One pothole damage claim in Devon for every seven miles of road, figures show

Roughly one claim has been made for every seven miles of Devon’s roads in the past year as drivers seek compensation for damage to their vehicles from potholes.

A total of 1,172 claims have been received by Devon County Council in just under a year from drivers who have requested compensation for damage they claim has been caused by the treacherous state of the county’s roughly 8,000-mile road network.

The figure, which covers the ongoing financial year that ends at the start of April, includes 537 cases which have been received, inspections conducted and reports produced on. 

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Those claimants have been contacted and the council deems the process in those cases as concluded. That does not mean every one of those cases has resulted in a pay out, though.

Then there are 635 cases – bringing the total for the period to the 1,172 figure – that have come in just since January 1 and while these have been logged by the council, they have not been formally progressed yet.

The data, provided in response to a request from the Local Democracy Reporting Service, suggests that the 2025-26 financial year figure for damage claims could be similar to the equivalent prior period.

In the financial year that ended at the start of April 2025, there were 1,307 claims. Again, those are total claims and do not equate to the number of payouts.

“The 635 claims are those which have been submitted by members of the public and are awaiting investigation by our highway services team (HST),” a spokesperson for Devon County Council said.

“They have not yet been passed to the insurance team – it can take time before they reach the insurance team as HST needs to investigate/prepare a report for each of those claims first.”

The council, which is in the unenviable position of having the largest road network in the country – at more than 8,000 miles – is constantly battling to improve Devon’s roads.

It has pledged to spend £32.4million on highways maintenance in the next financial year, that begins in April, which is £2m more than the preceding 12 months.

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Plus, full council agreed an additional £4m to help improve the condition of the county’s roads too.

This winter has proved brutal for Devon’s roads, with 8,340 potholes recorded in January this year – a huge 50% spike on the 5,250 recorded in the same month in 2025.

Data for the first 19 days of February showed a further 6,332 potholes recorded, an 85% hike on the 3,416 recorded in the same time period last year.

The county council stresses that not every pothole qualifies as being sufficiently bad to repair, with around a third of reports turning into actionable safety defects under its highways safety policy. Potholes must measure 40mm (four centimetres) vertically and be 300mm (30 centimetres) wide.

There are also duplicate reports, which the council claims account for around a fifth of reports.