents from 2010 onwards in relation to roads/land owned and managed by the council – this does not include incidents on privately owned land.

A person can put in a claim for damages to a council if they have received an injury or their vehicle has been damaged by a pothole on a road which is maintained by the authority. Local authorities have a legal duty to maintain roads to ensure they are safe to use.

Information from the Brown Turner Ross solicitors’ website says that damages can be awarded if it is found that “the council have either neglected to repair the pothole if they were aware of it or have neglected to perform routine maintenance checks to identify the pothole in the first place”.

Figures reveal the highest payout given by Derby City Council (within the time frame requested) was to the tune of £14,455 to a person who sustained serious injuries following an incident on Shardlow Road in Alvaston in May 2014. The council has told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that the person suffered torn ligaments to their right foot and ankle and sustained soft tissue injuries to both knees.

The second highest payout the council issued was following an incident in Catherine Street near Normanton where a person sustained injury to their collar bone. The accident happened in 2009 but it appears compensation was paid to the tune of £10,225 after 2010.

The third highest, according to the figures provided, was a payout of £6,500 to a person who fractured their left arm and sustained chest injuries from a pothole. The incident happened at Leonard Street in the Arboretum ward in August 2012.

The total figure for the top ten highest compensation payouts since 2010 comes to £68,682.25. But this only covers the ten highest payouts, as requested, and not all payouts within the time period.

The top ten list is as follows with the dates being the time of the incident:

Shardlow Road (Alvaston) – May 2014 – £14,455

Catherine Street (Normanton) – April 2009 – £10,225

Leonard Street (Arboretum) – August 2012 – £6,500

Kedleston Road (Darley/Allestree) – May 2008 – £6,350

Back Sitwell Street (Arboretum) – September 2017 – £6,000

Lexington Road (Chaddesden) – February 2018 – £5,300

Elvaston Lane (Alvaston) – May 2010 – £5,000

Hillsway (Littleover) – June 2015 – £5,000

A6005 Slip Road Raynesway (Alvaston) – April 2011 – £4,977.25

Holmes Street (Normanton) – September 2008 – £4,875

Last week the Local Government Association reported new figures stating that £4 billion was spent in 2006 on UK local road maintenance compared with £2 billion in 2019 – the last year of comparable data available.