Damage to Car claim refused by Council

dannyrst

It's up to the driver of a car to watch where they are going and avoid potential hazards.

almillar

Forgive me if I missed the obvious, but I don't understand how an otherwise good spring would break, without damage to either tyre or wheel. I'd imagine toe Council would say there was something wrong with your spring beforehand. If it was the rear spring, then your argument is even weaker (because your front wheel, tyre spring are fine).

misssarahleigh

dannyrst wrote: »

It's up to the driver of a car to watch where they are going and avoid potential hazards.

To be fair, it isn't very clear in the dark. Nor is it very avoidable.

almillar wrote: »

Forgive me if I missed the obvious, but I don't understand how an otherwise good spring would break, without damage to either tyre or wheel. I'd imagine toe Council would say there was something wrong with your spring beforehand. If it was the rear spring, then your argument is even weaker (because your front wheel, tyre spring are fine).

I won't pretend my knowledge on cars is particularity good. It was the front drivers side spring. Car worked fine, hit massive hole in road, car spring broken.

The reason I asked the question in the first place was based on the information I found on this website regarding the council having responsibility under the Highway Act to make the road safe.

From my impressions based on the posts, am I correct in thinking the defect is greater than it actually is. I assumed having a sunken manhole cover with expose ironwork was quite a problem, or am I biased based on having to repeatedly drive over the thing?

rich13348

Your photos were taken some time ago. Were the photos recent when the accident happened or was it some time after the photos were taken so it was worse again. The repair while not perfect does look like it will not cause any serious extention of the suspension so wouldn't break a healthy spring. Do you have a more recent photo or if the repair has degraded. Did you take a photo the day after the accident.

almillar

I think the consensus here is that a broken spring isn't that big a deal. You should get both front ones replaced. They can break, and yours happened to break going over a bump. All I'm saying is, usually when people claim, it's for a tyre or an alloy. The bump that your *think* has wrecked a *perfectly good* spring, managed to do so without damaging tyre or wheel. How so? My guess is your spring was already bad (from bashing around that council's roads!).

Richard53

I had a front spring break without warning a few months ago. Reversing out of my parking space on my own driveway, level ground, I had moved about 6 feet when the spring broke and ripped a hole in the n/s/f tyre. I had both replaced as a precaution - the thought of a spring tearing the tyre to bits at motorway speeds was not good. But there was no apparent cause for the breakage, like an impact or rough surface. There was slight corrosion on the fractured surface, suggesting that a crack had been developing for a while, but I was not aware of it. My garage said it was now a common problem, and he dealt with 2-3 a week. I had never heard of it happening before that.


So maybe the spring was just waiting to go.

Crabman

Richard53 wrote: »

I had a front spring break without warning a few months ago.

Out of interest what manufacturer was this?

peter12345678910

It is awkward telling another driver, watch out on the next road.....approaching pot hole. Drive in black alert mode. Especially if it is your partner. I can see your point of view, I never really noticed them and I would drive fast over speed bumps till the springs break. No I notice how many there are!

specialboy

Surely if the pothole has been there that long her partner would have known about it anyway without having to be told by the op

dannyrst

misssarahleigh wrote: »

To be fair, it isn't very clear in the dark. Nor is it very avoidable.

Did he have his lights on? Not trying to be funny but do you think that sort of argument would stand up for insurance claims if he hit another car, or in court if he hit a person?