Pothole Claim Rejected - Suggestions/Advice?

kittykatkat

Last month I drove over a large pothole, one of several hundred I try to avoid on a daily basis but unfortunately went over it and damaged an alloy wheel and tyre, costing almost £300 to replace.

I took photos, filled in all the forms and submitted a claim, which the council have rejected on the basis that they inspected the road 3 weeks before my incident and it was fine, and nobody had reported that particular pothole before and it is now repaired.

Is there any point in pursuing this further or should I leave it at that? The one thing I will say, which I tried to point out in the claim, is that the pothole had been previously repaired (as evidenced by a Google Streetview screenshot dated 2012) with a temporary "filling" (as opposed to being cut out and patched over properly) and so they had not done a proper repair to the pothole in at least 2.5 years - it was only a matter of time before the bodge job would fail. The pothole was around 5cm deep, 2 ft long, 1 ft wide and one of a cluster which have also previously been repaired in the same temporary manner.

Really annoyed that it cost so much and that the roads where I live really are so badly maintained it's almost to a 3rd world standard. Any advice appreciated. Thanks.

Retrogamer

You can only claim from them if they're liable through negligence.

It sounds like they have enough evidence to prove they weren't negligent in this case if you were to try and take it further.

Tilt

"they inspected the road 3 weeks before my incident and it was fine"

Have they put this in writing? I think most people would agree that a temporary repair can certainly deteriorate within that time depending on the volume of traffic that uses the road.

Going on what you have said, I would certainly be taking it further. Have you responded to their response?

DUTR

Tilt wrote: »

"they inspected the road 3 weeks before my incident and it was fine"

Have they put this in writing? I think most people would agree that a temporary repair can certainly deteriorate within that time depending on the volume of traffic that uses the road.

Going on what you have said, I would certainly be taking it further. Have you responded to their response?

I would say most people are not civil engineers.
So most people's opinions do not count, the OP can try and take the issue further, but I don't hold much hope in their success this time.

marleyboy

OP, your best bet is to report potholes as and when you see them. Then you can state you reported it (keeping evidence).

The M60 ring road is peppered with them, indeed its been like that for 2 Years now. I dread driving the route as I would not want to hit one of those at 70mph.

I cover myself by reporting them, as I fear its only a matter of time before I cannot avoid the inevitable, causing untold damages to my car.

The only way I could possibly claim, is by having evidence that I pointed them out a long time prior to the damage I sustained by being unable to swerve out of their way on a busy motorway.

DUTR

marleyboy wrote: »

OP, your best bet is to report potholes as and when you see them. Then you can state you reported it (keeping evidence).

The M60 ring road is peppered with them, indeed its been like that for 2 Years now. I dread driving the route as I would not want to hit one of those at 70mph.

I cover myself by reporting them, as I fear its only a matter of time before I cannot avoid the inevitable, causing untold damages to my car.

The only way I could possibly claim, is by having evidence that I pointed them out a long time prior to the damage I sustained by being unable to swerve out of their way on a busy motorway.

You are right to report them as you see them.
TBH in my years of driving I have never seen a pothole on a motorway.

That said you shouldn't need to swerve out of the way of a pothole as they are stationary and it is the car that is moving.

Tilt

DUTR wrote: »

I would say most people are not civil engineers.
So most people's opinions do not count, the OP can try and take the issue further, but I don't hold much hope in their success this time.

I don't think you need to be a civil engineer to know that these temporary repairs can and do deteriorate in less time than 3 weeks.

It would appear from the OP's account that this pot hole was well known to the local authority for more than 2.5 years so I would disagree in your opinion on the prospect of a successful claim.

marleyboy

DUTR wrote: »

That said you shouldn't need to swerve out of the way of a pothole as they are stationary and it is the car that is moving.

Either that or you could slam on the brakes at 70mph or just bolt straight over them. Unfortunately, as stationary as potholes are, cars cannot jump over them yet.

Tilt

marleyboy wrote: »

OP, your best bet is to report potholes as and when you see them. Then you can state you reported it (keeping evidence).

The M60 ring road is peppered with them, indeed its been like that for 2 Years now. I dread driving the route as I would not want to hit one of those at 70mph.

I cover myself by reporting them, as I fear its only a matter of time before I cannot avoid the inevitable, causing untold damages to my car.

The only way I could possibly claim, is by having evidence that I pointed them out a long time prior to the damage I sustained by being unable to swerve out of their way on a busy motorway.

I also agree that you should report them (and I certainly do in my area), but it matters not who reports them as long as the LA are aware of them. A clue is whether they have had a ring of paint around them or not.

bartelbe

marleyboy wrote: »

OP, your best bet is to report potholes as and when you see them. Then you can state you reported it (keeping evidence).

The M60 ring road is peppered with them, indeed its been like that for 2 Years now. I dread driving the route as I would not want to hit one of those at 70mph.

I cover myself by reporting them, as I fear its only a matter of time before I cannot avoid the inevitable, causing untold damages to my car.

The only way I could possibly claim, is by having evidence that I pointed them out a long time prior to the damage I sustained by being unable to swerve out of their way on a busy motorway.

If I reported every pothole on the roads round here I would never get anywhere. There are hundreds of the bloody things.

DUTR

Tilt wrote: »

I don't think you need to be a civil engineer to know that these temporary repairs can and do deteriorate in less time than 3 weeks.

It would appear from the OP's account that this pot hole was well known to the local authority for more than 2.5 years so I would disagree in your opinion on the prospect of a successful claim.

Can you give an example of where these temporary repairs only last 3 weeks (as a none civil engineer to none civil engineer) .

Many roads as I understand are inspected at a much more frequent basis than over 2.5 years, if the OP was well aware of them, then it puzzles me why they were still driving along it with impunity, only to become conerned now that they have experienced damage to their vehicle.
I stand by they won't win a claim in this instance.