Pothole Bust Wheel - Council Claim?

misssarahleigh

The state of some of my roads are disgusting, and since christmas i've seen repairs carried out on perfectally good roads leaving those in a shocking state to get worse.

I made a telephone complaint 2 weeks ago, than a week later an email, naming the roads and expressing that should my car become damaged due to this i expect them to pay the bill.

Well, low and behold i drove over it again last night (there is one i can't really avoide which is about 4 meters long) and something get wedged in my tyre, a loud hissing noise followed and pulled over to see an inch sticking out of the tyre (not exactally sure what it is)

Anyway, been and taken photo's of the offending area this morning (can't post them i'm at work) and will be ringing the council. what are the chances there not going to put up a fight. Off to get a new wheel in an hour but i flipping well wanna make sure there paying for it, especially since i've reported it twice already and nothing done.

From,

A grumpy driver

ginnersinner

Hmm, a similar thing happened to me recently. I'm thinking of making a claim too - any advice (the devil in me would say to you that the council will deny the claim, stating that 'you obviously knew the pothole was there since you reported it to us two weeks ago, yet you STILL drove over it'!!!)

Crabman

Check http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/ (and a smaller site: http://www.potholes.co.uk/) to see if anyone else reported it via an independent site (i.e. where records can't be covered up or "lost").

They will deny liability at the first instance but if you are prepared to go to court (and make sure they know that) you can expect a quiet 'without admission of liability' payout if they did know about it and didn't take reasonable action to repair.

Good luck

misssarahleigh

Crabman wrote: »

Check http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/ (and a smaller site: http://www.potholes.co.uk/) to see if anyone else reported it via an independent site (i.e. where records can't be covered up or "lost").

They will deny liability at the first instance but if you are prepared to go to court (and make sure they know that) you can expect a quiet 'without admission of liability' payout if they did know about it and didn't take reasonable action to repair.

Good luck

Thank you for that. Am totally prepared to go to court as i cannot affort the £70 i've just had to pay to get my car fixed (actually got broken into the week before costing me £100, not that the police came or anything)

I have no doubt they will argue, but i'm more stubbon than they are lol

Kurtis_Blue

Surely the fact that the driver was not only aware that this hazard was there but actively involved in getting them fixed, and still did not take reasonable steps to protect herself or her belongings will have a major impact on any chance of a claim.

misssarahleigh

This is true but there is very little option for me. This is one of two routes home. It's on a very busy road which is the main road i take.

The other enterance to my home street i have to go over 7/8 speed bumps and there not the nice ones. There 60 cm wide and quite tall. Even going over them in first gear doing 5mph makes my car upset.

So, it's stuffed either way i'm afraid. When it's quiet i can drive on the other side of the road to avoide them, but not all the time.

And surley the fact i have reported it and they have failed to do anything will go in my favour.

Kurtis_Blue

Cant see how it would go in your favour, it would go in some one elses favour who was unaware.

misssarahleigh

So i should avoide the road? what if that WAS my only road home. Should i have parked my car and walked?

Kurtis_Blue

misssarahleigh wrote: »

So i should avoide the road? what if that WAS my only road home. Should i have parked my car and walked?

Oh come on, you came on here for advice.
I am only stating your position I have no position within the council..

The hazard was well known to you, it wasn't your only route home, you could have waited for a gap in traffic to bypass this known hazard.

misssarahleigh

Kurtis_Blue wrote: »

Oh come on, you came on here for advice.
I am only stating your position I have no position within the council..

The hazard was well known to you, it wasn't your only route home, you could have waited for a gap in traffic to bypass this known hazard.

No, i understand that. Wasn't having a go.

Theres no way i could bypass this. it's a busy road where people park like plonkers to get to the local co-op. plus, the potholes continue for the whole road, some patches worse than others.

The other way home would still have meant sriving over badley damaged road just in the oposite direction.

Inactive

So did everybody else driving along this road get damaged tyres /wheels?