Potholes in Fife roads: this is how few claims were settled in favour of drivers

North East Fife MSP Willie Rennie has highlighted figures obtained by the Scottish Liberal Democrats which show only four claims for damage caused by road defects against Fife Council were settled in favour of claimants in the last year.

The figures, obtained in a Freedom of Information request, showed that between 2022 and 7th March 2023 there were 347 claims against Fife Council related to road defects.

However, at the date of the request, only four had been settled in favour of the claimant.

The request also showed that the most recent estimate of completing the road maintenance backlog, was £77.6 million.

Mr Rennie said: “Road-users across Fife know that the state of our roads is far below what it should be, and damage caused by potholes is common. The estimated cost of bringing roads in Fife up to standard shows the consequence of years of Scottish Government under-funding which has starved councils of the resources they need to provide basic services.

“Claims against the council for damage need to be assessed on their merits, but the exceptionally small number which have been settled could indicate delays in processing.

"Legitimate claims need to be assessed and resolved quickly otherwise people will be discouraged from recovering the costs of damage.”​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​