You hit it hard enough to hear it and feel it through the wheel. The car still drives. The question is whether it should, and then whether anyone is going to pay for what just happened.
Both answers are less obvious than people expect, and the second one is where most of the disappointment lives.
Stop and look, even if it feels fine
Pull over somewhere safe and actually look. A pothole impact goes into the tyre and wheel first and the suspension second, and the most dangerous damage is the sort that does not announce itself.
The tyre. Look at the sidewall, not just the tread. A bulge or an egg-shaped lump means the internal structure has been damaged and the tyre can fail without warning. That is not a drive-home-and-see; that is a stop.
The wheel. Run your hand round the rim edge, inside and out. A buckle or a flat spot you can feel will usually show as a vibration and can also let air out slowly.
Underneath, if you can see safely. Any fresh wet patch, anything hanging, anything obviously bent.
How it drives afterwards. Pulling to one side, a steering wheel no longer centred, a new vibration, a clunk over bumps. Those point at tracking, suspension or a bent component rather than just a tyre.
When to stop driving
Stop and call rather than continue if there is a bulge in a sidewall, if the tyre is losing pressure, if the steering pulls hard or the wheel is visibly off-centre, if there is a knocking or grinding that started at the impact, or if anything is leaking. Our guides to flat tyres and blowouts cover the tyre side in more detail.
A slow puncture that is holding for now is different, and driving carefully to a tyre place is usually reasonable. But a damaged sidewall is the one people misjudge, and a sidewall failure at seventy is a very different event from a puncture.
If it should not be driven, do not drive it. A buckled wheel or a damaged sidewall on a spare-less car is a recovery job, and it is a cheap one compared with a blowout. DK’s Recovery covers Sheffield 24 hours a day — call +44 7867 860723 and tell us what the car is doing and whether it still steers straight.
Now the claim, honestly
You can claim from the highway authority for damage caused by a pothole. In Sheffield that is the city council for most roads, and National Highways for motorways and some trunk roads. Knowing which one owns the road matters, because a claim to the wrong body goes nowhere.
Here is the part that is usually left out of articles encouraging you to claim. Under section 58 of the Highways Act 1980, a highway authority has a defence if it can prove it took such care as was reasonably required in all the circumstances to secure that the road was not dangerous for traffic.
In practice that means an authority which can show a reasonable inspection regime — that the road was inspected at appropriate intervals for its type and traffic, that the defect was not reported or known, and that it acted within its own timescales once it was — will usually defeat the claim. The court is directed to consider the character of the road, the traffic expected on it, the standard of maintenance appropriate to it, whether the authority knew or ought to have known about the danger, and whether warning notices were displayed.
That is why so many pothole claims fail, and it is not a conspiracy. The test is whether the authority behaved reasonably, not whether your wheel is bent.
What actually improves your chances
Since the authority’s knowledge is central, evidence that the defect was known about is the single most valuable thing you can produce.
Photograph the pothole itself, with something for scale — a shoe, a coin, a ruler if you have one — and get the depth as well as the width. Photograph the location well enough to identify it later, and note the exact road and nearest house number or landmark.
Photograph the damage and keep every receipt, including the tyre, the tracking and any diagnostic.
Check whether it had already been reported. Many councils publish reported defects, and a pothole already logged and not repaired within the authority’s own timescale is a materially stronger claim than one nobody knew about.
Report it anyway. Even if your own claim fails, a reported defect is one that gets fixed, and it becomes part of the record for the next person.
Ask the authority for their inspection records for that stretch. You are entitled to ask, and the answer often decides the claim either way.
Stones thrown up from a broken road surface are the other common casualty. Our guide to whether a cracked windscreen is legal to drive on covers where the line is.
Insurance, and why people often do not use it
Pothole damage is usually covered under comprehensive insurance as accidental damage. Whether it is worth claiming is a different question: a bent wheel and a tyre can easily cost less than a typical excess, and a claim affects your no-claims discount and your next premium.
For most single-wheel damage, paying for it and claiming against the council is the more sensible route. For serious suspension or subframe damage, insurance may be the better answer.
Sheffield specifics
Two things worth knowing locally. The hills mean water runs rather than sits, and a pothole on a gradient is often deeper on its downhill edge than it looks. And the freeze-thaw cycle on the higher ground west and north of the city opens defects quickly in late winter — the roads out toward Stannington, Loxley, Bradfield and the Peak edge are noticeably worse in February than in November. Our guide to winter breakdowns covers the season more broadly.
Frequently asked questions
Should I keep driving after hitting a pothole?
Stop somewhere safe and look first. Stop driving altogether if there is a bulge in a sidewall, the tyre is losing pressure, the steering pulls or the wheel is off-centre, if a knocking or grinding started at the impact, or if anything is leaking.
What is a sidewall bulge and why does it matter?
A bulge or egg-shaped lump in the side of the tyre means the internal structure has been damaged. The tyre can fail suddenly and without warning, which at speed is a very different event from a slow puncture. It is not something to drive home on.
Can I claim from the council for pothole damage?
You can claim from the highway authority, which in Sheffield is usually the city council, or National Highways for motorways and some trunk roads. Whether you succeed is another matter, because of the defence available to them under section 58 of the Highways Act 1980.
Why do so many pothole claims get rejected?
Because section 58 of the Highways Act 1980 gives the authority a defence if it can show it took such care as was reasonably required to keep the road safe. An authority that can demonstrate a reasonable inspection regime and that it acted within its own timescales will usually defeat a claim. The test is whether it behaved reasonably, not whether your wheel is bent.
What evidence should I collect?
Photograph the pothole with something for scale, capturing depth as well as width, and record the exact location. Photograph the damage, keep all receipts, and check whether the defect had already been reported, because a known and unrepaired pothole makes a much stronger claim. You can also ask the authority for its inspection records for that stretch.
Should I claim on my insurance instead?
Pothole damage is usually covered as accidental damage under a comprehensive policy, but a wheel and tyre can cost less than a typical excess, and claiming affects your no-claims discount. For single-wheel damage, paying and claiming against the council is often more sensible; for serious suspension damage, insurance may be better.
