Doctor wins payout after car damaged by pothole

A doctor has been awarded compensation after his car suffered a blowout when it hit a pothole while he was driving back from work.

Hospital anaesthetist Dr Thomas Burton, from Hereford, was returning from a shift in Birmingham on 15 February when his Volvo struck the defect on the A4103 at Newton Cross in Herefordshire.

After Herefordshire Council denied liability, Dr Burton submitted a case through the small claims court, which the authority failed to respond to, and a default judgement was issued in his favour.

The council blamed its lack of response on an "administrative error" and said it decided to pay the compensation as it would have cost more to appeal the judgement.

Dr Burton said: "Other people were affected by the same pothole - you can see them stopping ahead of me in my dashcam footage."

He said he went "back and forth" with the council after the incident and that he had been told the pothole's repair had been scheduled, which the local authority claimed was a "valid defence".

Dr Burton accessed the small courts claim via the government's Money Claim Online portal and received the default judgement in his favour when the council failed to respond within the two-week statutory period.

The local authority eventually paid him £245, which included £35 in court fees.

A council spokesperson said Dr Burton's claim was initially rejected as the pothole had been identified and was awaiting repair.

"Following an administrative error, the decision was made to pay the default judgement as it would have cost more to pursue the matter," they said.

"Under normal circumstances, this claim is one that the council would have successfully defended."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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