More than 1,000 pothole compensation claims have been submitted in Nottinghamshire since Reform UK took control of the county’s highways – but only 13 of them have resulted in a pay-out so far. Nottinghamshire County Council’s leader says a ‘backlog’ of compensation claims means there is a delay in processing that may take another couple of months to clear. Mick Barton says he himself has burst two tyres over the last year and both of them were destroyed in the same location, outside the Miller and Carter steakhouse on the A60 Mansfield Road, in Mansfield, though he will not be putting a compensation claim in. A Freedom of Information Request by Nottinghamshire Live shows that, since May 2025, when Reform UK took control of Nottinghamshire County Council , 1,175 compensation claims related to pothole damage have been submitted to the authority. That number is far higher than the figure between May 2024 and April 2025, when only 496 claims were put in, though is much lower than the civic year starting in May 2023 – when more than 2,000 claims were submitted. The highest number of claims have been submitted across December, January and February – in which a combined 1,015 claims were made. There have only been 13 pay-outs overall since May, though, given the high value of successful claims, the total amount of compensation paid out still stands at £3,519.69 so far. Although the number of claims put in were lower under the Conservatives, the council still had to fork out £9,700 in compensation last year. Nottinghamshire County Council’s aim is to have made a decision on a compensation claim within 90 days and once all claims have been processed, Councillor Barton believes the number of payouts will “go up.” Sam Smith, the Conservative leader of the opposition at the county council and Mick Barton’s predecessor as leader, said: “The roads this winter have been worse than we’ve ever seen them. “Claims have skyrocketed back up and beyond where they were under the last Conservative administration, but pay-outs have dropped off a cliff. “So the Reform way seems to be that we’ll pop your tyres, having failed to fix the roads, and then refuse to pay you compensation for it.” Yet Councillor Barton told Nottinghamshire Live that the programme of works carried out on the roads since Reform took charge were planned under the previous Conservative administration. The programme of works starting this year are the first to have been planned under Reform and, with new initiatives like the use of JCB machines , and hotbox pothole crews, Councillor Barton says people will now see a “massive difference” in the road network. Hugh Bladon, from the Alliance of British Drivers, said: “It seems to me that it’s very, very difficult for anyone to get recompense for the state of our roads. “Councils seem to think that just because you drive a car, you must be rich and so you’re an easy target to get money from. “That really has got to stop. Obviously councils should pay out because they’re responsible for the roads.” Yet explaining why so few compensation claims have been paid out so far, Councillor Barton said: “We’ve still got a backlog and there’s a lot still being processed, but, with how many we’ve had, it could take up until the end of May, depending on if we have anymore bad weather . “I think the payments will go up. One claim is one too many, but that’s why we put record amounts of money into the roads in our budget. “It has been challenging and I really feel for people and I want to make sure people do get what they deserve.” Nottinghamshire County Council’s own guidance on submitting a pothole compensation claim states: “The highway authority will not have to compensate you if it can demonstrate it took all reasonable steps to ensure the highway was safe by having a reasonable system of inspection and maintenance. “Unfortunately, incidents do occur but very few are due to negligence on the part of the highway authority. Therefore, most of these claims are successfully defended and no compensation paid.” The Reform-led authority announced in March it would be investing £122.5 million into the area’s highways network in the 2026/27 financial year as part of the first phase of a ‘record-breaking’ roads programme