Bosses at Dundee and Angus councils are making fewer and smaller compensation pay outs than five years ago, The Courier can reveal.
The total sums paid out and the number of successful claims, have fallen over the past half decade in both local authority areas, according to figures released under Freedom of Information.
The total sum paid out in Dundee has dropped from a total of £163,790 in 2015 to £25,814 in 2018, with only £8,772 paid out this year to date.
Dundee City Council received 422 claims for compensation and paid out on 117 in 2015.
The local authority received 382 claims in 2018, with 79 of them successful. For the first nine months of this year 211 claims were registered with 44 of them successful.
In Angus, the local authority received 150 claims in 2014/15, 37 of them successful, paying out a total of £425,610.
In 2018/19 the number of claimants dropped to 107, with 28 claims paid, at a total cost of £7,435.
Residents can make a claim against a council on a number of grounds, including personal injury and for damage done to property. Pothole damage to vehicles, for example, is a major contributor to claims.
Both councils report a reduction in the number of successful claims and total pay outs made after pothole complaints.
Dundee City Council paid out more than £10,603 in 2015 after facing 17 successful claims. That figure has shrunk to only two successful claims this year with a pay out of a little more than £813. In 2018, the local authority paid out on 10 claims at a cost of £1,918.
Angus Council paid £49,297 on 13 successful pothole damage claims in the 2014/15 financial year. The 2018/19 sum was £3,229 on 10 successful claims.
One senior lawyer who works regularly with local authorities across Scotland said it was too early to say “compensation culture” was waning.
She said the cost of claims continued to be significant and there was no overall downward movement in volume or change in approach from courts.
“The legal costs of pursuers claims has risen noticeably and that will only continue,” she added.
A spokeswoman for Angus Council also urged caution.
She said: “Compensation figures year-on-year may vary for many reasons.
“For example, in years where there has been a larger total amount paid out, this may be in part due to one or two large compensation payments.
“Claimants also have up to three years to submit a claim for compensation, which is then reflected in that year’s total figures.”
Dundee City Council failed to respond to a request for comment.
