Pothole claim: how much for tyre depreciation, please?

JudgeDekker

Hello, everyone. I damaged a tyre by hitting a huge pothole. A new tyre cost £170. I put a claim in to Oxfordshire County Council, who have just written back saying that because the tyre had 20,000 miles of use they would only pay £40. My question is: Should I accept that? It doesn't seem very much. I don't change my tyres very often (I'm a pretty slow and ponderous driver). Thanks for your help.

AdrianC

They're offering to pay just under a quarter of the price.

Never mind the mileage, how much tread was left?

New tyres are ~8mm tread. Illegal are 1.6mm, recommended change is 2mm. 1/4 of the remaining life would be about 3.5mm remaining tread.

JudgeDekker

Right, that's a good idea, I can check the tread remaining on the other three tyres. Thanks.

452

JudgeDekker said:

Right, that's a good idea, I can check the tread remaining on the other three tyres. Thanks.

You really need to be giving the tread depth of the damaged tyre.

flashg67

For a car tyre, allowing for the legal limit, work on about 17% of the cost for each useable mm remaining

MinuteNoodles

At 20,000 miles I'd have said the tyre is nearing end of life if it was a front one.

Brewer20

I would accept their offer.
Guessing it may be the front? (front wheel drive) I've had an advisory for my fronts on the MOT last month, car has 21k miles on. I would say I'm a sedate driver and also add some tyres wear less than others over a similar distance.
I'd say your fronts or maybe all are more or less ready for a change anyway.

greyteam1959

And remember to notify your insurance company about the claim.

DoaM

MinuteNoodles said:

At 20,000 miles I'd have said the tyre is nearing end of life if it was a front one.

On my old Golf (June 2012 reg) I didn't change my tyres until they reached 2mm, and that was after >40k miles. (I did "rotate" them front to back after 18 months ... ~20k miles).

On my current Insignia (October 2017 reg) I'm currently at ~28k miles and none of the tyres are showing as being near needing changed. (I have not "rotated" these).