Car damaged by roadworks

Mark23

The road i live on has just had some road resurfacing work done and my car has been damaged (small orange burn marks all over the drivers side of the car, roof and bonnet) which I'm guessing has been caused by hot tar. The machinery was no more than a couple feet away from my car. The car is a white fiesta so probably shows up more than other cars. I'm wondering if anyone else has had any similar experiences and what there outcome was as I'm awaiting a phone call from the construction company as they didn't make me aware of any possible damages as I would of parked elsewhere to avoid these damages. I managed to get a picture of how close the machinery was and by the time I realised they were doing the part of the road right outside my house it was too late to move the car.
Ideal situation is they just fix the damage because I don't want to be left paying for it but I'm guessing they will try and worm there way out of it
Any help would be appreciated on how to deal with it if they try and deny it/fob me off

shaun_from_Africa

Is the road concerned a private one with the upkeep being carried out by a management company or is it a public road maintained by the council?

If it's a public road and the construction company won't repair the damage then you should contact your local council and inform them of what has happened and ask them for the details of their public liability insurance.

If the road is private and the company won't so anything then you may have to find out who employed the contractors and as above, contact them regarding an insurance claim.

It looks like you are not alone and I wouldn't be surprised to find that this happening is fairly common.

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/14372731._My_car_is_covered_in_chips____motorists_left_counting_the_cost_of_chipped_paintwork_and_cracked_windscreens/

Mark23

It's a council road (dual carriage way with three lanes each side) contacted the council first of all and they said it's all down to the contractor
Was informed about the resurfacing and that it would take 2 weeks between the hours of 19:00 and 06:00 but as the work was on about a 1 mile long stretch of road I had no idea where they would be starting, otherwise I would of parked elsewhere for a night or two
But I'll definitely be back on to the council about there public liability insurance if they don't sort anything out
Thank you

neilmcl

Is the paintwork actually damaged or is it just tar on the surface?

Mark23

Yeah it's been damaged, I cleaned a section on the car thinking it was just surface tar with some traffic film remover and all the black bits went, but the orange bits stayed. I thought it was rust speckles at first and maybe loose chippings took it down to metal but the weather has been pretty nice with no rain so there is no chance of that. The damaged parts are like a crater, slight raised around the edge and go in at the middle

Shaka_Zulu

Mark23 wrote: »

Was informed about the resurfacing and that it would take 2 weeks between the hours of 19:00 and 06:00 but as the work was on about a 1 mile long stretch of road

I don't think you will get very far, you were given notice and decided not to take any action.

Additionally are you allowed to park on this road?

Mark23

There was no notice about possible damage, only thing they raised in the letter was high levels of noise
The road I live on is a main road, where the pavement is suitable to park on (not every house has a driveway) its large enough to fit a car on and allow pedestrians enough room to walk past
Like I said in an above post, the road they are resurfacing is about a mile long and they didn't inform where they would be starting from. They stopped about 5 doors down on the 1st night but the machine that digs up the tar was throwing all the old road in a truck right outside my car. I would of thought they would of knocked to say can you move your car whilst we do this section as its bright white so any damage would easily show. It would of been a major inconvenience to park elsewhere for the 2 weeks whilst they done the work since the whole road was being closed with no side streets and permit parking in the estate opposite

comeandgo

Regardless of how inconvenient it was to park elsewhere, you were warned mayor road works were to take place. It's not the contractors fault you decided to ignore the warnings. You took the risk. Were there other cars damaged? Maybe a group claim would be better but I don't think you have much of a chance.

Mark23

That's the thing, there were no warnings. Only thing they stated was noise disturbance if they said possible damage to parked vehicles I would of parked elsewhere

usefulmale

So, despite advanced warnings, you decide to park your car within 2 foot of heavy machinery chewing up the road surface and now your car is damaged, it's someone elses fault?

Take responsibility for your own inaction. Why would the workmen 'knock on your door to move your car'? Do you expect someone to tell you to wipe your own arrse after using the toilet?

Mark23

I seemed to of misplace my crystal ball to know that they were going to be right outside, I realised when it was too late and my car was cordoned in unable to move