If the pothole was on a minor road, however, it will be the responsibility of the county, city or borough council that manages the roads in the area of the pothole.

If you can safely take a photograph of the pothole, you should do so, as that will help the council to identify it. Alternatively, a sketch showing the pothole’s location relative to the kerb or centre line should suffice.

You should also give the council details of the pothole’s location, including the name of the town or village it’s in, the road name or number, the direction you were travelling in along the road, and the size of the pothole, including its depth (remember, only measure the pothole if it’s safe to do so).

Get quotes

Find out how much it will cost to repair the damage to your car by getting quotes from a few local garages. Make sure they inspect the car properly, as there may be damage where you can’t see it – such as broken suspension components, as well as potentially dangerous damage to tyres. 

And make sure you get several quotes, so that you aren’t being ripped off.

Repair if you need to

If the damage causes the car to be dangerous to drive or unroadworthy, you should have it repaired at the earliest possible opportunity, and worry about claiming for it later on, rather than try and drive the car as it is.

However, if the damage is purely cosmetic – a kerbed alloy wheel, for example – it makes more sense to wait to see whether your claim is successful before spending money getting it fixed. That way, you’ll know how much you have to play with.

Make your claim

Write to the relevant authority, explaining your predicament. Make it detailed, but keep your language calm and collected. Becoming emotional or abusive is a no-no, and won’t help your case at all.