Pothole injury claims - why the 10cm rule matters

If you ask any road user, they’ll likely tell you they’ve hit a significant pothole in the last year. Our roads feel littered with them posing an unavoidable hazard to pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders, and motorists alike.

When they are not damaging vehicles, they are damaging people – and that’s before we even consider the harm to the economy.

When a pothole causes a serious injury, it’s natural to assume compensation should follow. Unfortunately, the reality of pothole injury claims is far more complex.

Why do potholes cause more than just inconvenience?

Potholes aren’t simply an annoyance or a threat to tyres; they can lead to life-altering injuries. 

Digby Brown have been involved with cases involving broken bones, facial injuries and some more serious injuries after colliding with a pothole. These risks are significantly amplified for vulnerable road users like cyclists and pedestrians.

It seems logical to think that poor road conditions equal liability. However, the law doesn’t work on fairness alone. Pothole compensation claims are assessed against strict legal benchmarks, and many claims fail despite the severity of the injury.

What makes pothole claims so difficult?

To successfully claim compensation, three specific hurdles must be cleared:

Medical evidence

Beyond the pain you’re feeling, you need an official record of it. This is why we always advise seeking treatment from your GP, A&E, or a medical professional immediately. Without that medical paper trail, it is incredibly difficult to prove in court exactly how and when your injuries occurred.

Proof of knowledge

This is often the most challenging part of a claim: we must prove the local authority actually knew the defect existed.

From speaking to road engineers, we know that weather and heavy traffic can cause a pothole to appear almost overnight. Because of this, Sheriffs and Judges are often sympathetic toward local authorities, acknowledging that they can’t be everywhere at once. 

Our job is to find the evidence - such as witness statements or previous maintenance reports - that proves the Council had sufficient notice to fix the hazard but failed to act.

Severity of pothole

This is the part that sparks the most frustration for our clients. While any dip in the road can cause a fall, the courts generally won’t find the council liable unless the pothole meets specific measurements:

• On the road - usually requires a 100mm (10cm) vertical edge
• On the pavement - this requirement typically drops to a 20mm straight edge

If the pothole is disc-shaped or has sloped sides, the law often views it as a "general wear and tear" issue rather than a negligent hazard. While this feels inherently unfair when an injury is serious, these measurements often determine whether a case can proceed.

Potholes may seem like a minor nuisance, but their consequences can be serious and lasting.

It matters to us that improvements are made to the roads and that people have a chance to right the wrongs that happened to them, and we will continue to challenge the grey areas and positively develop the law to help even more people in the future.