NEW data has revealed that almost 3,800 pothole-related compensation claims have been lodged with Glasgow City Council in the last three years.

The incidents have resulted in the local authority shelling out over £141,000 to drivers whose vehicles have been left damaged by the rutted local roads.

Despite putting away £1million a year to meet successful claims, the council has admitted it has no idea on average how long it takes to fix the costly potholes due to the inconsistency in its repair times.

The results were released to the Glasgow Times after a successful freedom of information request to the local authority.

Glasgow Times:

Drivers however have hit out, saying that hundreds of claims are taking too long to process or being refused, despite the probe showing almost £3m has been squirrelled away to settle up their legal actions.

One motorist said: “I lodged a claim in January after my Audi’s front right tyre was left totally flat when I hit a pothole on my way home from work in the city centre.

“I had gone a different route due to roadworks and it was dark and suddenly I felt this horrific thud. I got out and realised I had hit a deep pothole which I hadn’t seen and was left with a puncture.

“I was angry and decided to pursue a claim. I lodged my paperwork and despite chasing the council again and again, heard nothing. Eventually, after another six months of chasing for a response, I was offered £200.

“I’m furious now I know that £1m is put away each year to deal with claims like mine. The money is budgeted, yet I was give the runaround, it’s not on.”

Our investigation revealed 1082 accidents linked to collisions with potholes were reported for all of Glasgow for 2021. Another 1299 were reported in 2022 and 1318 were recorded for the first 10 months of this year.

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Despite admitting it did not hold the data to say how long it had taken to fix each fault, the council says it spent £1,303,625 on city-wide repairs in 2020/21, £1,097,057 during 2021/22 and £1,268,741 over 2022/23 – an eye-watering cumulative total of £3,669,423.

The total paid out in compensation however is less than £150,000 over the years since 2020.

The data shows £20,761 was handed out to drivers as a result of claims in 2020/21. This figure shot up to £60,997 in 2021/22 before dipping to £59,394 in 2022/23.

A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said:  “We always endeavour to process claims as quickly as possible and every claim will be investigated appropriately.

“All claims are determined on the individual merits of each case and in the context of our road safety inspection and repairs policy, which is based upon national guidance.

“Our responsibility is to ensure we have in place an appropriate system of road safety inspections and repairs that tackles the most dangerous faults as a matter of priority.

“We always seek to undertake first time permanent repairs wherever possible, but modern materials can provide an immediate and durable solution that helps ensure road safety.

“The roads network is inspected on an on-going basis but we urge people to report any road faults to us directly so they can be properly assessed and included in an appropriate repair programme.

“Potholes can appear suddenly at any time and are caused by environmental factors such as volume of traffic, ice and rain.

“Last winter was particularly damaging for Glasgow’s roads network and our roads maintenance budget has been doubled to £12m in this financial year to improve roads condition throughout the city.

“The presence of a pothole does not automatically mean negligence on behalf of a roads authority.”