Can you claim if you damage your car hitting a pot hole?

darkwarrior

You shouldn't let your insurance company deal with it, they will farm out the compensation work, get paid for it by the solicitor, get paid for it by you if you took out legal insurance and take all the winnings while just paying out whatever they think you deserve to fix the problem.

As for the incident itself, its difficult with councils. If it's already been reported and not fixed, it will be MUCH easier, a friend of mine claimed for a similar accident. If it hasn't been reported they can and probably will claim ignorance. Best bet is get a photo of it and then go back and take some at intervals if it remains unfixed to show they're not making reasonable effort to fix something which has already caused damage.

darich

andygb wrote: »

So, you would do what?

Swerve into the oncoming traffic?

Do an emergency stop?

How far away can you spot a pot hole from, probably not more than twenty yards - how long does it take a car to cover twenty yards at 40 - 60 MPH?

When I first saw the image I have to admit....I agreed with Kriss' post but I didn't want to post anything because it would provoke exactly this type of reaction.

While I have sympathy for the OP and the damage caused (I've been a victim in the past - snapped shock absorber) I do feel that given the bend is hardly tight, that the speed was slightly higher than safe.....not necessarily speeding but if it had been a walker/horse/cyclist, what would the OP have done??....mown them down?

I don't want this to degenerate into a slanging match debating the speed of the OP - it's not 100% relevant to the question but it's hard to argue that at a slower speed it would be impossible to avoid.

I would add, that if the OP wants to use the bend and lack of visibility as a reason for the inability to avoid the pothole, why on earth would you park a car on that very bend forcing traffic onto the wrong side of the road??

dbt3mummy

Not sure why I have to defend myself but what you can see is that the hole is laying between two vehicles that hit it. Even though the bend is not sharp it is infact blind and added with camber it is not easy to spot this hole.

Cars coming up the hill behind the parked car where slowed down by the other vehicle that hit it, two professional drivers in high visability jackets slowing down the traffic. Where my car in the picture is - has a clear visability of cars coming down the hill and enabling myself to signal them to slow them down.

The incident took place off peak when the road, thankfully, was a lot quieter. The entire time we were parked there we saw only 3 other cars and 1 articulated cab unit.

Either way - - we are safe. Unfortunately another motorist wasn't. Our insurance company is paying out and the hole is filled in.

The reason I posted the picture was to show the severity and actually having the knowledge to take evidence immediately after the incident.

Teaches me for answer a post eh!?

forgotmyname

Not pointing fingers or saying what is/was the right conditions.

But my instructor always said if you fail to spot an obstacle and stop in time you were
going too fast. So on lots of A roads we should be whinging about the tractor tailgating us
and saying he is driving like a looney.

:beer::beer::beer:

trinidadone

I claimed from Transport For London (TFL) a few years back. In short I hit a pothole, which damaged one of my tyres. I had the tyre replaced, and got a reciept from the tyre place. I sent the reciept and a complaint to TFL, They sent me a claim form, and reembursed me the cost of the type. I also sent them a picture of the hole as well. you must claim, the local authoriy as a legal responsibility to maintain the roads, good luck

anotherbaldrick

Thing is, as mentioned several times above you can claim if the Council were aware of the pothole and did not fix it in a reasonable time. The way to ensure the Council are made aware of holes in your area is to report them> on the web address already given.
http://local.direct.gov.uk/LDGRedire...%20a%20pothole
This puts the Councils on notice as the reporting can be substantiated from the web site database and means the holes in your area will get priority attention.

reduceditem

I claimed from Glasgow City Council for pothole damage that required both coil springs to be replaced.

As I recall, they sent me out a form that I completed and returned with some photos.

Several weeks later they sent me a letter simply asking them to send me my garage repair bill. Some time after that I got my cheque.

alo6

i too recently rattled a pothole, fortunatly only doing 20mph. The thing is that the road was that bad, on a blind corner, with railings. The pothole was 1m square by about 6inched deep. this 'dinged' the alloy (not destroyed), but there was on old rusty pipe that had sheared and became a 0.5inch blade which shredded my tyre.

but anyway, put the claim to renfrewhire council who inturn put me to a claims assesor who said as i cant prove they knew about it they wont pay out.

BUT, the pothole was filled 24hours later (after me hitting it), am i right in thinking that because it was filled in 24hours later that they must of knew about it because it was on a jobsheet to be filled? And also being janurary 2011 im guessing there is a massive backlog.

spike7451

I claimed of the DoE Road Service for damage I incurred when I hit a long,deep pothole.Basically the tarmac reinstatement where a utility company had dug a trench had came out down to the hard grit layer,when I hit it my car lost power & as I was going up hill,came to a halt quite quickly.If the had been a truck,bus or even another car behind me,it could have been very nasty.
It had tripped the engine cut-off when I hit it & I had to get the car recovered to a local mate who runs a garage.No physical damage to the car but I was able to claim back the £60 recovery fee plus the £20 I gave my mate to look over the car.
I hit the pothole in the April & I didn't get the offer from the DoE until October that year.
I supplied loads of photo's & even got a statement from the home owner who lives next to the pothole stating the trench is constantley being repaired.Ironically,the road is the main road from where I live to Newtownards,yet has never been re-surfaced,just patched numerous times.

darich

alo6 wrote: »

i too recently rattled a pothole, fortunatly only doing 20mph. The thing is that the road was that bad, on a blind corner, with railings. The pothole was 1m square by about 6inched deep. this 'dinged' the alloy (not destroyed), but there was on old rusty pipe that had sheared and became a 0.5inch blade which shredded my tyre.

but anyway, put the claim to renfrewhire council who inturn put me to a claims assesor who said as i cant prove they knew about it they wont pay out.

BUT, the pothole was filled 24hours later (after me hitting it), am i right in thinking that because it was filled in 24hours later that they must of knew about it because it was on a jobsheet to be filled? And also being janurary 2011 im guessing there is a massive backlog.

It would have been filled because your claim would also have been a "report" so then they know about it....and are obliged to fix it