Pot Holes!

tbw

I did successfully nobble Cornwall County Highways a couple of years ago when the wheel of my Mazda hit a pothole which had formed around a gulley grid. The grid had a sharp corner and ripped a hole in one tyre - cost me £140!!! It was in February and the weather wasn't anything like as bad as this year.

The council tried using Section 58(?) and argued that they didn't know the hole was there. They said that they only have a legal responsibility if somebody has already reported the pothole and they have failed to attend to it. They shot themsleves a bit in the foot though cos they produced a stack of handwritten reports from the road gang who had inspected that stretch of the road just a week previously - these listed numerous holes other than mine. I argued that, if they had inspected all that stretch, they were either optically challenged or negligent in not spotting mine.

They kept waffling so I issued a small claims court claim - I was actually quite looking forward to my day in Court but they backed down 2 days before the hearing and sent me a cheque. Its probably like a lot of complaints - you get fobbed off a few times and they hope you will just give up and go away. Sticking your heels in may well produce a good result.

melb21

I have just been refused a claim for damage caused to wheel by a large pot hole, do you know how i find out when the road was inspected and what is a FOI?

neilmcl

Go to the link I posted in post #5 and follow the How to Claim/Step-by-step guide. FOI = Freedom of Information request.

As I said earlier they'll argue that, given the exceptional circumstances we're in, they're doing everything that's reasonably expected.

pinkshoes

I drive past some enormous pot holes every day, so reported them, as people were swerving to avoid them. Two weeks later they have been filled.

The problem with pot holes is that people whine about them, drive round them etc... but don't report them! If everyone reported them more quickly, they'd have to fill them, otherwise there would be clear evidence of it having been reported and no action taken.

Oxfordshire council tend to spray paint a white circle round them, which at least shows they've been identified to be filled!