£2.5m spent settling public liability claims arising from potholes and road defects in Derry/Strabane
An eye-watering two and a half million pounds was spent settling public liability claims resulting from road defects in Derry and Strabane over the past five years, the 'Journal' can reveal.
Figures from the Department for Infrastructure show that public liability expenditure for the Derry/Strabane district stood at £2,460,091.03 between 2020-21 and 2024-25, the last five full financial years.
Of this total £2,226,913 was for personal injury claims, £180,259.6 was for vehicle damage and £52,918.43 was for property damage.
The massive bill includes compensation and other costs which may include claimant's legal costs, DfI's legal costs, medical fees; private investigator fees and witness expenses among other things.
A recent peak in public liability claims in Derry/Strabane occurred in 2022/23 when expenditure hit a whopping £1,317,654.12.
According to DfI’s Road Asset Maintenance Directorate claims relating to 1,173 road defects were concluded in Derry/Strabane over the five years.
Of these 686 were pothole-related and 487 were for other road defects.
Local MLA Mark Durkan called for action on potholes and road defects at the weekend.
He pointed to one ‘crater’ on the main A2 Culmore Road at Culmore village that, he said, had resulted in ‘serious and costly damage’ to numerous vehicles.
“Potholes don't just cause damage either - they pose a real danger. The Infrastructure Minister has said a lot about what is being done to improve our roads but do you see much improvement in Derry?” he asked.
Mr. Durkan encouraged motorists who suffer vehicle damage to report it and to claim compensation at https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/