38,000-pothole backlog from 2024 revealed
New data by Zurich Municipal has revealed that a 38,000-pothole backlog has been carried over from 2024.
According to a Freedom of Information request, the insurer found that nearly 40,000 potholes reported last year have still not been repaired by local authorities.
This comes after the number of potholes rose to pandemic levels last year. Zurich alone reported it handled 10,648 pothole-related claims during 2024, up 19% on the year before. It estimated the average damage caused cost drivers £600 per incident and £2.6m in total.
Zurich is now warning repairers to prepare for another surge next month after analysis of its own data found that pothole claims last March surged by more than 181% to over 2,300.
Pothole-budget not enough
Alix Bedford, risk expert at Zurich Municipal, said: “We’ve had a particularly wet start to the year, which is only going to exacerbate the pothole problem that is plaguing the nation.
“While the additional funding that government pledged at the end of last year is a step in the right direction, councils need a lot more funding so that they are not just repairing the current cavities in the roads to make them safer for all users, but also investing in the network so it doesn’t deteriorate as much in the first place.”
The government has pledged £1.6bn to address the condition of UK roads, but Zurich believes this ‘won’t begin to put a dent’ in the issue, claiming that £15.6bn is needed to repair the country’s road network.
Ahead of the spending review, it is now calling for an increase in the local authorities highway maintenance budget, and greater flexibility around spending so that they can prioritise repairs and make sure roads are as safe as possible for all road users.
