Council paid 7% of pothole claims, figures show

East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC) is paying out fewer pothole damage claims than the rest of the UK.

Figures seen by the BBC, showed ERYC paid 7% of 579 pothole damage claims over a five-year period, and paid a total of £14,968 in compensation.

The statistics showed the UK average for successful claims was 23% with an average payout of £240.

Richard Meredith, chairman of the ERYC environment and regeneration overview and scrutiny committee, said the authority's pothole repairs were "done as quickly as possible to prevent claims and compensation being paid".

Meredith said what residents might call "a proper repair", where the road is dug out and machinery used to fill it, would cost about 10 times more than a simple repair, making it totally unaffordable.

He said: "That would be money taken away from repairing more potholes."

Meredith said the council filled more than 32,000 potholes in 2025. He also said funding for potholes had risen by £11m over the past two years, but was "a fraction of what is needed".

"It's like trying to empty a bath tub with a thimble," he added.

Rachael Longstaff, a service adviser at the Automotive Repair Company in Brough, East Yorkshire, said her garage was seeing vehicles with pothole damage on a weekly basis.

She said: "A pothole can do quite a lot of damage to a car. It can buckle the wheels, crack them, the tyres can split or have a blow out, or punctures."

Commenting on the situation in East Yorkshire, she said: "We are paying large amounts of road tax. If they get a report get it fixed properly, not just patch it up with a little bit of tarmac."

Meredith urged motorists to report potholes to ensure they were dealt with quickly.

"If there is a dangerous defect and it is reported to the council, or it's found on inspection, it has to be repaired within a day," he said.

More information about reporting potholes is available on the council's website.

You can see how pothole claims in your area compare to the rest of Britain below.

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