Pothole claims guide discussion

Cell

Opalshade said:

Help Wife hit a pothole and broke an alloy a tyre and later learnt broke spring I bought 4 second hand alloys £500 as could not get a replacement the  alloys are no longer made by Mercedes The quote from Mercedes is £1600 plus VAT new set of alloys Hampshire are only willing to pay for one alloy Is this reasonable? All comments welcome 

In general they are obliged only to put you back in the same financial position as you were before so far as possible. It's known as the principle of indemnity.

If they pay for four alloys then you will, essentially, be in a far better position than you were before the incident. That breaches the principle of indemnity and as such they are correct. Indeed they could reduce any offer for the one alloy and tyre to take into account wear and tear on those, but it looks like they haven't.

It seems unfair, but it's equally unfair for you to come out of the situation better off then you went in.

You could try and discuss the issue with them and see if you can squeeze some more out of them (so long as you can provide the evidence in support of your position. Alternatively you could claim on your own insurance. Because you have a contract with them it may be that there is provision for 'matching set' cover. It would, however, affect any no claims discount you have (unless it's protected).

Karlpep

Hello everyone,
I unfortunately came off my 125cc motorcycle on 03/02/21 from a large pothole in the centre of the road with cars parked along the left hand side and junctions both ahead and behind me

The pothole I've seen on a few sites has been reported as far back as June 2020 and has since been repaired late March 2021

Unfortunately I injured my right dominant hand with a Bennett's fracture requiring surgery with k-wire fixation and my motorcycle just suffered a scrape which is a silver lining

I've submitted a claim to Highways England and I'm awaiting for them to accept or deny liability, does anyone think I stand a good chance of them accepting liability?

Cell

Karlpep said:

Hello everyone,
I unfortunately came off my 125cc motorcycle on 03/02/21 from a large pothole in the centre of the road with cars parked along the left hand side and junctions both ahead and behind me

The pothole I've seen on a few sites has been reported as far back as June 2020 and has since been repaired late March 2021

Unfortunately I injured my right dominant hand with a Bennett's fracture requiring surgery with k-wire fixation and my motorcycle just suffered a scrape which is a silver lining

I've submitted a claim to Highways England and I'm awaiting for them to accept or deny liability, does anyone think I stand a good chance of them accepting liability?

Sorry to hear of your accident. Hope you recover soon.
Your claim ought to be against the local authority unless it's a major trunk road in which case Highways England is the correct defendant.
Sadly no-one can say whether you will succeed based on the limited information provided. It will depend on the dimension of the pothole, the system of inspection etc. 
Presumably you have a solicitor as claims of this nature ought to go via the MoJ Personal Injury Portal.

Karlpep

Thankyou!
Highways England have contacted me a few weeks ago to say Ringway are investigating the incident 

I do have a solicitor looking into another case for me but have advised me if liability is denied they will take it on for me and pursue it further

I do have pictures and sent them to the Highways team, it was on a urban road so no choice but to go over (I was doing 18-20 mph) the pothole was to the first joint of my middle finger as it's what I used to depth the pothole in the picture and was roughly a foot across spanning the centre of the road

Cell

I think Ringway do maintenance and upkeep for many local authorities etc so that makes sense, though if your claim was formally presented via the portal they would have to respond within 40 working days with an admission or fully documented denial of liability. Don't let the fact that you're unrepresented allow them to take advantage of you.

Speaking frankly if they deny liability you're probably going to want a second opinion on the decision, and if they admit liability you should engage a solicitor to arrange the medical evidence for you and advise you on any offers that are made.

Legal advice is important in cases like this.

Karlpep

Cell said:

I think Ringway do maintenance and upkeep for many local authorities etc so that makes sense, though if your claim was formally presented via the portal they would have to respond within 40 working days with an admission or fully documented denial of liability. Don't let the fact that you're unrepresented allow them to take advantage of you.

Speaking frankly if they deny liability you're probably going to want a second opinion on the decision, and if they admit liability you should engage a solicitor to arrange the medical evidence for you and advise you on any offers that are made.

Legal advice is important in cases like this.

Thankyou for your advice,

Ringways have expressed their apologies for any injuries sustained allegedly, my solicitor is currently accessing my medical records which will make things a little easier and quicker

I shall get back to you regarding the outcome!

RN61

I've just found the updated MSE pothole guide and want to say THANKS for the excellent tips.
I recently cycled into a loose drainage gulley that was sinking into cracked and broken concrete on a London road, resulting in me going head first into the kerb edge. I suffered serious injury, was knocked unconscious and admission to hospital (unsurprisingly) followed (HELMET SAVED MY LIFE!).
I would add to the MSE guide, LOOK FOR CCTV ASAP even if there are witnesses (a picture tells a thousand words). Possibilities for me were local authority cameras, passing buses, and nearby premises. In my case, gps on the bike confirmed the exact location of my accident on a map which helpfully showed a named school opposite.  Google revealed the phone number and (wonderful) staff there located critical footage and retained it for me. CCTV can be accessed via FOI request. Bear in mind many organisations overwrite or delete recordings VERY quickly, weeks or even days so act fast or get someone on your case. I have also made FOIA requests to council and other organisations who might help and reached out to a firm of Solicitors I've dealt with before, so fingers crossed.

sacha1dog

I'm trying to find out what the National guidelines for councils are, in terms of frequency for road inspections. Does anyone know where I can find this information?

I've found that Derbyshire Dales inspect a road every year, but a neighbouring council inspect every 6 months. If I can prove that Derbyshire aren't following the guidelines, I may have grounds for a claim.

Cell

sacha1dog said:

I'm trying to find out what the National guidelines for councils are, in terms of frequency for road inspections. Does anyone know where I can find this information?

I've found that Derbyshire Dales inspect a road every year, but a neighbouring council inspect every 6 months. If I can prove that Derbyshire aren't following the guidelines, I may have grounds for a claim.

The guidelines are precisely that - guidelines. Each Local Authority must assess the its own road and pavement network on a risk based analysis. These risks are different in different parts of the country.

https://kennedyslaw.com/thought-leadership/article/highway-maintenance-time-for-a-new-risk-based-approach/

https://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/transport-roads/roads-traffic/road-maintenance/potholes/potholes.aspx

https://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/transport-roads/highways-infrastructure-asset-management/highways-infrastructure-asset-management.aspx

If a court would consider that the council had a reasonable policy and had complied with that policy then the fact that a neighbouring authority had a better system would not make the original council liable. 

In other words horses for courses.

gordenbennit

Re POTHOLE DEBATE   Some years ago I drove    over a cattlegrid at EDGES GREEN on the  ROMAN WALL     NORTHUMBERLAND  and    crashed onto   the edge of the pit as I left the grid   causing  significant damage  of the power steering and fluid loss and had to be recoverd to a  repairer . On looking  .  at the pit and grid I  found the grid had  broken loose from its frame and was severly buckeled from damage  caused by loaded logging waggons and their loaded trailers useing it as a short cut to avoid 20 miles of forrest  drives. On contacting NORTHUMBERLAND COUNCIL I was advised they had already ordered a new grid   before my accident.......A pity they did not close the gridd and divert traffic through the cattle passing gate... My breakdown provider said I had to repay their recovery costs (  GUILD OF EXPERIENCED  MOTORISTS) and my insurer LV   refuse me legal cover to recover my costs from the council .  I claimed off  the council but their insurer rejected the claim so I went to the SMALL CLAIMS  COURT     and  got my full claim  compensation  paid out  from the council ,Worth noteing is that the council immediatley filled in the cattle grid pit   with tarmac  after my complaint untill they got a new grid.   After this I  was sitting by a noisy cattlegrid in the OUTER HEBRIDEES  and went over the have a look and found 90  per cent of the steel rail secureing  nuts  had unthreaded themselves from the steel rails  hence the noise   of the loose rails  On adviseing   WESTERN ISLES COUNCIL  it was nice to get a letter of thanks   So if you drive over a noisy  cattlegrid it might be  breaking up !!!!