Cash-strapped councils across the West Midlands have spent at least £20 million on pothole repairs in just three years amid a string of compensation demands from drivers.
A total of 97,000 potholes were recorded by authorities in the region between 2023/24 and 2025/26, according to Freedom of Information Act figures obtained by Legal Expert.
Councils paid out a combined total of £555,343 in compensation for vehicle damage and injuries caused by road defects over the same time period.
Solihull tops compensation payouts
Solihull Council paid out the most at £209,998 - despite only recording 8,413 potholes. Dudley Council followed with £164,713.16 in payouts, while Birmingham City Council paid out £138,812.45.
City of Wolverhampton Council paid the least in compensation, with a total of £10,858.38 over the three-year period. Coventry City Council and Walsall Council could not provide any data regarding vehicle damage or personal injury payouts.
Birmingham City Council was also unable to provide compensation data for the 2025/26 period, meaning its true payout figure was likely much higher.
Repair spending and pothole reports
Councils across the West Midlands spent a total of more than £19.4m on pothole repairs over the last three years.
Birmingham City Council received the highest volume of reports, with 36,859 potholes. Dudley followed with 28,167 potholes. The two areas accounted for more than 67 per cent of all reported potholes in the region.
Other areas reported significantly fewer issues, with Walsall Council recording the lowest number at 2,159. But Birmingham City Council and Wolverhampton Council did not provide data on how much they had spent.
Walsall Council noted that it could not provide data on specific pothole repair spending and instead included all reactive highway repairs, including defective footways, road gullies, kerbs, bollards, and guardrails.
RAC warning on summer heat damage
These figures surfaced alongside a warning from the RAC, indicating the pothole crisis was likely to worsen.
RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “Potholes are often associated with cold or wet winters, but prolonged periods of hot, sunny weather also takes its toll on the roads.
“Intense UV exposure and heat gradually oxidise the bitumen that binds asphalt together, making surfaces more brittle and prone to cracking. Once cracks develop, traffic and later rainfall can quickly turn them into serious defects.
“After the exceptional heat of this summer it’s even more important that we maintain our roads properly.
“We need to be surface dressing roads still in reasonable condition to keep them that way. This involves spreading chippings on to fresh bitumen binder and sealing them against the ingress of water, which is the enemy as it leads to cracking and potholes.”
