Highways Agency - Safe roads, Reliable journeys, Informed travellers

The Secretary of State for Transport, acting through the Highways Agency, is under a statutory duty to maintain trunk roads and motorways in England, a duty which is taken very seriously.  Approximately £900 million is spent each year in ensuring that the roads for which the Highways Agency is responsible are in a fit state for the traffic using them.  However, we at the Highways Agency are not pretending that the roads are perfect.  Nor does the legislative framework which governs our maintenance activities require them to be perfect.  We do, however, take all reasonable steps to ensure that the roads for which we are responsible are safe to use.

Potholes are an unfortunate consequence of the heavy use to which our roads are subjected and the vagaries of the English weather.  The severe snow and ice in January and February this year exacerbated considerably the pothole problem.  As part of our programme of maintenance of our roads we take steps to fill in these potholes.  However, it is unrealistic to expect that all potholes will be immediately dealt with.

If your car is damaged as a result of driving over a pothole in a trunk road or motorway, you may wish to obtain advice as to whether you have a legal claim.  If you make a claim we will of course give it proper consideration, but you should be aware that we will only pay out on claims if we consider that we are legally liable (or, of course, if a court decides we are legally liable). 

If we consider that we have taken reasonable steps to keep the road in question safe and fit for purpose it must be expected that we will reject the claim.  Our contractors are obliged to keep accurate maintenance records and, provided the required maintenance regime has taken place, if a pothole or fault suddenly develops and damage to your vehicle occurs before the fault can be repaired, we will almost certainly resist any claim in respect of such damage.

Should you wish to make a claim against the Highways Agency arising out of an incident involving potholes, in order to assist us in considering your claim, we would ask that you

• state the precise location and time of the incident,  
   
• provide any supporting evidence that you may have.  But, please do not revisit the scene as a pedestrian to take photographs.  Whatever the road, this is likely to be highly dangerous, and unauthorised trespass on the motorway network is a criminal offence.  

The Highways Agency uses public funds to manage and maintain the trunk road network.  The policy of only meeting claims for compensation where a clear legal liability exists reflects the need to be fair and equitable to all taxpayers, road users or otherwise.  It also reflects the view that the Courts in England have consistently taken that it is unrealistic to expect highways to be perfect, and faults such as potholes developing due to adverse weather are almost inevitable.