Cardiff Council has spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on settling insurance claims from drivers, pedestrians and cyclists due to highway defects over the past four years.

Wales Online reports that, while the total number of property damage and personal injury claims relating to their roads and pavements is decreasing, a freedom of information request showed the council still shelled out over £435,000 in just four years.

The request, made by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, revealed the statistics on the third party insurance claims made against the council. They also showed that the single biggest amount that the council had been forced to pay out over the past four years in relation to highway defects was £20,000.

A Cardiff Council spokesperson told Wales Online: “In the UK, there is a national backlog of road repairs in the region of £12 billion.

“The Council inspects the highway network in line with all legislation. (The Code of Practice for Highway Maintenance Management and the requirements of the Highways Act 1980). Looking specifically at the figures for insurance claims in Cardiff, it shows that there has been a gradual reduction in the number of claims made and money paid out in compensation since 2019, which is encouraging.”

(Picture – Highways News)