Insurance claims

From the section: Potholes

In this section:

Insurance claims

If your vehicle is damaged as a direct result of a pothole, on a highway owned and maintained by Solihull Council, any claims received are thoroughly investigated to establish if Council would be liable.

We can only be held responsible in certain limited circumstances, such as where we have not met a reasonable standard of inspection and response. The majority of highways claims are refused for this reason.

Required information for a claim

To investigate your claim, we need specific information. This includes:

  • the incident date and time
  • the exact location of the pothole or defect alleged to be responsible 
  • photographs of the alleged pothole or defect, provided it is safe for them to be taken
  • the direction of travel
  • details of the vehicle damage (If your claim is admitted, you will be required to evidence that the repair cost is reasonable, for example by providing alternative estimates and photographic evidence)

Please read more on our insurance claims page where a claim can be submitted.

The fact that a pothole exists does not mean that the Council is automatically responsible.

All pothole claims received are considered under the Highways Act 1980 and the Council will have a defence to any claim if they can show that they have adhered to a reasonable system of inspection and maintenance. Each of our highways are inspected and the frequency and nature of the inspections are set out in our highway policy.

These inspections, referred to as ‘safety inspections’, are carried out in order for any defects to be noted for repair, or any issues that may become worse before the next inspection, to be attended to. The nature of these matters is recorded, and repair orders are raised dependent upon the location and urgency of the issue identified. 

Between the period of inspections, we rely upon members of the public to report defects to us. We will repair those defects if they are considered a danger to road users. We have an allocated period for carrying out such repairs. Provided we have complied with our highway policy, we are not responsible for damage caused by potholes or defects.

Generally, only in instances where a repair is not fulfilled within the categorised urgency deadline, with an incident occurring after the deadline, will liability attach to the Council.