Pothole...........

AdrianC

vaio wrote: »

or claiming off the council

He's tried that. The council have rejected the claim, giving documented reasons.

His choice is now pay for it himself, go through his own insurance. To get any further with the council, the OP's going to have to take them to court.

oldhand

Not sure if councils work the same in england as here (n.ireland) but one of your biggest problems would be proving the damage was caused by the road and pothole as claimed,councils will usually check if the offending pothole was reported previously as a danger,if so it would help your case and if not they could argue the damage could have been done anywhere.
you could get a solicitor on the job but it will cost and in the end you may end up more out of pocket.

OddballJamie

AdrianC wrote: »

He's tried that. The council have rejected the claim, giving documented reasons.

His choice is now pay for it himself, go through his own insurance. To get any further with the council, the OP's going to have to take them to court.

Can't see insurance even being an option now, it's been seven months since the incident.

vaio

AdrianC wrote: »

He's tried that. The council have rejected the claim, giving documented reasons.

His choice is now pay for it himself, go through his own insurance. To get any further with the council, the OP's going to have to take them to court.

Yep but it seems that rejection is the standard response these days, as for the "documented reasons", reading the OP they seem implausible at best.

Given he only has to convince a judge that his version is *slightly* more likely to have happened that the councils version I'd be seriously thinking about small claims action.

As I said earlier, add on the fact that the council's legal costs in defending would be unrecoverable even if they win and I'd be surprised if they bothered defending it.

mechanicalman_2

Thanks for replys, some more info.

So I did end up claiming on my insurance, but when I was doing so I made it clear that I was pursuing the council for the damage and my intention was to pay them back (minus my excess) and have the claim struck from my record. Issue now is both our car insurance premiums have gone up.

The point is not only the money, but also the principal of it, as as far as I am concerned I know I am in the right (and yes you may disagree). It's just my ability to prove it.

So;

1. Based on what I have said what % chance do you think I have of winning if I went to the small claims court? and does anybody know what my £ liability would be if I did so?

2. Does anybody know if any of those no fee solicitors cover this sort of thing?

Thanks in advance.

AdrianC

mechanicalman wrote: »

So I did end up claiming on my insurance

Do you have legal cover with your insurance?

I'd have thought if there was a realistic chance, though, that the insurers would have gone after the council themselves.

vaio

Same logic applies to the OP's insurer, if they chase the council and win they still won't be able to recover their legal costs, for a £1200 claim it's just not worth them pursuing it. If they win they get the £1200 back but will have spent maybe twice that on solicitors time which, in a small claim, they won't be able to get back.

The only way it's worth doing is if the OP does a DIY small claim and then the "not worth the OP's insurer perusing it" becomes "not worth the council's insurer defending it" which means the OP gets paid..