Councils across South West Wales reject almost every pothole claim as drivers left paying the price
Fresh data obtained by the RAC reveals a bleak picture for motorists in our region, where refusal rates regularly top 97%, leaving families to cover repair bills that can easily run into hundreds of pounds.
Carmarthenshire: 114 claims, one payout — a 99% refusal rate
No council in our patch fared worse than Carmarthenshire, which rejected 113 out of 114 pothole damage claims in 2024.
That means just one driver received compensation all year — despite garages across the county reporting a steady stream of suspension failures, buckled wheels and blown tyres.
At a garage in Porthyrhyd, owner Aled Jenkins says the damage is relentless.
“We get people coming in more or less every week because of potholes,” he said. “It causes a lot of trouble for cars, especially with their suspensions.”
In Cwmamman, mechanic Amos Lawlor says drivers have simply lost faith in the system.
“Go back five or ten years and you’d put in a claim and get paid,” he said. “Now they’re clamping down. But the damage hasn’t stopped — we still see it every week.”
He warned that recent frosts will only make things worse: “Roads aren’t being maintained enough. After the latest frost, there’ll be more potholes again.”
Swansea, Pembrokeshire and NPT: refusal rates above 94%
The picture is no better in neighbouring counties.
Swansea, Pembrokeshire, Neath Port Talbot and the Vale of Glamorgan all rejected 97% of claims or more, according to the RAC’s analysis.
In practice, that means drivers who hit a pothole in Swansea or Pembrokeshire have almost no chance of receiving compensation — even if the damage is severe.
Neath Port Talbot wasn’t far behind, refusing more than 94% of claims.
Across the region, garages say the pattern is the same: more damage, fewer payouts, and drivers increasingly resigned to footing the bill themselves.
Bridgend: the one rare bright spot
One council in our wider region bucked the trend — and dramatically so.
Bridgend County Borough Council was the only authority in Wales to pay out 100% of the pothole claims it received last year.
It’s a tiny number of cases compared to Carmarthenshire or Swansea, but still a striking contrast in a landscape where almost every other council is rejecting nearly every claim.
Claims rising, payouts falling
While councils in our patch are rejecting claims at record levels, the number of drivers seeking compensation continues to rise.
Across Wales, pothole claims have jumped 26% since 2021 — but the proportion of successful payouts has fallen from one in four to just one in six.
The RAC says the average payout is £390, but the average repair bill for damage worse than a puncture is closer to £590 — leaving many families out of pocket even when they do win a claim.
RAC head of policy Simon Williams says strict definitions of what counts as a pothole are part of the problem.
“Some have to be four centimetres deep and a certain width,” he said. “If you hit one, it can cause a real jolt to the car and serious damage — and it’s a major safety risk, particularly for cyclists and motorcyclists.”
He warned that the true scale of the problem may be even worse, with several councils failing to provide data.
A growing crisis on local roads
For drivers in Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire and Bridgend, the message is clear: pothole damage is rising — but the chances of getting a penny back are shrinking fast.
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