Pothole claims in Hertfordshire up by 135 per cent in last six months alone compared to previous two years

Pothole insurance claims in Hertfordshire have risen by 135 per cent in just six months.

Findings of an investigation by Hertfordshire Liberal Democrats show over 1,500 claims have been made to the county council from January 2023 to June, compared to 647 in the whole of 2022 and just 466 in 2021.

The worst month this year was January, with pothole claims rising to 723 compared to around 70 in 2021 and 2022. However, claims were significantly down to 16 in June this year, compared to 43 and 15 in the previous two years respectively.

But Liberal Democrat Highways spokesperson Cllr Stephen Giles-Medhurst said even if claim levels dropped back to similar previous levels for the rest of 2023, there would still be over 1,800 claims – an 180 per cent increase on last year.

He added: “It’s not good enough the for the county council to blame a bad winter. It’s clear it is taking too long to fix potholes and the council often ignores ones residents think should be fixed. It must up its game. Only now is it looking to undertake machinery to do repairs. This is too late for 1,500 drivers this year.

“Liberal Democrats wanted more money to fix potholes and quicker invention to tackle more defects, including trialling fixing smaller potholes sooner. Last February the Conservatives voted us down. It is now clear that the Conservatives got this wrong and motorists have suffered. Things must change.”

However, it was recently revealed an estimated 40,000 pot-holes are due to be repaired across the county this year using a variety of new methods.

It includes a jet-patcher to spray inject pot-holes, a trial of a ‘JCB Pothole Pro’ and the ‘Road Mender’.

The information was included in a written report presented to councillors at a meeting of the county council last month.

It states that as a result of an allocation of £3.952m from the government’s pothole fund, there will be 20,000 additional pothole repairs this year – taking the expected total to 40,000.