OMG! 18 months time.My neighbour two doors down made a claim against Birmingham council for damage to his alloy and tyre on his Honda jazz. Got exactly the same response as you - eventually. I assume it’s their default response/ fob off.
in the end went through his insurance and paid the excess.
they were right they did inspect it and sprayed white paint around numerous potholes but that was 18 months ago. They never completed the repairs because the day after the road closure signs went up the weather worsened and they never came back. I’m guessing the tarmac allocated for the repairs is now on someone’s drive courtesy of a “foreigner” as they say.
I tried to understand our Government, but sometimes I lost completely.