MOTORISTS in Barnsley were six times more likely to win payouts for damage to their vehicles caused by potholes over the last five years than those in neighbouring Rotherham, figures released under freedom of information rules show.
Statistics for the county’s four local authorities reveal drivers’ chances of getting compensated for damage caused by pot holes vary wildly.
In Barnsley the success rate was about 25 per cent, compared to just four per cent in Rotherham.
In Sheffield it was 44 per cent and about 30 per cent in Doncaster.
There were a total of 334 claims against Barnsley Council over the last five financial years, of which 85 were successful - about 25 per cent.
The total paid out in damages over the five years was more than £22,500.
The largest individual payout was £3,059.50 for a problem on Long Lane on the outskirts of Penistone in 2015/16. That same road was responsible for the largest successful claim again the following year - this time for £1,259.64.
The success of compensation claims is dictated by how well local authorities can defend themselves against claims, with the law not expecting them to compensate in cases where holes in the carriageway were not known to exist.
The highest number of successful claims was recorded in 2014/15 when there were 26 successful claims out of a total of 74 - about 35 per cent success rate.
The total that year was £4,460.
While costs mounted the following year, the total paid out has since fallen each year, to a five-year-low last year of £1,793 paid out for a total of 12 successful claims.
The figures relate to damage caused to vehicles only, and don’t include claims for personal injury caused to pedestrians as a result of incidents involving potholes.
Last year Lee Crawley was awarded £3,000 compensation after injuring his ankle in a pothole on Hill Top Avenue, Athersley North.
The figures emerge in the same week that the government pledged more than £400,000 to help repair the latest pothole epidemic following the snow and ice earlier this month.
