Ahead of its spending review, Zurich Municipal is urging the government to provide local authorities with greater funding and flexibility to manage road maintenance.
It comes after the government pledged an additional £1.6 billion to address potholes, but estimates suggest that £15.6 billion would be required to fully repair the local road network. The increasing backlog of road defects is leading to a rise in insurance claims, Zurich Municipal said.
Data from the company indicates that pothole-related claims increased by 19% in 2024, reaching a total of 10,648. The first quarter of the year saw the highest volume of claims, with more than 5,000 cases involving damage to tyres, alloys, and suspensions. March was the peak month, with over 2,300 claims - an increase of 181% compared to other months.
Analysis of claims data showed that road defects caused more than £2.6 million in vehicle damage in 2024, with an average claim cost of approximately £600. The figures highlight the financial impact on insurers and policyholders as deteriorating road conditions lead to increased repair expenses and potential premium adjustments.
This isn’t the first time that the problem of potholes has been on Zurich Municipal’s radar. After last year’s Autumn Budget, Zurich Municipal managing director Amy Brettell said that while a £500 million budget to tackle the pothole plague in Britain was “pleasing to see,” the funding would only make a “small dent” in the number of existing potholes in the country.
It identified several factors contributing to the rising number of potholes in the country. Aside from climate change, increased traffic, including the rise in heavier vehicles, has contributed to potholes and road damage in general. A study by Green NCAP highlighted a 9% increase in the average weight of vehicles of the past decade, which is equivalent to an additional 100kg-per-car pressure on roads.
Zurich Municipal is calling for increased investment in local road maintenance to reduce long-term insurance claims and associated costs. It emphasised that improving road conditions would not only enhance public safety but also help mitigate the financial burden on insurers and motorists.
“We’ve had a particularly wet start to the year, which is only going to exacerbate the pothole problem that is plaguing the nation,” said Alix Bedford, risk expert at Zurich Municipal.
“While the additional funding that government pledged at the end of last year is a step in the right direction, councils need a lot more funding so that they are not just repairing the current cavities in the roads to make them safer for all users, but also investing in the network so it doesn’t deteriorate as much in the first place,” Bedford added.
