Alloy wheels damaged on raised manhole cover

alanrowell

My GF has damaged 2 alloy wheels beyond repair on a raised manhole cover on a road that was being relaid. As a result the car is unusable until new wheels can be obtained

1) Under what circumstances could she make a claim against the local council for the cost of replacement plus other costs like taxi fares?
2) Under what circumstances could she make a claim against her insurance company for cost of replacement plus other costs?
3) What level of evidence does she have to provide to pursue a claim?

gazhawkins

Browse through honestjohn.co.uk for further info, but here's my twopennyworth on your problem:-

1) I think you can only claim against the council if the fault with the manhole cover has been reported to them already, and they have done nothing about it. It might not be the council - perhaps a utility company is responsible?

2) Doubt you'll be able to do this - might come under fair wear and tear exclusions in your policy. Even if you can, is it worth it - you might lose your no claims bonus (worth a small fortune nowadays)? Even if your NCB is protected, the fact you've made a claim will increase you future premiums - or potential quotes from other insurers. If you have a high excess on your policy - you'll get little back too.

3) Take some photos of the manhole cover, the damaged wheels with a note of the time and date of occurrence. You'll need receipts for your consequential losses.

TheImportanceOfBeingIdle

How could your missus not see a raised manhole cover?
If they were resurfacing a road there will have been signs about that advised drivers of the raised manholes.

Why should the council have to pay for your missus' inability to dodge a raised cover?

greyteam1959

TheImportanceOfBeingIdle wrote: »

How could your missus not see a raised manhole cover?
If they were resurfacing a road there will have been signs about that advised drivers of the raised manholes.

Why should the council have to pay for your missus' inability to dodge a raised cover?

Hey ....so you want his wife to swerve round a raised manhole cover into another lane of traffic then......:eek: :eek: :eek:

cajef

gazhawkins wrote: »

Browse through honestjohn.co.uk for further info, but here's my twopennyworth on your problem:-

1) I think you can only claim against the council if the fault with the manhole cover has been reported to them already,
2) Doubt you'll be able to do this -

1. The manhole covers were not faulty, the road was being resurfaced, usually there are signs advising people of this, she must have been going at a fair speed through roadworks to damage two wheels.

2. Why not thats what you pay insurance for, OK they may lose their no claims bonus but thats the choice they make, and anyway under the terms of most insurance you are supposed to inform them of any accident even if you do not claim.

greyteam1959

That the problem with alloy wheels and low profile tyres there is sometimes only a couple of inches of tyre and even without the roadworks and raised manhole damage to them is very easy to do.
IMHO I dont think you will have a very good chance of a claim against the council or the road repair company thats presuming all the warning signs were there etc.
To be honest its not worth an insurance claim I dont think.
Best thing to do is get some cheap alloys from somewhere

TheImportanceOfBeingIdle

mervyn11 wrote: »

Hey ....so you want his wife to swerve round a raised manhole cover into another lane of traffic then......:eek: :eek: :eek:

No. Anybody with half a braincell would realise that if you can't swerve to avoid it then you slow down to go over it.

alanrowell

Now that I've been able to see the scene in DAYLIGHT, rather than the 9:00pm when the incident occurred

1) it was not a manhole cover, it was a cast iron drain sticking 3 inches vertically from the road surface & about 9 inches from the edge of the road on a left hand bend

2) The drain, unlike the other drain covers did not have any tarmac on it's leading edge to smooth the transition

3) From the debris trail around it looks as if a number of other vehicles have also had a few problems.

4) The drain & surrounding road surface are very similar in colour so unless a street light was creating a shadow it would have been nearly invisible - plus it was on a LH bend near the gutter rather than in the middle of the road

So what we have here is, unlike a pothole, is something that has been created by people acting on behalf of the local council and which has caused damaged to my GF's car.

Throbbe

alanrowell wrote: »

2) The drain, unlike the other drain covers did not have any tarmac on it's leading edge to smooth the transition

While this is good practice, I'm not sure it's compulsary, but that's the angle I'd be going for if I was to make a claim. The other key thing is whether there was any signing to warn of raised ironworks or similar, or a reduced speed limit (even if it was advisory) or even 'slow' signs.

I'd also suggest persuing the contractor carrying out the work as well as the local authority.

I have to be honest and say I don't rate your chances. Local Authorities resist claims fairly strongly these days, as in the past people took advantage. I'm certainly not saying that this is the case here, but without knowing the full story my immediate thought is that driving within 9" of a riased kerb, fast enough to damage a wheel, in roadworks suggests that the car was travelling too fast for the conditions, and the driver must accept some liability.

Mecoconuts

alanrowell wrote: »

Now that I've been able to see the scene in DAYLIGHT, rather than the 9:00pm when the incident occurred.

Didn't you take any photo's ??

1. For Evidence to make your claim.

2. To Post on here for a better opinion.......:)

Bobolink

Definitely take photos and take action against them. If they are resurfacing a road it should be resurfaced, not dug out and left for days. That happened here too :rolleyes: