Disclosure Log
Pothole Claims, Maintenance Efficiency, and Inspection Regimes (FOI/7041)
Message from Nottinghamshire County Council - 15 January 2026
Dear Requester
Request FOI/7041
Further to your request received on 07/01/2026, I confirm that the Council has now considered your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Compensation Claims & Success Rates
1. The total number of compensation claims received for vehicle damage caused by potholes.
Number of Claims Received
2023-24 - 2038
2024-25 - 634
2025-26 (to date) – 444
2. The number of these claims that were successful (paid out) and the total monetary value paid.
Number of successful claims (Paid Out)
2023-24 - 457
2024-25 - 86
2025-26 (to date) – 12
Total Compensation Paid
2023-24 - 145,837.36
2024-25 - 23,749.94
2025-26 (to date) – 3,247.54
3. The number of claims rejected specifically citing the Section 58 defence (Highways Act 1980).
Number of claims rejected
2023-24 - 1580
2024-25 - 547
2025-26 (to date) - 114
Please note we are unable to report on which defence has been cited. The only way to establish this would be to review each individual file which will exceed the time allocated for such requests, as we would have to review over 3000 individual records.
Reports vs. Actionable Defects
4. The total number of pothole reports received from the public.
See the table below for the number of customer reports received with a subject of Carriageway Pothole
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
| 2023 | 1976 | 1832 | 764 | 906 | 1050 | 695 | 1130 | 1448 | 3634 | |||
| 2024 | 4948 | 4825 | 4167 | 2741 | 1549 | 991 | 862 | 606 | 508 | 873 | 739 | 1548 |
| 2025 | 2516 | 2473 | 2036 | 1051 | 762 | 765 | 771 | 583 | 742 | 816 | 1811 | 4385 |
5. The number of these reports that were closed without repair because the defect did not meet the "Category 1" (or minimum depth) criteria for action.
See the table below for the number of customer reports received with a subject of Carriageway Pothole which were closed with an outcome of Inspection Complete - No further Action
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
| 2023 | 180 | 440 | 232 | 256 | 354 | 256 | 321 | 368 | 625 | |||
| 2024 | 1046 | 1227 | 1096 | 817 | 665 | 343 | 328 | 237 | 151 | 302 | 254 | 435 |
| 2025 | 666 | 827 | 840 | 413 | 343 | 341 | 366 | 341 | 350 | 403 | 710 | 1388 |
Repair Quality & Speed
6. The average time (in days) between a pothole being reported by a member of the public and a permanent repair being completed.
Please see FOI 5296 on the disclosure log (https://foi.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/requestid=451F4409A5C9FC0E916FD73F7AC41406h) has already provided an average time for potholes to be completed once a job is raised for April 2023-December 2024.
The average for calendar year 2025 is 1.1 days for Category 1 jobs.
Please note that we find that the term "pothole" is used by the public to cover a range of concerns, from surface crazing and ride quality to actual defects. As many of these concerns do not transpire to what we identify as potholes, we are providing data on jobs created specific to where a void has formed in the surface that requires a high priority (Cat 1) response in accordance with Nottinghamshire County Council Highway Inspection and Risk Manual (Highway Inspection and Risk Manual | Nottinghamshire County Council).
7. The total number of temporary (e.g., cold-fill) repairs carried out versus the number of permanent (e.g., hot-fill/cut-and-seal) repairs.
This is not recorded and so no information available for release.
Financial Efficiency
8. The total annual expenditure specifically on "reactive" pothole repairs.
We are unable to provide spend information specific to potholes; reactive repairs are charged to a general maintenance budget which will be for other maintenance issues, not just potholes.
9. The total annual administrative and legal costs associated with processing and defending pothole-related compensation claims.
Total Legal Costs
2023-24 - 19,715.80
2024-25 - 0.00
2025-26 (to date) - 0.00
These claims are handled inhouse by the Risk and Insurance team and therefore we are unable to identify the specific costs associated with the administration of these specific claims as this is only one part of the work the team undertake. The Council only incurs legal costs when a claim litigates
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The Council publishes Access to Information requests and responses on its online Disclosure Log. Only requests deemed to be in the public interest will be included and any request included within this log will be de-personalised accordingly.
To view the Council’s Disclosure Log, please visit our website.
If you have any queries about this email please do not hesitate to contact me directly, quoting the reference number listed at the top of this letter in all communications.
If you are unhappy with the Council’s response to your request and wish to make a complaint please write to us or complete the on-line complaint form that can be found on our website.
If after going through the Council’s Internal Review process you are still not satisfied, you can contact the Information Commissioner direct.
Information Commissioner Wycliffe House Water Lane Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF | Helpline:
Email: Website: | 0303 123 1113 |
Yours sincerely
Complaints and Information Team
Chief Executives Department
Nottinghamshire County Council
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