Car damage - can I claim against the council?

AndyMc.....

No

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.

And you have only learnt of this after the event?

AdrianC

Little_Lene wrote: »

The road in question is on the side of a hill and so it isn’t prone to flooding.

And then you go on to say that it is...

Little_Lene

Yes, the incident actually happened on the 22nd of December. The recovery team advised that the car would be written off but the insurance company are yet to confirm this as they require a specialist to look at the car and no one is available to look at it until after new year.

In the meantime the locals have been very fourth coming with information. I’m not sure that the insurance company will ask for any additional information but thought I best to find out as much as I could.

Johno100

Little_Lene wrote: »

Yes, the incident actually happened on the 22nd of December. The recovery team advised that the car would be written off but the insurance company are yet to confirm this as they require a specialist to look at the car and no one is available to look at it until after new year.

In the meantime the locals have been very fourth coming with information. I’m not sure that the insurance company will ask for any additional information but thought I best to find out as much as I could.

There is nothing stopping you volunteering the information to your insurers though.

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

Little_Lene wrote: »

In the meantime the locals have been very fourth coming with information. I’m not sure that the insurance company will ask for any additional information but thought I best to find out as much as I could.

It is perfectly reasonable to be blissfully unaware of even local issues until you talk to neighbours who cannot wait to release their litany of complaints to anyone who will listen, especially another victim. Happens all the time. (We had a new Sainsbury's being built, with advertising, consultation, newspaper reports, protests and banners all over and after 3 years we still had people indignantly claiming that nobody had told them it was going to happen, so my take is that nobody has a clue about local issues unless they are directly affected).

Bit of a shame that if local people were aware that the sign was down, that none of them saw fit to re-erect the sign, especially if there had been other incidents. It's all very well people blaming the council, but there is no reason not to help out either.

I'd be surprised at a flood halfway up a hill. Local areas that flood regularly round Warwickshire have permanent signs warning of the problem.

sevenhills

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 they did their duty by putting a road closed sign up.

The council are not responsible for the sign been moved.

Car_54

No

IanMSpencer wrote: »

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.

But they are expected to use their eyes, and common sense.

You don't have to be an expert. Even a learner driver is expected
to be aware of (and answer questions on) the official advice: "When you have to pass through a flood, take your time. Stop and assess how deep the water is. Don't just drive into it."

AdrianC

IanMSpencer wrote: »

I'd be surprised at a flood halfway up a hill.

Gravity, as far as I'm aware, doesn't have any local exceptions.
The OP has said that it wasn't half-way up a hill, but in a dip.

loskie

No

ask your council for a claim form submit a claim but don't get your hopes up. If you claim off your insurance and they think the council is negligent they will attempt to recover money from them. They will carry somewhat more clout than you.
Don't listen to all the smart !!!!!! above, we all take(silly) chances sometimes they pay off sometimes they don't.
I do think that the council should not accept blame in this case, there was a sign erected, someone may have moved it or you may have ignored it who knows. We all make mistakes and sometimes they have expensive consequences.
Good luck with getting it fixed, that's what insurance is for after all.

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

Car_54 wrote: »

But they are expected to use their eyes, and common sense.

You don't have to be an expert. Even a learner driver is expected
to be aware of (and answer questions on) the official advice: "When you have to pass through a flood, take your time. Stop and assess how deep the water is. Don't just drive into it."

Well, as I said at the top of the thread, I wasn't overly sympathetic, but I think the damning of someone without understanding the actual circumstances is inappropriate - in this case, the driver did not realise they were about to drive through a flood, (a big difference between blindly wading through an obvious flood and being confused as to what lay on the road ahead in terms of culpability) and it is appropriate at least to consider that if other people had also been caught out, there might be something about how that problem appeared from a driver's point of view that does not require the unhelpful sarcasm being dished out - ah, I forgot I was on MSE for a moment, my mistake.

If you were driving in the dark, on an unfamiliar road on the side of the hill, where there were no warning signs, and you didn't know the road dipped, are you sure that you would properly translate what you saw into a car-writing off flood (and I say this as someone who will stop for a puddle at the side of the road that others might drive through)? If the surrounding area was not flooded, would you expect there to be a flood to assess?