A fifth of insurance claims involving a car damaged by a pothole have led to the vehicle being declared a write-off, Allianz has reported.
Since the start of last year, the insurer has paid out more than £4.6m for 1,266 pothole claims.
During this period, 1,114 were for single-vehicle claims, and in 225 cases, the damage was so severe and structural that it was deemed not worth the cost of trying to repair the car.
Allianz said there had been a rise in both the frequency and cost of claims caused by the ‘growing menace’ of potholes in recent years.
Claims director of motor insurance Caroline Johnson said: ‘Our roads are blighted by potholes and it is astonishing to see the problems they cause.
She added: ‘Our roads need better maintenance to reduce the number of potholes.
‘The Government’s recent announcement of increased spending on repairing the nation’s roads is welcome and will hopefully go some way to helping to alleviate this problem.’
