They damage vehicles, turn calm commuters into road-raging cynics, and deepen public frustration. Councils respond with glacial speed, commissioning reports instead of making repairs. Money is spent, but the holes only worsen.

A recent report by the Asphalt Industry Alliance estimates fixing England and Wales’s pothole-plagued roads would cost a record £17billion. Nearly 35,000 miles of local roads – enough to circle the globe one and a half times – require complete relaying within five years. In 2024 alone, pothole damage cost motorists an estimated £1.7billion with the average repair costing £144, according to Kwik Fit.

Councils are technically responsible for maintaining roads and covering pothole damage. In theory, drivers can claim compensation. In practice, they face red tape and rejections.

A Freedom of Information (FoI) request by the RAC found that 20,432 claims were submitted to 18 local authorities in 2023 – more than double the 2022 figure. Yet only 15% of those claims resulted in payouts.

In some areas, such as Gloucestershire and Essex, 98% and 95% of claims were refused, respectively.

While punctures – the most common type of damage – are relatively cheap to fix, the RAC reports that repairs beyond punctures cost around £460.

Councils, however, offer an average payout of just £260, leaving drivers to foot the rest.

IEAM RoadSmart’s 2022 Safety Culture Report found that nearly 80% of drivers consider potholes a bigger issue than three years prior – more worrying to them than speeding or drink-driving.

And it’s no wonder. This is not just about bumpy rides but broken axles, rising bills, and a failing system.

In the 2024 autumn Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves pledged £500million to fix one million potholes – a sum that would need to be 34 times higher to address the actual backlog. It’s barely a token gesture.

Sympathy for councils is hard to muster when their financial priorities are so often questionable.

Examples of local government waste are abundant. £2million on free cycle lessons for adults, £5million on socially distanced approved "parklets", and £52million on equality, diversity and inclusion roles, to name just a few.

Further, Woking Borough Council faces debts projected to hit £2.4billion by 2026 due to risky investments.

Thurrock Council borrowed £655million to invest in solar markets. London boroughs are sitting on £130million in carbon offset funds.

These figures suggest there is money, just not where it’s urgently needed.

Maintenance of basic infrastructure should be far higher on the spending priority list. Instead, councils seem more interested in vanity projects and bureaucratic sprawl. The pothole crisis isn’t just a matter of maintenance – it’s a symptom of chronic mismanagement and warped priorities.

Fixing Britain’s roads shouldn’t feel like bailing water from a sinking ship with a thimble. But that’s exactly what it has become.

Until councils start treating potholes as the pressing menace they are, drivers will keep paying the price – one broken suspension at a time.

Matthew Bowles is strategic partnerships manager at the Institute of Economic Affairs