DRIVERS are likely missing out on millions of pounds worth of payouts because of council rejections.
Thousands of Brits try their hardest to claim compensation for injuries and damage caused by potholes every year.
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But councils are said to be rejecting three in four claims – keeping millions of pounds from Brits’ pockets.
There are more than 200 authorities that maintain and manage 260,000 miles of UK roads.
MailOnline looked over 50 of those councils and discovered that overall a mere £3million is paid out in compensation each year.
But it found that as around 75 per cent of claims are thrown out £9m could be being kept from drivers by that group alone.
It looked over figures from April 2019 to March 2022.
It found that each year at least 45 of the 50 authorities audited rejected more claims than it paid out.
Much of the refusals to hand over compensation fall on the loophole in the Highways Act 1980.
It says that councils and other highway authorities are liable for claims only if they have not inspected roads frequently or made repairs in adequate time.
Councils are also said to be able to disregard claims if a pothole has not been reported.
RAC spokesman Rod Dennis told MailOnline: “Drivers may not be aware that their chances of claiming any pothole damage costs back from a local authority is virtually zero if the council can say it wasn’t aware of a problem with the road in the first place.”
Of the 50 authorities audited, one of the worst was the Dundee City Council, which over a three-year period denied 96 per cent of claims.
The council paid out just 1.4 per cent in compensation to people who were injured, or had their cars damaged.
Lincolnshire had one of the best payout rates of the group – rewarding 48 per cent of its claimants.
Gloucestershire County Council paid out on just 93 of the 1,667 claims it received – a little over 5 per cent.
In London, TfL closed 93 per cent of claims submitted without compensation.
It had so far paid out on just 24 of the 776 in total.
In recent weeks Britain was said to be in a pothole crisis as half of the country’s roads were said to be crumbling with the repair backlog hitting a record high.
Last month the worst areas for potholes were revealed, including some places where councils take a lengthy 18 months to fill the cracks.
