Pothole claims guide discussion

PKW_2

Hello

A few months ago I hit a pot hole. My tyre immediately blew out and I rolled to a swift halt.

The cost for a new tyre was £180. I applied to have this refunded to me from the council. After a long wait, I've finally heard back; my request was declined. I'm now weighing up if it's worth persevering with or not, any constructive advice would be much appreciated.

Their response was basically that the road has been identified as needing monthly inspections and the last one had been made two days before my accident when no defects were identified. After my accident, I phoned the council to alert them of the danger. They inspected the PH and assessed it as in need of urgent repair which was duly carried out on the same day. They are basically saying that they did not fail to maintain the highway.

Is it worth pursuing or is this a clean cut case of bad luck?

SJ1

Hi there

I am dealing with something similar. We hit a pothole but it does seems that it was reported a few days before we hit it and it was repaired the day after (and within the councils 5 days). We are trying to decide whether it is worth arguing it as well as the pothole was enormous and under Highways Agency I think it should have been repaired within 24 hours - if my reading of that is right!

Anyway, in your case - have you checked the council website for reports of the pothole itself? This is useful to look at and have you completed the freedom of information request? Not as difficult or worrying as it sounds. Did they also tell you how they inspected the road as if there was one guy driving along at 50 MPH it might have been hard for him to identify the potholes etc.

Not clear from your post whether you have done this step but perhaps worth doing as it will give you more information.

Kind regards
SJ

AliceBanned

I hit a pothole on Thursday night which as not visible in the dark. The cost for the damage is at least £500 as the wheel has buckled and tyre blew out.


I will pursue a claim but don't have the £500 yet so the garage has put the spare on. They think I should get a new alloy but as the car is quite old I want a second hand one or I will take it elsewhere for a second opinion/repair.


The first garage seems to think I will easily get the money refunded by the county council but I am not so sure. I don't want to spend £500 on a car worth £1000. I am not sure what to do.


I have taken photos of the pothole - there are many on that stretch of road but when I went there today in the daylight the other drivers didn't have a problem and seemed to drive over them. So I am not sure what happened but some of them are sharp, it is a 60mph speed limit, and they are all about 2-3" deep. It is a terrible road service in that stretch of road and it is a dual carriageway. When I had the blow-out my steering went wrong and it could have caused an accident but as it was I managed to drive it home (2 miles) from that spot.


The problem is I can't start a claim for the costs of repair to my car without having the work done, and if I have it done and buy a new rim it is hardly worth the cost. But the council by rights should provide a new one as the car was running well before and it was obvious the road surface caused this. So annoying and upsetting!

Dave&Nancy

You suggest 40mm depth is required - but from my former Roads colleagues they work on 19mm implying liability.
Under Best Value (i.e its cheaper to do @ say £120k pa than simply respond to claims) Council's can avoid claims if they have a "pothole management team" undertaking regular monitoring (and warning spray) of potential potholes (Cat A Roads at least annually down to Cat C Roads at least bi-annually).
Equally cost effective is tight monitoring of public utility companies (who cause some 66% of potholes) - in particular to ensure that they DO actually return after 3 months to properly make good (a nice little earner for the utilities if they aren't chased up). This is typically to allow for initial compaction to settle out. Its also important for Council to ensure that Utility companies have a high quality specification to ensure works last - otherwise they';ll simply do the minimum they can get away with. Its about stopping the "cheap 2 year backfill" and getting it redone properly.

oh2beunger

On bike and hit pothole in local road where road works had been going on. It was on my commuting route and I was aware of potholes, as one is on a bike, but couldn't swerve to avoid it as traffic close alongside and road was narrow. Wrote to Highways dept to claim for the repair to a buckled wheel and burst tyre. Included location, measurements of pothole and photograph.. They replied 'Not one of ours. Belongs to BT'. Wrote to BT...they replied 'Not one of ours. It was sub-contracted to a Sheffield firm called Murphy (really!). No reply from Murphy so went back to local council and as it was a good story also went onto local radio with it. Hole filled in immediately and got my compensation- all of 30 shillings! I did say it was a long time ago, when I had more energy and persistence.

PKW_2

Thanks so much SJ1, I will try for the freedom of information act. It's so helpful having people like you - I wouldn't have had a clue otherwise! One other question, is there a time limit on these things as it happened last year? (time seems to run away from me!!)

SJ1 wrote: »

Hi there

I am dealing with something similar. We hit a pothole but it does seems that it was reported a few days before we hit it and it was repaired the day after (and within the councils 5 days). We are trying to decide whether it is worth arguing it as well as the pothole was enormous and under Highways Agency I think it should have been repaired within 24 hours - if my reading of that is right!

Anyway, in your case - have you checked the council website for reports of the pothole itself? This is useful to look at and have you completed the freedom of information request? Not as difficult or worrying as it sounds. Did they also tell you how they inspected the road as if there was one guy driving along at 50 MPH it might have been hard for him to identify the potholes etc.

Not clear from your post whether you have done this step but perhaps worth doing as it will give you more information.

Kind regards
SJ

Bewar3them00n

Paint a massive !!!! around the holes, see how quick they get patched up!!!

http://indy100.independent.co.uk/article/this-man-is-painting-penises-on-potholes-so-the-council-has-to-take-action--ekSuZ63mgW

get your spray cans out!!!!

stressedclaire

Hi just wanted to say thanks for the guidance which I followed to the letter and successfully claimed back the cost of the damage to my car ( £247) from the local authority.:j

System

I bet this was not West Berkshire Council I have been trying to get £150 out of them for 3 months now, been to C.A.B. to the local newspaper the local MP and small claims court and nothing, I have admitted defect now as WBC solicitors have threatened me with costs if I lose.

holkins

Had my claim for a new tyre rejected twice now so considering ssc. Council are defending they were not aware of the defect, despite the pothole being painted around, which had deteriorated and the pot hole had expanded past the White lines. According to them it was last inspected in October, my damage was in February. (It's meant to get 6 monthly checks)

I've said to them just because you have no records, does not make you not liable as j have photographic, time/date stamped evidence that the defect had been identified for repair by way of the White lines, so either it was identified in October -and not fixed, or your records are incomplete and it was inspected between when the lines were painted. Still they deny liability.

With this evidence, how likely will I succeed at small claims court?