Over £200,000 paid out by Edinburgh Council for damage to vehicles

Over £200,000 paid out by Edinburgh Council for damage to vehicles

Hundreds of drivers are being handed bumper compensation deals from the council after damaging their cars in potholes and over speed bumps.

Nearly £11,000 has been paid out to motorists for claims submitted last year and the council has set aside a further £36,000 to cope with around 170 of these outstanding claims. On average, around 180 motorists have won claims every year since 1996, forcing Edinburgh Council to pay out more than £200,000 in total.

Mechanics said the poor state of the city's roads leaves vehicles with major suspension problems, which can cost hundreds of pounds to repair. But thousands of motorists are still thought to shy away from submitting claims, and were today urged to fight for their money back. Opposition councillors said the council was paying out money it could have spent on repairing roads.

The figures, released to the Evening News under the Freedom of Information Act, show a total of 2717 claims have been submitted since the council became a unitary authority in 1996. Up to June 30 this year, 1770 motorists have won their claim, receiving a total of £209,147, with 236 cases still to be decided. The council has set aside £51,968 for all its outstanding claims.

Bumper pay-outs for bumpy roads (Edinburgh Evening News, 5 August 2006)