Car damage - can I claim against the council?

Little_Lene

Looking for some advice...

During the very early (and quite dark) hours of the morning I inadvertently drove down a closed road and became stuck in a flooded area. The car was recovered but has suffered severe electrical damage, and as such will be written off by my insurance company.

As previously mentioned, the road was closed but the only only signage was off to the side of the road entrance, and lying face first in the grass and so obscured from view. The local recovery company confirmed that they had to recover a number of vehicles from the same spot in the days leading to my accident.

My question is wether I can claim anything in addition to my own insurance given that the road was inadequately advertised as closed?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

System

No you can't claim. It would have been quite obvious before you got deep enough for there to be damage that you should have stopped. I guess the plumes of water and the car slowing down significantly weren't an obvious enough sign that continuing was a bad idea?

It wasn't a blue BMW by any chance?

Car_54

No

I agree with Tarambor. Whether the road should have been closed is irrelevant: no-one forced you to drive into the flood water. The dangers of doing so are well-known.

GDB2222

Does the council have an obligation to put a sign up at all? If not, what are you suing them for?

IanMSpencer

Though I tend to agree with Tarambor, it really depends on what the cause of the flooding was (who caused it and whether the Council had taken all reasonable steps to alleviate the problem). If the signage was not maintained over a number of days then there might be a liability.

However, I think you'd also have to consider whether the driver themselves would be liable for entering water without considering whether it was safe to do so - it would very much depend on the circumstances.

If you have legal cover with your insurers then they are the people to talk to.

AdrianC

Little_Lene wrote: »

During the very early (and quite dark)

Oh, if only they put lights on the front of cars...

hours of the morning I inadvertently drove down a closed road and became stuck in a flooded area.

Oh, if only they put a large sheet of glass in front of the driver...

The car was recovered but has suffered severe electrical damage, and as such will be written off by my insurance company.

Ooops... You won't be doing that again, will you?

As previously mentioned, the road was closed but the only only signage was off to the side of the road entrance, and lying face first in the grass and so obscured from view. The local recovery company confirmed that they had to recover a number of vehicles from the same spot in the days leading to my accident.

So you assumed that since it wasn't closed, it MUST be good to drive through? How do you know some local scrote hadn't tipped the sign over just five minutes before? How do you know the flood wasn't there hours earlier?

My question is wether I can claim anything in addition to my own insurance given that the road was inadequately advertised as closed?

Don't be so ridiculous. It was your choice to just drive into a large body of water on the road without making sure it was passable first.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Look where you're driving.

Little_Lene

Wow. I thought that this was an advice forum, not a platform to kick people when they are down.

Clearly I understand that this was my own doing, and that’s why I am working with my own insurers in order settle the claim.

I’m questioning further purely because of the number of vehicles that have been caught out in the same circumstances. The road in question is on the side of a hill and so it isn’t prone to flooding. A combination of the ditches not being maintained for a number of years, and melting snow resulted in a very deep area of water. The darkness meant that whilst I could see the shimmer of the water, I didn’t realise that there was a dip in the road which is where I got into difficulties. I’m not ashamed to admit that I panicked, or that a more capable driver might have made it through. The problem is that the council have been made aware, by drivers of vehicles, local farmers and the recovery agency and yet are doing nothing to improve the situation.

IanMSpencer

Little_Lene wrote: »

The problem is that the council have been made aware, by drivers of vehicles, local farmers and the recovery agency and yet are doing nothing to improve the situation.

...and therefore they might have some liability, but I doubt that a court would hold them entirely liable. In the case of car insurance, unless you can get to the point where another party is held to be 100% liable, then you are still going to be claiming on your own insurance, and the reality is that the difference to you is going to be negligible and therefore not worth pursuing. As I said, if you have legal cover, then it is worth the effort of a phone call to them to see if a claim has got legs given the particular circumstances.

It would really depend on a number of circumstances, and I would not rule out that the council was liable - people are not expected to be experts, and can have a reasonable expectation that highways should be passable - it really depends on the circumstances - flooding due to a burst water main for example would be an isolated flood, whereas heavy rain or snow causing widespread flooding around and about might be deemed to be reasonable to expect to deal with (or rather, unreasonable to drive in) and unreasonable for the council to be expected to clear.

Johno100

Well if the council are negligent then your insurers, who've no doubt got specialist legal people who know about this sort of thing, will seek to recover their costs for repairing your vehicle from them.

Not really a lot you can do.

GDB2222

Little_Lene wrote: »

Wow. I thought that this was an advice forum, not a platform to kick people when they are down.

Clearly I understand that this was my own doing, and that’s why I am working with my own insurers in order settle the claim.

I’m questioning further purely because of the number of vehicles that have been caught out in the same circumstances. The road in question is on the side of a hill and so it isn’t prone to flooding. A combination of the ditches not being maintained for a number of years, and melting snow resulted in a very deep area of water. The darkness meant that whilst I could see the shimmer of the water, I didn’t realise that there was a dip in the road which is where I got into difficulties. I’m not ashamed to admit that I panicked, or that a more capable driver might have made it through. The problem is that the council have been made aware, by drivers of vehicles, local farmers and the recovery agency and yet are doing nothing to improve the situation.

I think you need to establish exactly what the council's obligations are. They have a duty to maintain the roads, but they are obviously not responsible for snow. If the drainage has not been maintained adequately, that may make the council responsible.

I suggest that you have a look through the code of practice - http://www.ukroadsliaisongroup.org/en/UKRLG-and-boards/uk-roads-board/wellmaintained-highways.cfm

Syman

as you are gong through your insurance, give them all the information you have given in your original post. I am sure if they believe there is any way that they can reclaim from another body, they will do so.