More than 7,000 claims for pothole and road defects

The number of claims increased annually over a near five-year period

The number of claims against Essex County Council for vehicle damage caused by potholes and road defects has increased in each of the last four years.

A total 7,036 claims were made between April 2019 and early January 2024, council figures showed.

But only 4% were successful with 283 people receiving a payout.

A spokesperson for Essex Highways said: “All compensation claims are investigated fully and damages are paid if the council has been liable."

Essex Highways said most claims were "successfully defended" as it was "rigorous" in its maintenance of the road network.

It explained it prioritised its caseload to "fix higher risk issues first”.

The Essex County Council road maintenance budget for 2024-25 is £39m

The data from the council showed there were 976 claims submitted in 2020-21, compared with 1,818 claims in 2022-23.

The average compensation payment so far for 2023-24 was £265.

A council report meanwhile has warned there is “a risk of further deterioration” to roads in Essex “due to insufficient investment, extreme weather and inflationary increases in the cost of resource and materials”.

It continued: "This will result in public dissatisfaction and increased number of complaints, insurance claims and safety incidents.”

Council modelling showed £85.4m was needed to prevent further deterioration, however the budget for road maintenance this year was £39.25m.

'Nationwide problem'

Labour warned the Conservative administration, at a cabinet meeting this week, that road deterioration impacted on people and vehicles.

Ivan Henderson, the leader of the Labour group, said he had “big concerns the highways budget was not delivering what it needed to do".

He added: "There’s a £50m blackhole in that highways budget."

Ivan Henderson told the Conservative administration he had big concerns for County Hall's highways budget

The Chancellor of Essex, Conservative Chris Whitbread, responded by saying road funding was a “nationwide problem”.

“I don’t think there is an authority across the country since the Second World War which has met fully the costs of maintaining roads,” he said.

Mr Whitbread added there would be further announcements for highways funding at the budget council meeting on the 13 February.