King Winter has been incredibly hard on the asphalt, which crumbles and gets deep holes – but who really pays the bill when the car gets damaged?
Many of the country’s roads currently require extra love from the municipalities and the state, which are working at high pressure to patch the many holes in the road. The damage to the asphalt is due to the large temperature fluctuations with hard frosts and wet thaws that have characterized the whole winter.
At the comparison portal Samlino.dk, figures from January show that the number of injuries has increased nationwide compared to the same period the previous year – but who has to pay when the injury has occurred?
When a car is damaged as a result of a pothole, it is not unimportant where and how the damage occurred. Conversely, it is absolutely decisive for whether or not you, as a car owner, can get compensation.
Who pays the bill?
In the end, it is either you, the municipality or the Norwegian Road Administration who end up paying the bill if your car is damaged by a pothole.
The municipality is responsible for ordinary city roads, the Road Directorate is responsible for motorways and country roads, while you as a driver are responsible for avoiding potholes whenever possible.
Here Mads Bukholt, insurance manager at Samlino.dk, tells Bilbasen:
“The motorist must be able to demonstrate that the pothole was unavoidable and not foreseen, and that the owner of the road acted in a responsible manner in the form of error or negligence. Or, in other words, that the state or the municipality has failed by not taking care of the road properly”.
The claim for compensation can therefore end up with the Road Directorate or the municipality if the road is not in proper condition and is the direct cause of an injury. However, the hole itself is not enough. The bill may end up with you if the documentation is not in order.
“It is very important to document that the damage to the car originates from the pothole in question. Pictures are an important part of this documentation, as they must show the depth, width and location of the hole in the carriageway.” says Mads Bukholt and continues:
“It is recommended here to use a ruler to measure the depth and width and to take pictures both close up and from a distance, so that you can assess the location of the hole in relation to the road. The more detailed the documentation, the better the basis for claiming compensation” he concludes.
If you have deviated from the road and hit a hole in the discount, there is no compensation to collect. The same applies if you have hit a pothole that has already been inspected and assessed as harmless by the municipality. If the damage has occurred here, it may indicate that you as a motorist have driven too fast. Motorists thus also have a responsibility to drive properly according to conditions and avoid potholes whenever possible.
How to apply for compensation?
If the damage has occurred on state roads, it is the legal department of the Road Directorate that processes compensation claims from citizens. The Roads Directorate receives the documentation and processes the potential claims within a maximum of 5 weeks. They write that on the Road Directorate’s website.
It is to the Road Directorate that the aforementioned photo documentation must be sent, in addition to the following:
- Name
- Address
- Phone number
- A description of the incident
- A precise description of where the damage occurred and the date of the accident
- The size of the compensation claim
If the damage has occurred on a city road that is the responsibility of a municipality, the notification process itself will vary from municipality to municipality. Visit the relevant municipality’s website to create the compensation claim. Common to all the municipalities, however, is that documentation plays a decisive role in the requirement here as well.
Multiple injuries
The municipalities report extra busyness in registering and patching the many potholes in the road that the winter weather has brought with it. At Samlino.dk, the figures for January this year also seem to be characterized by more injuries than in previous years.
If you look at those of Samlino’s users who have registered at least one or more injuries in the month of January from 2022 to 2024, there is an average increase of 30% nationwide. Data is based on users who have compared insurance policies on Samlino in the month of January in 2022, 2023 and 2024 respectively. Of this, calculations are based on 99,214 postings.
The users have provided their address and how many injuries they have had in the past 6 years. The analysis thus does not cover when the damage specifically occurred, or the type of damage (e.g. due to potholes). The increase in users’ registered injuries in the month of January may, however, be an indication that the roads are in worse condition on top of the harsh winter and cause more injuries to motorists.
