Need help with pothole claim

nem39esis

A couple of months ago i hit a huge pothole on my way to work, the 3rd time in as many weeks, (its a tricky one to miss) it had been repaired several times before but to a sub standard. So when i then got my car checked out i was presented with a nice dented alloy and cracking to my front bumper(it was very deep) so i contacted the council who asked me to fill in their claim form. I did so and sent it off and waited, a couple of months later i called to find out what was going on and have been told the council will be making me an offer of £500 which includes a deduction for wear an tear.

This might all seam good but im a little annoyed. The form was laid out so that the only costs you could supply was the cost of the item damaged which i did. this was quoted as £656.

What would you say is fair and reasonable? im not so sure wear and tear on a wheel and bumper is really relevant, i would never need to replace these ordinarily, and in addition there is no thought into what it will cost to have the work done. Replace a bumper and alloy is probably gonna be £100 in labour id imagine?

So is this fair and reasonable of the council? should i reject the offer, considering my claim was £656 their sum seams to be nicely rounded down?

neilmcl

Where did you get your figure(s) from?

SailorSam

If it were me i'd go back and say you're not accepting their offer, you want what you're out of pocket. I don't think you'd be asking to much if you told them you wanted a car hire for the day yours goes in to get fixed.

nem39esis

The figures i got from a parts retailer the dealer use. I sent a copy with the claim form so they know full well it only covers the parts. I just dont understand this whole wear and tear nonsense, if it was a tyre maybe but this a wheel and bumper, so wear and tear of £150 is a bit steep and like u say i shouldn't be out of pocket i agree

Buellguy

You might find the wear and tear bit in there is for wear and tear on the original tyre (I am assuming you have changed the tyre here!!).
I also think that you are probably quite lucky to be offered anything straight away - a lot of councils tend to mess people around something chronic now - to try and avoid paying out

nem39esis

Just so happens i needed the tyres changed anyway, thats when i noticed the dent in the wheel.

The council took a good 2-3 months but i had so much evidence, i drive the same route every day and so i saw the works they had done before to the road and being an engineer understood why the pothole had returned several times, basically they did a shoddy job and not too their standards. So by setting out all of this they couldn't really refuse as they were fully aware of the problem but failed to act appropriately. If id thought harder i probably could've had the cost of the tyre paid too

DTDfanBoy

It seems to me the the council were not the only party who were "fully aware of the problem but failed to act appropriately"

Surely after hitting the same pothole numerous times you must have had an inkling that you may be approaching a hazard.

Considering the circumstances an offer of £500, which will be funded by local council tax payers, seems to me at least to be more than "fair and reasonable"

Notmyrealname

nem39esis wrote: »

A couple of months ago i hit a huge pothole on my way to work, the 3rd time in as many weeks, (its a tricky one to miss) it had been repaired several times before but to a sub standard. So when i then got my car checked out i was presented with a nice dented alloy and cracking to my front bumper(it was very deep) so i contacted the council who asked me to fill in their claim form. I did so and sent it off and waited, a couple of months later i called to find out what was going on and have been told the council will be making me an offer of £500 which includes a deduction for wear an tear.

This might all seam good but im a little annoyed.

Personally considering you knew it was there and had already hit it twice, I don't think you deserve anything.

Why didn't you phone the council to report it any of the other times you'd hit it or seen it on your travels?

nem39esis

You think i aimed for it 3 times? No. It's on a blind bend approaching traffic lights the only way to avoid it is to cross over the centre lines, which i think is a little stupid if cars are oncoming. And yes I ha reported it, like i said it'd been repaired several times before just to a poor standard resulting in it reamearging. Please dont bother posting if u have nothing constructive to offer "notmyrealname"

nem39esis

DTDfanBoy wrote: »

It seems to me the the council were not the only party who were "fully aware of the problem but failed to act appropriately"

Surely after hitting the same pothole numerous times you must have had an inkling that you may be approaching a hazard.

Considering the circumstances an offer of £500, which will be funded by local council tax payers, seems to me at least to be more than "fair and reasonable"

It's funded by the liability insurance and not council tax payers, the principal is that had this been repaired as it should have been i would not have had my car damaged. Thus myself and im sure several others would now not be perusing reimbursement in costs incurred. im sure youd think twice about belittleing the issue had someone been killed.

NewLifeAhead_2

There's a pothole like that by me and it is impossible to miss it without going on other side of road and this is right on a busy junction. Theyve been patching it up for years. I havent had any damage yet thank god though it does pop my glovebox open every time i go over it!