Vehicle Pothole Damage?

magic1291

Hi

On the 7th March 2015 I was travelling to work and hit a massive pothole which damaged the front offside suspension, wheel rim and tyre. The following day, I then revisited the road and pothole in question to take photographic evidence before the council had any opportunity to repair. On the Monday morning I immediately contacted Gateshead Council to report the pothole and damage to our car. I was then sent a claim form to fill in and submit.

Gallagher Bassett International the claim handlers for the council then wrote back to me to state that as they were aware of the defect, yet it hadn't been repaired, they're are unable to pay for the damage and deny liability for the damage claim?? As they were aware of this on the 18th February 2015, yet did nothing about it.

Where do we go from here??

Retrogamer

That doesn't make sense to me either.
They were aware of it and didn't repair it in a timely manner. Surely they're liable

TBagpuss

It depends a little on the road where the pothole is - what is 'timely' in terms of how quickly they should reasonably repair it will vary.

18th Feb to 7th March is not a very long period of time, it may be that their argument is that that it was reasonable for them to not have repaired it within that short a time frame.

rich13348

TBagpuss wrote: »

It depends a little on the road where the pothole is - what is 'timely' in terms of how quickly they should reasonably repair it will vary.

18th Feb to 7th March is not a very long period of time, it may be that their argument is that that it was reasonable for them to not have repaired it within that short a time frame.

Surely a pothole that is so 'massive' that it damaged a cars suspension should have been fixed ASAP also 18th Feb to 7 March is 13 work days. Not days, work days in which it could be fixed.

I would say if they were aware of it and did nothing to fix it or even mitigate the damage that could be caused with cones or signs.

Also did they tell you when it was finally repaired or do you know.

You might have to go to court to recover costs if they refuse to accept liability.

AdrianC

rich13348 wrote: »

Surely a pothole that is so 'massive' that it damaged a cars suspension should have been fixed ASAP also 18th Feb to 7 March is 13 work days. Not days, work days in which it could be fixed.

The accepted guideline time to repair a "category 2" pothole is 28 days from being notified. If the council weren't notified beforehand, or were notified less than 28 days before, they have no obligation to pay for the damage. They are only liable if they have failed in their duty to repair the pothole in a timely manner.

Gateshead council say all potholes will be repaired within four weeks of being notified.
https://www.gateshead.gov.uk/Transport%20and%20Streets/roads/potholes.aspx
So they were within their agreed repair time.

From my local council's website, which gives a bit more detail...

The criteria used to prioritise the repairs of potholes include:

Depth
Location
Likely deterioration rate
Traffic use (vehicle and pedestrian)
The time-scale to repair the pothole depends on the category it is in. Category 1 potholes are repaired within 24 hours, whilst category 2 potholes are repaired within 28 days.

Category 1 potholes

A category 1 defect requires prompt attention because it represents an immediate or imminent hazard. There may also be a risk of short term structural deterioration.

Where required, due to the nature of the hazard created by the defect, they will be made safe at the time of inspection to protect the public. This may constitute erection of warning notices, cones or fencing.

All category 1 defects will be made safe within 24 hours either through temporary or permanent repair.

Category 2 potholes

Category 2 potholes include all other defects. These are defects that do not represent an immediate or imminent hazard or a risk of short term structural deterioration. Category 2 defects may represent a safety concern but of a far lesser significance than category 1 defects.

Category 2 defects are considered under two sub-categories determining how they are treated.

Priority A defects represent a greater safety hazard or are likely to deteriorate further before the next scheduled inspection. They will be prioritised and repaired within 28 days. Repairs are made alongside routine maintenance work or as part of a programmed maintenance scheme, being kept in a safe condition until the scheme is undertaken.

Priority B defects do not represent a public safety concern. They are unlikely to deteriorate further before the next scheduled inspection and are noted for the next safety/service inspection.

At the end of the day, though, it is always the driver's responsibility to be aware of road conditions, including potholes.