Cost of pothole claims becoming ‘hugely expensive’ – Allianz

Pothole claims involving high-end prestige cars are becoming “hugely expensive”, Allianz has said.

It made the revelation as data released by the insurer today (11 November 2024) showed that since the start of 2023, one in five (21%) claims where a vehicle hit a pothole led to it being declared a write-off.

In one case, a BMW 7 series M-Sport hit a pothole on an A-road while travelling at 60mph.

The impact caused so much damage that the car had to be written-off, with Allianz paying a claim totalling £53,000.

Allianz also detailed an incident where a new Audi A3 Sportback was written-off after hitting a pothole on a B-road at just 15mph.

This was because of damage to the front nearside wheel and undercarriage, with the claim totalling £36,000.

All cars

Meanwhile, for all types of cars since the start of 2023, Allianz has paid out more than £4.6m for 1,266 pothole claims.

It said that in early 2023, a typical claim cost just over £3,000, but that now stands at £4,000.

Reasons for this include the cost of parts and specialist labour.

Caroline Johnson, claims director at Allianz UK, said: “Our roads are blighted by potholes and it is astonishing to see the problems they cause.

“Many incidents result in damaged wheels, wrecked suspension, and misaligned bodywork. In one in five cases, the damage is so severe and structural that it is not worth the cost of trying to repair the car. It’s a huge waste and these costs feed back into the insurance premiums that many motorists are struggling to pay.”

Labour statement

The release of the figures came after chancellor Rachel Reeves noted that the government would commit an extra £500m a year to local road maintenance and the fixing of potholes in 2025-26.

In its election manifesto, the Labour Party committed to fixing an extra one million potholes a year.

Johnson said: “Our roads need better maintenance to reduce the number of potholes. The government’s recent announcement of increased spending on repairing the nation’s roads is welcome and will hopefully go some way to helping to alleviate this problem.”