Can I claim the cost of repairs to the Council?

me,me,me_3

Driving early in the morning caught a massive crater on the road and suffered a puncture. My speed was the allowed one :A
I heard you can claim it to the council given that I pay all my taxes. Is this right or just a rumour?

Sgt_Pepper_2

You need to prove they knew about the pot hole, cause that's what is was and have done nothing about it. Or haven't been checking.

If it was so big you refer to it as a crater, why were you foolish enough to drive into it?

schoolrunmum

I tried last winter, and after an initially encouraging response from the council ,they turned my claim down saying they were aware of the pothole and a repair was in hand...basically-go away and pay the 200 quid yourself....(in my defence, the pothole was water filled,so just looked like a puddle..)

LutonGirl

I tried to claim from the council in the county next to mine for a tyre that I lost in their pot hole. They'd resurfaced this particular road a month or two before and missed this monster one at the edge of the carriageway. During the last snow/ice it got bigger. Unfortunately, it was an unlit road and I fell foul of it. Tried my hardest to argue the toss, but was rejected. Although they had resurfaced the road, the hole hadn't been reported prior to my trip into it. I now report every large pot hole I see in the hope some other poor soul will benefit from my report and won't be fobbed off. Or some poor cyclist goes into it and breaks their neck.

I had to laugh, the first letter I had from them started along the lines of (and I'm paraphrasing massively) "Did you know that the money you are claiming, if successful, will come out of the public pot - are you sure you want to claim off other hardworking road users...?"

I was sure, but I didn't get anywhere.