Pothole damage claims against Transport for NSW soar by more than 600 per cent

Transport for NSW has already received more than seven times as many public liability claims over wrecked rims and tyres as last year – but the number approved has dropped.

Damage claims for potholes on state roads are already more than 600 per cent higher this year than for all of 2021 — but there has been no increase in the number accepted for compensation.

Transport for NSW (TfNSW) received 2575 public liability claims for tyre and rim damage in the first 10 months of 2022 compared to 356 for last year, figures obtained by The Daily Telegraph show.

In 2021, 50 claims were accepted. This year, only 38 have been given the go ahead.

This means that while one in seven bids for damages was successful last year, about one in 70 have been approved in 2022.

A TfNSW spokesman said about 200,000 potholes had been fixed across on state roads this year.

Pothole numbers have soared. Picture: The Daily Telegraph

“The unprecedented amount of heavy rain that we have experienced this year has caused extensive damage to roads across the state, with over 2100km of state roads damaged since February.

“Transport has made repairing potholes a priority, with crews working around the clock to repair them faster than ever before,” the spokesman said.

“Since the first wave of severe weather in February this year, Transport has fixed around 200,000 potholes on state roads across NSW.

“Local government is responsible for around 90 per cent of the state’s road network, however any claim for damage caused on a road managed by the state government is comprehensively assessed.”

When a claim is received, an investigation into the condition of the road is carried out, with factors such as the incident location and date – as well as inspection and maintenance records – taken into consideration to determine if a claim is accepted.

Under the Civil Liability Act of 2002, road authorities including TfNSW are not liable for damage caused by a failure to carry out road work if they are unaware of the existence of the hazard at the time it occurred.

Road authorities are not automatically liable for damage caused by potholes. Picture: John Grainger

They are also not liable if their response to addressing the hazard was reasonable and in accordance with maintenance specifications and time frames for response.

The Telegraph requested information on the value of claims approved this year and last, but TfNSW said it could not provide the data before deadline for publication.

The number of claims ultimately approved for incidents in 2022 is expected to be higher than in previous years, although not in line with the 623 per cent increase in applications.

The number approved so far this year is low because of the sheer number of claims being made, which is causing delays in processing.

A notification on the section of the Service NSW website where a pothole damage claim is lodged says “due to high demand, your claim may take longer than four to six weeks. Please provide all required documents to avoid any further delays. We apologise for the inconvenience.”