Pothole

williamgriffin

davisjunior said:

It’s a busy high street.

 What if the council were actually at fault?

You drove into a hole you knew was there it's your fault.

Whether the council have been negligent in their maintenance of the road is another matter.

ToxicWomble

I think you have to accept that the “fault” lies with you.

You knew the pothole was there over Xmas - so why didn’t you report it then ?

Knowing it was there, you then hit it.

Report it now- get your van repaired at your expense and make sure you avoid it in future

davisjunior

ToxicWomble said:

I think you have to accept that the “fault” lies with you.

You knew the pothole was there over Xmas - so why didn’t you report it then ?

Knowing it was there, you then hit it.

Report it now- get your van repaired at your expense and make sure you avoid it in future

It was reported last august and several times since. I hit it in poor light

AdrianC

davisjunior said:
I hit it in poor light

Does your van not have headlights? Were the streetlights (visible in one pic) not working?

It may well have been repaired in August, and that repair has since failed.

julieelizabeth_2

As Martin says The authorities have a legal duty to maintain roads so they're safe for everyone to use. If they don't and your car's damaged, they should help pay the costs to repair it. If you have enough evidence then speak to your insurer.

davisjunior

AdrianC said:

davisjunior said:
I hit it in poor light

Does your van not have headlights? Were the streetlights (visible in one pic) not working?

It may well have been repaired in August, and that repair has since failed.

Yes it does have lights. It’s still hard to see potholes in low light.

Whos responsibility is it if the repair has failed ?

davisjunior

julieelizabeth_2 said:

As Martin says The authorities have a legal duty to maintain roads so they're safe for everyone to use. If they don't and your car's damaged, they should help pay the costs to repair it. If you have enough evidence then speak to your insurer.

I just wanted to know if I should go to the insurer first or the council. I’ve reported it online to the local council 

AdrianC

davisjunior said:

Whos responsibility is it if the repair has failed ?

Same story. Depends on when the failure was reported to them...

davisjunior said:

julieelizabeth_2 said:

As Martin says The authorities have a legal duty to maintain roads so they're safe for everyone to use. If they don't and your car's damaged, they should help pay the costs to repair it. If you have enough evidence then speak to your insurer.

I just wanted to know if I should go to the insurer first or the council. I’ve reported it online to the local council

If the council don't accept it because of timescales, then you can try a claim against your insurance. It'll probably be cheaper, all-in, to just pay for it.

If the council don't accept it because they doubt it was caused by the pothole (which is most likely, regardless of timescales), then I strongly suspect your insurer will agree with them.

davisjunior

AdrianC said:

davisjunior said:

Whos responsibility is it if the repair has failed ?

Same story. Depends on when the failure was reported to them...

davisjunior said:

julieelizabeth_2 said:

As Martin says The authorities have a legal duty to maintain roads so they're safe for everyone to use. If they don't and your car's damaged, they should help pay the costs to repair it. If you have enough evidence then speak to your insurer.

I just wanted to know if I should go to the insurer first or the council. I’ve reported it online to the local council

If the council don't accept it because of timescales, then you can try a claim against your insurance. It'll probably be cheaper, all-in, to just pay for it.

If the council don't accept it because they doubt it was caused by the pothole (which is most likely, regardless of timescales), then I strongly suspect your insurer will agree with them.

I don’t care about the money. Something serious could have happened. I think there are a few cameras in the area which may help. 

AdrianC

Great. Then report the pothole to the council, and get on with life. The council will fix it as soon as they can.

And check the rest of your wheel bolts, because that failure almost certainly did not happen because of the pothole.