Another car damaged due to pot hole - help?

Wayne_Laura

Hi folks

Remember that extreme weather in Nov/Dec? My colleague at work hit a pot hole on a well-used road (eg: it's not a dodgy back street) and it wrecked his wheel, costing him £150

He immediately went with another colleague and took photos of the hole in the road, and contacted the council to make a claim

Their reply was "You're the 1st to report it, so our policy is we aint gonna pay - bye"

The hole has since been repaired (only a day or two later, what a surprise!)

I've checked this thread: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/577463

And he also followed the link to the FillThatHole site, and there is nothing there at all - reported, or repaired

He looked to make a request under the FoI Act for info regarding that particular pot-hole, but they're saying "Sure, we can do that - £70 please". Is there some kind of legality like for a SAR that can be quoted, so there's a maximum fee?

He doesnt want to pay out an additional £70 and nothing come back, and then have no other avenue he can pursue

Cheers in advance

Hammyman

If the council were unaware and they fix it within a couple of days, they don't have to pay out to anyone AFAIR.

And if you could be bothered to google "freedom of information act cost", you would have found in the first link from a govt website:

Q: What are the cost limits for a Freedom of Information Act request?

There is no ‘flat rate’ fee to receive information and in many cases the information will be provided to you free of charge.

An authority can refuse a request if it estimates that it will cost them in excess of the appropriate cost limit to fulfil your request. The limit is £600 for central government and Parliament and £450 for other public authorities.