Pothole damage bill passes £1bn
Following the news that councils are carrying out ‘short-term’ fixes to potholes, it’s now been revealed UK motorist paid more than £1bn to repair pothole damage last year alone.
According to research from Kwik Fit, more than 11 million drivers damaged their vehicle due to poor road conditions over the last year, with the cost of repairs reaching a staggering £1.21bn. This is an increase of £296m (32%) compared to the year before.
This is continuing a worrying trend – in the year ending March 2016, the equivalent total bill was £684m3, meaning that the cost of damage reported by motorists has risen by 77% in just three years.
The average cost to the individual motorist of repairing damage to components such as tyres, suspension and wheels has reduced slightly from £111 to £108.86, however, the number of motorists being affected has jumped by 2.9 million since last year. And the total cost is likely to rise even further as 1.4 million drivers say they have yet to have their vehicle repaired.
Almost a third of drivers who have hit a pothole in the last year had their car damaged by the impact, with the most common repairs being to tyres (5.9 million), suspension (3.8 million), wheels (3.7 million), steering (1.7 million), bodywork (1.3 million) and exhaust (1.2 million). 17% of motorists estimate they hit more than 30 potholes over the course of just one month – an average of one a day.
