Motorists with cars damaged by potholes in Kent say they are being “shafted” by the council as more than 90% of compensation claims are rejected.

Drivers forced to pay for repairs after hitting one of the many craters across the county argue the local authority should be picking up the bill.

But figures obtained by KentOnline show just 8% of vehicle owners asking Kent County Council (KCC) to cover the costs are successful.

Among those to have a claim rejected is Steve Clark, who had to pay £220 to replace an alloy wheel and tyre after hitting a pothole in West Hougham, near Dover.

KCC told the 55-year-old it would not be forking out because it was unaware of the defect at the time the damage was caused - a key defence for the authority in many cases.

“I’m one of the unfortunate ones who didn’t get their claim accepted, even though it had nothing to do with me,” said Mr Clark.

“KCC said they didn’t know about the pothole, despite it being there for months, so rejected my claim.

“It’s the council’s fault for not maintaining the roads properly and the public shouldn’t be shafted like that.

“It was a genuine claim on my behalf.”

Fellow driver Sheila Burgman has tried and failed three times to force KCC to reimburse her for damage caused to her car.

The 73-year-old had to shell out £515 on repairs after hitting a pothole in London Road, Allington, near Maidstone, on December 29 last year.

KCC told Mrs Burgman it had been alerted to the pothole forming two weeks before her accident but, as it was not deemed a priority, a site visit did not take place until January 11.

The authority said it deemed this response “reasonable under the circumstances” so denied liability for the damage caused.

“I think a lot of people will put in a claim, get turned down and not try again,” Mrs Burgman said.

“I’ve had three tries at making a claim and have now put in a Freedom of Information request to find out the history of this pothole.

“I’ve hit three potholes in the past and damaged tyres, but have never claimed, but I thought this time was different.”

KCC is responsible for the maintenance of roads across the county, excluding those in Medway, which are overseen by Medway Council as a unitary authority.

On its website, KCC warns potential claimants that because of a legal defence under the Highways Act 1980 “the majority of compensation claims are unsuccessful”.

The Act states motorists must prove the authority “knew, or could reasonably have been expected to know, that the condition of the part of the highway to which the action relates was likely to cause danger to users of the highway”.

Essentially, where KCC can show it has a regular inspection and repair programme in place and was unaware of the pothole before it caused any damage, any claim is likely to fail.

As in Mrs Burgman’s case, authorities informed of a pothole can also argue they had properly assessed the report and taken reasonable steps to arrange repairs.

Figures obtained by KentOnline reveal the authority received 2,508 pothole-related claims between January 2023 and February 2024.

Only 190 were accepted, resulting in total compensation payments of £27,535.

Mr Clark believes this figure should be much higher given the number of craters on Kent’s roads.

“It doesn’t add up at all,” he said. “It should have been hundreds of thousands.

“I think they are trying to sweep it under the carpet so they don’t have to pay out as much in compensation.

“Anyone who sees a pothole needs to report it so that people stand a higher chance of having their claim accepted, as KCC will be more likely to know about the pothole.”

Data shows that in the last financial year there were 57,343 potholes in Kent - up from 41,135 the year before.

As a result, KCC’s spending on repairs increased from £10.1 million to £14 million across the same period.

The leader of the West Hougham pothole action group, Steve Oxenham, believes more checks should be carried out on Kent’s roads to prevent accidents.

“We had so many incidents of claims put in and basically, they put out a disclaimer and the onus is on the claimant to prove KCC has been negligent because they say they regularly inspect the roads,” he said.

“I think they work only on the basis of matters that are reported, so if someone’s vehicle gets damaged and he’s the first one, his claim’s null and void because KCC didn’t know about [the pothole].

“I see their problem, you know, cutbacks in government spending on local authorities and county authorities, but there’s got to be a better system.

“The damages I know about in Hougham are more than £80,000 and they’re just the ones we know about, let alone the people who use the village as a cut-through,” he said.

“I think that figure is ludicrously low.

“We don’t know of one person who has had their claim accepted in West Hougham.”

A spokesperson from KCC says all claims for compensation are thoroughly investigated and assessed following their duties under the Highways Act.

“The Act acknowledges that a defence is available to local authorities when they are able to demonstrate a reasonable system of inspection and repair,” they added.