Pothole claims guide discussion

tanyavt

My husband was driving home last Friday and turned a corner on a country lane when his tyre went bang! He has checked for potholes in the road to find none but did find a little wall which was surrounded by a metal railing (if he'd have hit this, there would have been considerably more damage)- there were some bricks missing from this little wall which had landed in the little stream next to the road- all we can assume is that he's come round the corner, hit the bricks in the road that someone else has knocked off the wall and they've landed in the stream. Would the council be liable for this also?? Wouldn't usually try to claim but two new front tyres, wheel balancing and potential shock/suspension issues are making this a huge unexpected expense!! Thanks in advance.

StringyBob

My husband was driving home last Friday and turned a corner on a country lane when his tyre went bang! He has checked for potholes in the road to find none but did find a little wall which was surrounded by a metal railing (if he'd have hit this, there would have been considerably more damage)- there were some bricks missing from this little wall which had landed in the little stream next to the road- all we can assume is that he's come round the corner, hit the bricks in the road that someone else has knocked off the wall and they've landed in the stream. Would the council be liable for this also?? Wouldn't usually try to claim but two new front tyres, wheel balancing and potential shock/suspension issues are making this a huge unexpected expense!! Thanks in advance.

The highway authority is not responsible for debris or transient substances in the road causing damage to vehicles. You would need to find who caused the bricks to be on the road, which will probably be impossible. Sorry

mrchewie

2 mangled alloys and one tyre, £735 worth of damage.

Even being done on an unclassified road, they had 20 working days according to their own risk assessment criterea, to do at least a patch repair, 3 months on, still not been filled.

Claim now settled for the full amount after initially being thrown out.

Thank you MSE for the pothole claim guidelines.

:beer:

central

I've just filled in a quick claim form for this beauty

sorry haven't as yet managed to link to the image

atanks

Hi all,

Followed the Pothole Claims page step by step but council have replied saying if we would like to take it further we can do via small claims court, just had our second child so not willing to risk it but wanted to recheck our situation if anyone can help....

The main reason they are declining it was their fault is that we went through the pot hole on 17th May 2016 and it had not been previously reported. However during this time the council did actually recognise the pothole via a ad hoc check. It was ranked high on the scale and was covered and fixed within the time limits.

Any help would be gladly appreciated! We have had to pay out for a new tyre and the alloy is now mangled also we have a video from BMW showing the wheel alignment which has been effected buy they still have not budged! With the total work needed up around the £1000 to be done and already having paid out some £4/500 its left us frustrated!

Ebe_Scrooge

[QUOTE=hardearned;72168235After_much_deliberating,_I_decided_to_replace_all_4_wheels_and_tyres_with_non-Audi_alloys,_[/QUOTE]

So, you weren't watching the road, now you want us tax-payers to pay for 4 new wheels AND tyres ??? Christ, remind me again why I hate this com-pun-say-shun culture so much ? Try watching the road when you're driving ???? It ain't difficult to spot a pot-hole and take appropriate action, if you're paying attention. If you get a puncture, perhaps you pay for it ??? Radical thought, I know, but these are the things you have to expect when you run a car.

Tilt

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

So, you weren't watching the road, now you want us tax-payers to pay for 4 new wheels AND tyres ??? Christ, remind me again why I hate this com-pun-say-shun culture so much ? Try watching the road when you're driving ???? It ain't difficult to spot a pot-hole and take appropriate action, if you're paying attention. If you get a puncture, perhaps you pay for it ??? Radical thought, I know, but these are the things you have to expect when you run a car.

Sorry but you appear to be living in an ideal world.

In my case I hit the pot hole at night on a poorly lit road. Not sure if you drive but pot holes are usually black so totally blend in in darkness. Plus there's always the occasion when they are filled with water in heavy rain. That can also disguise their existence.

At the end of the day, we motorists who maintain our cars and pay the extortionate amounts to use the roads, ought to be able to do so without causing damage to our vehicles.

Ebe_Scrooge

Tilt wrote: »

Not sure if you drive but pot holes are usually black so totally blend in in darkness. Plus there's always the occasion when they are filled with water in heavy rain. That can also disguise their existence.

At the end of the day, we motorists who maintain our cars and pay the extortionate amounts to use the roads, ought to be able to do so without causing damage to our vehicles.

I take your point. My gripe was with the poster who appeared to be claiming for 4 new wheels AND tyres after damaging 1 on a pothole.

For what it's worth, yes I drive. About 25,000 miles a year. I accept that repairs are part and parcel of owning a car. Just last year I had to replace a couple of coil springs - probably as the result of potholes and speed bumps. Did I try and claim from the council ? No. Brown smelly stuff happens. End of the day, if the council are made aware of a pothole and fail to repair it, then yes ... you may have a valid claim. But you can't blame them for it if it's not been reported.

Sorry, not meaning to be confrontational. Any motorist needs to factor in the cost of repairs and maintenance. Sure, it's a bummer when you have to shell out a fair wodge of dosh for repairs, but that's motoring. I just have a real bee in my bonnet about the compensation culture that seems to be creeping in - "It's everyone else's fault". If fault is proven, then fair enough. But to try and claim for 4 new wheels and tyres as the result of one damaged tyre ?? Sorry, I don't buy it.

Tilt

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

I take your point. My gripe was with the poster who appeared to be claiming for 4 new wheels AND tyres after damaging 1 on a pothole.

For what it's worth, yes I drive. About 25,000 miles a year. I accept that repairs are part and parcel of owning a car. Just last year I had to replace a couple of coil springs - probably as the result of potholes and speed bumps. Did I try and claim from the council ? No. Brown smelly stuff happens. End of the day, if the council are made aware of a pothole and fail to repair it, then yes ... you may have a valid claim. But you can't blame them for it if it's not been reported.

Sorry, not meaning to be confrontational. Any motorist needs to factor in the cost of repairs and maintenance. Sure, it's a bummer when you have to shell out a fair wodge of dosh for repairs, but that's motoring. I just have a real bee in my bonnet about the compensation culture that seems to be creeping in - "It's everyone else's fault". If fault is proven, then fair enough. But to try and claim for 4 new wheels and tyres as the result of one damaged tyre ?? Sorry, I don't buy it.

I think that's reasonable of you and I would agree that only the damaged parts should be claimed for.

My gripe is that we pay a lot of money to use our cars on the road so it's only reasonable for us to expect the roads to be maintained sufficiently so they don't damage our cars when we drive them correctly.

In my case, I find it hard to believe that the pot hole was less than 3 weeks old. So it follows (given it was on a main road) I also find it hard to believe that not one single council worker had driven along that stretch of road who could of reported it.

But the outcome was that i took them to court and lost.

BaileyB

Just after a little but if advice to see if this is worth pursing.

My claim was rejected I hit a pothole on the 16/01/17 which is turn broke my coil spring and shredded my tyre. My claim was for just these and labour which was £130 Inc vat.

After 7 weeks of chasing they got back to me:

The claim has been carefully investigated and we must advise you that liability is denied and unfortunately we have no offers to make in respect of this loss.



The decision is based upon the fact that our client has in place and can demonstrate a reasonable system of inspection. The road is inspected on a 6 monthly basis and was last inspected prior to your accident on the 10/1/17. An actionable defect was observed on that occasion and a priority 2 repair was ordered to be completed within 35 working days.



Taking all the facts into account, we do not consider that our clients have been in breach of their statutory duties and moreover that they have taken reasonable care in the circumstances to ensure the safety of the highway.



This being so, we consider that our clients have not been negligent in any way, and whilst we have every sympathy, we regret we are unable to offer any compensation on behalf of our client.



We appreciate this is not the answer which you would have wanted or hoped for but trust you will understand the reasons for our position.



Yours faithfully,



So just unlucky?