Can I claim for pot hole damage??

wizard3891

Hi all,

Yesterday morning I was on my way to work and at around 6am I took a different route to normal to get some breakfast.

Basically I was driving at about 25 mph and BANG! I had gone down what I can only describe as unfinished road mantainance. It was a line of 3 manhole type covers in a row about 3 ft in length, just to one edge of this there was a neat 7in by 3ft hole . Now this is not a pot hole, it is just not filled in from where work is looked to have been done. I'd say it was about 1 1/2 " deep.

Now my steering wheel wobbles at 20mph + and Im sick of the roads the way they are. I took pictures on my phone at the time and then went back after work to get some better ones.

My question is, do I have a chance in hell of getting anything back for what it will cost me to get the tracking etc fixed????

:mad:

pwllbwdr

Were you tailgating anyone?

Crabman

http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/faq/can-i-claim-compensation-damage-or-injury

Check that site's map to see if it had been reported.

This site may also be useful as it has further information and a database of potholes: http://www.potholes.co.uk/

When taking pictures try to take one with a measuring tape across the hole and another with the tape indicating the depth of the pothole. May also be possible to FOI the council to see whether they'd received any direct reports about the pothole (although don't be surprised if they cover up to claim they were "unaware").

neilmcl

Were there any signs to suggest ongoing roadworks on that stretch of road?

Can you post these pics?

Paranoid

Thanks crabman for the useful link.

My CC (Buckinghamshire) seems to attend to reported potholes promptly.

Is this to maintain the defence of "adequate" repair policy? Clearly it is the unfortunate motorist who effectively carries out the "inspection" and reporting.

The roads are in a diabolical condition and my son & I have experienced car damage on three occasions. Once writing off a nice alloy and tyre.

It isn't just the bad weather to blame but, I believe, the inadequate standard of repair.

Are there any posters from abroad, where freezing winter weather is the norm, who can comment?

darich

If the repair was around a manhole then the repair may have been carried out by the local water company....if that's the case then it's not the responsibility of the local authority.
Likewise, if the manhole level was wrong due to damage it's the fault of the manhole owner, not the council.

In my area, the water company is responsible for repairs to their ironwork. If it's carried out to a poor standard and someone hits it, then the council pass the complaint/claim to the water company.

Paranoid

Thanks Darich

I appreciated this, but the potholes I refered to were simply carriageway defects with no ironwork involved.

flyingscotno1

Paranoid wrote: »

Thanks crabman for the useful link.

My CC (Buckinghamshire) seems to attend to reported potholes promptly.

Is this to maintain the defence of "adequate" repair policy? Clearly it is the unfortunate motorist who effectively carries out the "inspection" and reporting.

The roads are in a diabolical condition and my son & I have experienced car damage on three occasions. Once writing off a nice alloy and tyre.

It isn't just the bad weather to blame but, I believe, the inadequate standard of repair.

Are there any posters from abroad, where freezing winter weather is the norm, who can comment?

My cousin lives in Montreal where it is common to get snow October-March. The roads here according to them are much better, they commonly have a lot of ruts.

hunnybunny86

I tried claiming against my local council after loads of stones flew up and cracked my windscreen after a motorbike overtook. The calim was not successful as they just blamed it on BT for creating the potholes. BT then blamed the council. A no win situation!