Pothole claims guide discussion

stuartJo1989

Fridge03 wrote: »

Evening all,

Some advice please.

Am I right in saying most major A roads are Highways England controlled and who I would need to contact below?

I hit a now famous pothole on the northbound A21 just outside Tonbridge in Kent. It caused a complete failure of one tyre. Fortunately I was able to keep control of the car and pull in on a lay by to change the wheel.
I say famous, it's been reported in the local news when the road was completely shut due to 6 or so cars being stuck on it after hitting the pothole. It's been repaired once, and has opened up again evidently a few days ago. So they are well aware of it.

I have had the wheel changed and as advised by my trusted mechanic to change the opposite side at the same time so they have been fitted as a pair, which he has stated on my bill.
I also lost out on £98 of a non-refundable missed event that I couldn't make due to the incident.
Would I be able to claim for this also? I have evidence of the cost etc.
Also, do you think they would pay for both tyres or be very strict and only pay out for the one that physically suffered the damage?

Cheers

I just want to match up this post with the relevant parts of your other posts about The Snow Centre, Hemel Hampstead

Fridge03_23rd_Jan_&#64 wrote:

On Thursday 18th Jan I booked 2 x 2 hour lift passes for Saturday 20th morning at 8:30. Late Friday afternoon, I found out that my partner was required to work due to an emergency. I called up at 715pm and spoke to a lady who I explained the situation to. She kindly agreed to move us to Sunday at the same time and confirmed that over the phone.

Fridge03 wrote:

However “on this occasion” she would credit our account for future use. The use of the phrase “on this occasion” was patronising and not professional.

Just want to match these up as I find it quite shocking how you've asked the question about being reimbursed for the cost of the "non-refundable missed event", which only happened because YOU breached the contract (failed to arrive at the agreed date/time, and not linked to the pothole in ANY WAY) and has since been given to you as credit as a goodwill gesture (they should have just told you tough luck).

In terms of the pothole, if it is a "a now famous pothole on the northbound A21 just outside Tonbridge in Kent" then why didn't you anticipate it?! If I know a "famous" pothole is in place X then I'll make a conscious effort to avoid being damaged by it.... Or is that just too much common sense?

Maybe you've got a claim against the council, but I would probably seek legal advice (solicitor etc) and maybe also enquire with the council themselves? Go through their internal complaints procedure and ask for money back? I just hope that you don't make a fraudulent claim (The Snow Center costs) and, if you do, I hope that this post/thread serves to help catch you out.

Fridge03

stuartJo1989 wrote: »

I just want to match up this post with the relevant parts of your other posts about The Snow Centre, Hemel Hampstead






Just want to match these up as I find it quite shocking how you've asked the question about being reimbursed for the cost of the "non-refundable missed event", which only happened because YOU breached the contract (failed to arrive at the agreed date/time, and not linked to the pothole in ANY WAY) and has since been given to you as credit as a goodwill gesture (they should have just told you tough luck).

In terms of the pothole, if it is a "a now famous pothole on the northbound A21 just outside Tonbridge in Kent" then why didn't you anticipate it?! If I know a "famous" pothole is in place X then I'll make a conscious effort to avoid being damaged by it.... Or is that just too much common sense?

Maybe you've got a claim against the council, but I would probably seek legal advice (solicitor etc) and maybe also enquire with the council themselves? Go through their internal complaints procedure and ask for money back? I just hope that you don't make a fraudulent claim (The Snow Center costs) and, if you do, I hope that this post/thread serves to help catch you out.

Uh Oh, the forum police are out in force!

Where did I say I was going to make any fraudulent claims? I was asking for advice, on both occasions. You know, consumer rights, compensation claims to councils etc. Not opinions, like your criticism of my driving.
Two things, I only saw about the pothole in the news when the garage mentioned it had been whilst getting my car repaired.
Second, I hit said pothole as the visibility was poor due to A, poor weather and B and most importantly, it was dark. That happens during a 24 hour period if you took the time to look out the window away from your PC and keyboard.
Perhaps you should start up a driving school with all that common sense of yours?

stuartJo1989

Fridge03 wrote: »

Uh Oh, the forum police are out in force!

Where did I say I was going to make any fraudulent claims? I was asking for advice, on both occasions. You know, consumer rights, compensation claims to councils etc. Not opinions, like your criticism of my driving.

Claiming for the £98 would most likely be fraudulent, because you breached the contract (didn't turn up for the agreed date + time) and you got credit back. So the pothole didn't have any bearing on that, its only literally the damage to your car.

I guess you missed my advice about that on my post?

Two things, I only saw about the pothole in the news when the garage mentioned it had been whilst getting my car repaired.
Second, I hit said pothole as the visibility was poor due to A, poor weather and B and most importantly, it was dark. That happens during a 24 hour period if you took the time to look out the window away from your PC and keyboard.

Fair enough

Perhaps you should start up a driving school with all that common sense of yours?

Perhaps you should take up stand-up comedy. You've left me in stitches...

sbell_uk

MSE,
Thanks for the guide, it helped me during the arduous process of submitting my claim. Even though I was meticulous with every detail, it seems that it is all down to the class of road that has the pothole!

My incident took place on a class D road in West Sussex and according to the authorities legal services department it is subject to routine inspection on an annual basis only (May 2017) with additional inspections carried out following specific reports of problems from police or the public.
My pothole issue ocurred in November 2017 and according to the authorities was the first report of a problem for that inspection period.

The authorities placed a blob of tarmac into the pothole when they returned to the area to investigate my claim.
In response to my request of £70 compensation for a damaged steel wheel and plastic wheel trim, the authorities have declined to compensate me, citing section 58 of the Highways Act 1980 whereby there has been in operation a reasonable system of inspection and repair for a D class road.
Goliath has beaten David yet again!!!

cinders59

sbell_uk wrote: »

MSE,
Thanks for the guide, it helped me during the arduous process of submitting my claim. Even though I was meticulous with every detail, it seems that it is all down to the class of road that has the pothole!

My incident took place on a class D road in West Sussex and according to the authorities legal services department it is subject to routine inspection on an annual basis only (May 2017) with additional inspections carried out following specific reports of problems from police or the public.
My pothole issue ocurred in November 2017 and according to the authorities was the first report of a problem for that inspection period.

The authorities placed a blob of tarmac into the pothole when they returned to the area to investigate my claim.
In response to my request of £70 compensation for a damaged steel wheel and plastic wheel trim, the authorities have declined to compensate me, citing section 58 of the Highways Act 1980 whereby there has been in operation a reasonable system of inspection and repair for a D class road.
Goliath has beaten David yet again!!!

we had that because there had been loads of reports and that meant that it was going to be given a date for repair they said there was no claim, and when I asked how many and when the complaints had been made they wouldn't say under "this and that" acts and it would lead to lots of claims. How stupid

dw85

Hi guys,
After a bit of direction and clarification (Also whether anyone has had any luck against Lincolnshire council?).

Hit a pothole (well two...if you saw the state of the road, you'd be amazed more werent hit!) in the evening last week on a B road on a pizza run as we had just moved in that day. They were at least a 1/3 of the way into the carriage way, to avoid you had to cross over the centre line (as i discovered upon inspection in daylight the next day) - not an option with oncoming traffic.
Anyways, upshot - dented alloy and new tyre and 2 x recovery vehicles = £770.

Being a good citizen, i reported it on their website (As it seems, have alot of other people) and now am starting a claims against them - getting anything back would be a help!
im also very concerned for the safety of others, esp any motorcyclists going along there, an accident waiting to happen - cars can be replaced; people, not so much.
They have taken my details and sent me a claims form with the standard "prove that we've been negligent' spiel.
So, ive got the inspection schedule that says Lincs look at that road Quarterly (Highways Agency recommend a road of that classification every month)- now, when i do a FOI request, what do i ask for? Last inspected date? Inspection report?

What should my next steps be? i have pictures of the holes, with a scale.
Is this something i stand a chance with?
Thanks in advance, all constructive help appreciated!!

Pam_Swarbrick

I had a bad experience last year in June travelling home along a country Lane after hitting a pothole at 10.4pm on my own!!!It punctured my tyre and as was on my own and not street lighting I drove very slowly and got home to see a big tear in my tyre!!!
I could put my 4 fingers in the hole.
Lancashire County council refused to accept liability after fotos ,forms and all my car documents were seen by them.!!!:eek:

David_Fullarton

I Informed my insurance company (Hastings) of a puncture due to going into a pothole, as recommended. NOT a claim. Next renewal----declined to insure! They had put it down as an "own fault" accident claim, and because my car had been stolen two years ago, this tipped me out of their comfort zone in insuring me. It took me days of phoning and getting passed around their disjointed customer service/claims system, (which cuts you off after 15 minutes every time), before they corrected their mistake to an "advisory" notification of a puncture as opposed to a claim. Now my claims history was back to where it was before, and the same as when they took my business a year ago. Guess what? They still declined to insure me, wouldn't say why.
My advice? Don't tell insurance companies anything at all you don't need to. Reason: they will !!!! it up and you will pay more as a result, or get declined. For the most part, almost every motor insurance company I have ever dealt will is riddled with incompetence, and catastrophic imbecility.

shiraz123

Hi
I have had a recent incident, not with a pothole but with a severn trent water manhole cover that was missing down a country lane. My daughter was riding her horse down the public road and one of the horses hoof went down it , causing damage to her leg. I have contacted severn trent but they are denying liability can you provide any advice if i can make a claim against them or how

Many thanks

Usernamealreadyinuse

Hi, I hope someone can give me some advice, my husband hit a pothole, damaged his wheel and tyre, he put a claim in to the council with photos and quotes etc and got refused on the grounds that they knew about it 3 days earlier and had assessed it as a category 1 and say they did not have to fix it for 5 days and as he hit it within those 5 days they!!!8217;re not liable. This makes no sense to me, they knew about it and just left it and thats ok? It was on a heavily used B road which is usually well maintained and gritted.