Pothole - Liability Accepted

andydhill

Hit pot hole damaged alloy wheel, tyre, front suspension and steering in April


Had the front suspension repaired and the wheel tempoarily repaired with a old replament tyre to get car back on road. Have claimed to Aberdeenshire Council and they have JUST admited liability with a letter form there solicitors.


Problems are
1) Alloy Wheel is obsolete so couldn't be replaced ( would need to buy 4)
2) I'm out of pocket for interium repaires
3) I sold the car as the car pulled badly to one side after hitting pot hole and interim repair even though it had had the suspension redone and the tracking aligned.


So today got told they are only liable for the ONE Alloy that is damaged and the suspension. As there is no photo showing the tyre was damaged thats not covered. So I'm out of pocket


for


Tempoary Repair to Alloy
Changing of a tyre which replaed the snow tyre that was on there with a part worn summer tyre
Technically the'll only buy 1 alloy
And the cost of changing my car (my choice). I probably won;t have sold it if I hadn't hit the pothole.


My out of pocket expenses ..... about £2500


Chance of recuping money maybe £350-400 ... (If I can provide receipts)


But 1) I've sold the car so no point in buy an alloy
2) I've only got the recipet for the suspension work as the rest was a tempoary repair (casher) at the local garage.
......
So help

foxy-stoat

Seeing as you havent got the car and already replaced it, how much are they offering against your actual loss, forget about the cost to change.

AdrianC

The pothole caused damage to the wheel, tyre and suspension.
You can't prove the tyre, so there's no documented loss.
It's not their fault you had (aftermarket?) wheels that are obsolete. How much did you attempt to mitigate the loss?
It's not their fault you decided to change car.

Norman_Castle

Problems are
1) Alloy Wheel is obsolete so couldn't be replaced ( would need to buy 4)
2) I'm out of pocket for interium repaires
3) I sold the car as the car pulled badly to one side after hitting pot hole and interim repair even though it had had the suspension redone and the tracking aligned.

A refurbished used alloy could have been an option. If the repair failed either the repair was poor or if the car was irreparable it would be written off.

andydhill

AdrianC wrote: »

The pothole caused damage to the wheel, tyre and suspension.
You can't prove the tyre, so there's no documented loss.
It's not their fault you had (aftermarket?) wheels that are obsolete. How much did you attempt to mitigate the loss?
It's not their fault you decided to change car.

• Wheels were not Aftermarket they were VOLVO OEM, but now no longer made. Is this -> "How much did you attempt to mitigate the loss" legal speak for avoid pothole.... well they accepted liabilty that the wheel was damaged.

• "It's not their fault you decided to change car" I wouldn't have changed my vehicle but atfter the accident it pulled badly to one side and had a lot of virbation through steering.... ( probalby twisted but as I didn;t go through my insurance the vehicle wasn't written off.

Norman_Castle wrote: »

A refurbished used alloy could have been an option. If the repair failed either the repair was poor or if the car was irreparable it would be written off.

• Yes it would have been an option but they are not available checked the local papers, owners forums and breded EBAY. but could not get it, of had to get it straigthened to get vehicle back on road. Have photo of damaged wheel, and tyre but doesn't show the damage to tyre which was a damaged bead (wires exposed) causeing it to leak.
• "repair was poor (No TEMPOARY) or if the car was irreparable it would be written off." More than likely if I had gone through my insurance they would have written off, but I first though it was just a torn tyre. so didn't involve my insurance.

AdrianC

andydhill wrote: »

Wheels were not Aftermarket they were VOLVO OEM, but now no longer made.

Fair enough, but...

Is this -> "How much did you attempt to mitigate the loss" legal speak for avoid pothole.... well they accepted liabilty that the wheel was damaged.

No. You could have sourced a used wheel - not hard for OEM rims.

"It's not their fault you decided to change car" I wouldn't have changed my vehicle but atfter the accident it pulled badly to one side and had a lot of virbation through steering.... ( probalby twisted but as I didn;t go through my insurance the vehicle wasn't written off.

Then that'd have been part of the damage that you could have claimed for - but you didn't.

More than likely if I had gone through my insurance they would have written off, but I first though it was just a torn tyre. so didn't involve my insurance.

If the documented damage was more than the value of the car, then the local authority could have chosen to settle the claim by paying out the value, effectively "writing it off", too.

Norman_Castle

andydhill wrote: »

• "repair was poor (No TEMPOARY) or if the car was irreparable it would be written off." More than likely if I had gone through my insurance they would have written off, but I first though it was just a torn tyre. so didn't involve my insurance.

"Temporary" repair to suspension, steering and bodywork mounting points is a bit odd. It should have been assessed properly rather than expecting a temporary repair to be funded by a liable party.

Mitigating your losses includes not having temporary repairs which do not solve the problem.

andydhill

I'm happy to wave the cost for the temopoary repair, I could have dug my heals in and had a hire car for weeks but instead I got the car back on the road, (maybe I should have gone through my insurance) but all I wanted was the damage caused by council (they admitted liability) to be paid for .

I don;t think it is unreasonable to demand 4 New wheels as


1) OEM wheels are Obsolete and out of Stock.
2) I will not accept them not matching.


If you were getting a car repaired and they said we cannot get the paint for that model we will have to change it to the new colour you woun't accept a wing being a different colour. ... Same applies I won't accpet one wheel looking different.

AdrianC

andydhill wrote: »

I don;t think it is unreasonable to demand 4 New wheels as

1) OEM wheels are Obsolete and out of Stock.

That doesn't mean they're unavailable. What are they? How old?

I presume the damaged wheel is not repairable...? I presume there's no used wheels available?

2) I will not accept them not matching.

And will you also be claiming for the increased insurance premiums arising from future declarations of a modification to your car...?

If you were getting a car repaired and they said we cannot get the paint for that model we will have to change it to the new colour you woun't accept a wing being a different colour. ...

It's a poor analogy, because paint is mixed to shade from published recipes for each colour code.

I suspect the most likely outcome of this is that they'll pay you a fair value for the one damaged wheel, in lieu of repair (especially since you've arranged the repair yourself) and it's up to you as to how you move forward.

spadoosh

andydhill wrote: »

I'm happy to wave the cost for the temopoary repair, I could have dug my heals in and had a hire car for weeks but instead I got the car back on the road, (maybe I should have gone through my insurance) but all I wanted was the damage caused by council (they admitted liability) to be paid for .

I don;t think it is unreasonable to demand 4 New wheels as


1) OEM wheels are Obsolete and out of Stock.
2) I will not accept them not matching.


If you were getting a car repaired and they said we cannot get the paint for that model we will have to change it to the new colour you woun't accept a wing being a different colour. ... Same applies I won't accpet one wheel looking different.

Youre argument is a brilliant one right up to the point that legally they are only liable for damages caused, not for ensuring your wheels match.

Nobbie1967

andydhill wrote: »

I'm happy to wave the cost for the temopoary repair, I could have dug my heals in and had a hire car for weeks but instead I got the car back on the road, (maybe I should have gone through my insurance) but all I wanted was the damage caused by council (they admitted liability) to be paid for .

I don;t think it is unreasonable to demand 4 New wheels as


1) OEM wheels are Obsolete and out of Stock.
2) I will not accept them not matching.


If you were getting a car repaired and they said we cannot get the paint for that model we will have to change it to the new colour you woun't accept a wing being a different colour. ... Same applies I won't accpet one wheel looking different.

What car model and how old was it? Seems odd that you couldn't find a replacement wheel secondhand. How much did you sell it for?