Potholes: stats, procedure and compensation

The request was successful.

Dear Transport for London,

How many claims did TfL receive for compensation for pothole damage in the last three years that figures are available?
How many of these claims did you pay?
What was the cost to you for claims in the last three years that figures are available?
What is the average pay out for a claim?
What was the cost to TfL administratively for managing these claims in the last three years that figures are available?
What was the budget for fixing potholes in the last three years that figures are available?
What is the budget for fixing potholes this current year?
How much did you spend on fixing potholes in the last three years that figures are available?
How many potholes were fixed in the last three years that figures are available?
How many repairs were prompted by complaints?
How many repairs were because of the council's own survey work?
Did TfL develop its own process for managing pothole claims, e.g. the development of a form to report claims, standards in terms of timely responses etc.

Yours faithfully,
Oliver Lewis

FOI, Transport for London

Dear Mr Lewis

 

Our Ref:         FOI-3357-1920

 

Thank you for your request received on 31 January 2020 asking for
information about potholes.

 

Your request will be processed in accordance with the requirements of the
Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.

 

A response will be sent to you by 28 February 2020. We publish a
substantial range of information on our website on subjects including
operational performance, contracts, expenditure, journey data, governance
and our financial performance. This includes data which is frequently
asked for in FOI requests or other public queries. Please check
[1]http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transpar... to see if this helps you.

 

We will publish anonymised versions of requests and responses on the
[2]www.tfl.gov.uk website. We will not publish your name and we will send
a copy of the response to you before it is published on our website.

 

In the meantime, if you would like to discuss this matter further, please
do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Gemma Jacob

Senior FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

 

[3][TfL request email]

 

 

 

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FOI, Transport for London

1 Attachment

Dear Mr Lewis

 

Our Ref:         FOI-3357-1920

 

Thank you for your request received on 31 January 2020 asking for
information about potholes.

 

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of
the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can
confirm we hold some of the information you require. You asked:

 

1.    How many claims did TfL receive for compensation for pothole damage
in the last three years that figures are available?

 

Our claims handler, Gallagher Bassett, processed 654 pothole related
claims between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2019.

 

2.    How many of these claims did you pay?

 

Of these claims, compensation was paid in 34 of them. Highway maintenance
on the TLRN is carried out under the London Highways Alliance Contracts
(LoHAC), if there is an alleged or possible failure that would lead to a
compensation claim, that claim would be passed to the highway contractor
to handle. We do not hold information on which of those are paid or how
much is paid out.

3.    What was the cost to you for claims in the last three years that
figures are available?

 

The total costs for the claims processed by our claims handler for this
period was £88,061.33 in relation to potholes. This includes all legal and
investigation costs as well as compensation. This does not include any
claims passed to the highway contractor who may settle a claim.

 

4.    What is the average pay out for a claim?

 

The average sum paid in compensation including claimant legal costs is
£1,195.73.

 

5.    What was the cost to TfL administratively for managing these claims
in the last three years that figures are available?

 

We do not hold this information as we do not record how much time is spent
on specifically processing pothole claims. These tasks form part of a
typical working day.

 

6.    What was the budget for fixing potholes in the last three years that
figures are available?

7.    What is the budget for fixing potholes this current year?

8.    How much did you spend on fixing potholes in the last three years
that figures are available?

 

We do not hold this specific information as we do not separate our budget
or spend specifically for potholes as this is covered by the lump sum
payments made to our contractors as part of LoHAC.

 

However, we can provide you with our total cost of all highway defect
routine repairs and emergency call out repairs for the last three
completed financial years,

 

2016/17 - £11,900,080

2017/18 - £ 9,386,578

2018/19 - £ 8,809,188

 

9.    How many potholes were fixed in the last three years that figures
are available?

10. How many repairs were prompted by complaints?

11. How many repairs were because of the council's own survey work?

 

Data from our Asset Management Systems shows that 16,829 potholes were
fixed between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2019.

 

We do not receive specific details from our contractors on how many
pothole repairs were specifically initiated as a result of a customer
complaints or whether it was the result of an inspection.

 

12. Did TfL develop its own process for managing pothole claims, e.g. the
development of a form to report claims, standards in terms of timely
responses etc.

 

Our approach to potholes is in line with UK and some international risk
management processes, and is soon to be in line with the updated well
managed highways guidance provided by the Department for Transport. In
addition, we have our own standard process for managing all claims made to
TfL including potholes.

 

We launched Street Care in December 2019, a new service that makes it much
simpler for people across London to report problems on the road network
and at bus stops and shelters, making travelling around London easier and
safer: [1]https://streetcare.tfl.gov.uk/.

 

If this is not the information you are looking for please feel free to
contact me.

 

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to
appeal.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Gemma Jacob

Senior FOI Case Officer

FOI Case Management Team

General Counsel

Transport for London

 

[2][TfL request email]

 

 

 

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