I also got pot hole damage a while back. The key is that if there is a bad repair job on the pot hole. If not, then you cannot expect to get your claim for damages.
However if there is evidence of previous ineffective repair then you can get your damages.
In my case, I had actually complained to the council about this particular road only 2 weeks beforehand as there was heavy goods traffic on a very rural road. The council had been out, dug it up, repaired it extremely badly and it all washed away in a heavy flood. On the back road in the rain, at 6am one morning we hit the pothole and the tyre completely blew, damaged the alloy and part of the connection (non-technical person don't ask me exactly what it was). I contacted the council straightaway when i got into work, took photos with my phone and forwarded them the claim for replacement tyre and repairs.
They paid up within 2 weeks as i had sent a copy to my local paper.....