Potholes

NBLondon

[Deleted User] said:

WayneBF said:

Sandtree said:

What evidence do you have to the contrary? 

Its your responsibility to show their negligence and the simple existence of a pothole isn't evidence in itself. 

I sent them an invoice from the place that fixed my alloy wheel and another for the tyre, both places put on the invoice "caused by a pothole".

1. That doesn’t prove the council was negligent.
2. Anyway, how do the wheel and tyre guys know what caused the damage?

I'm prepared to accept that an alloy wheel specialist will recognise pothole damage when they see it.

Proving which pothole it was is might require a lot more investigation...

TBagpuss

WayneBF said:

I recently made a claim for damage to my car made by a pothole while following your guidance. I have just received an email back from the council saying "If they can prove that it has taken reasonable care in all the circumstances to properly maintain the highway, it provides a complete defence. This road is subject to regular inspections 12 times a year. The safety inspection prior to your incident was completed on 10 December 2021". (The day I hit the pothole was 10th January 2022.) "The defect appears to have developed subsequent to this safety inspection and therefore the Council was not aware of its existence at the time of your incident. The Council has a reasonable system of safety inspections and maintenance for this road and is therefore able to establish a complete defence under Section 58 of the Highways Act. In this respect, we must inform you that the Council is not liable for the cost of the damage to your property. We will not review a decision unless you write to us providing significant new evidence." I enclose a photo of the huge pothole where someone has placed bricks in it to make it less deep. Any help on what to do next would be highly appreciated. Thankyou, Wayne.

They are broadly correct - simply showing they had a regular and reasonable inspection schedule isn't in itself a complete defence, as taking reasonable care to maintain the road would also include responding to any reports between inspections, but if they have evidence that they were inspecting on a regular and reasonable  schedule, that the pothole wasn't there t he most recent inspection and that they didn't have actual knowledge of it - i.e. no one had reported or complained about it to them, then they do have a defence as they have not acted negligently.

You can ask for a copy of the inspection reports  - in your place I would ask for the reports from the 4 most recent inspections, which should give you December, Jan, Feb. and March, so you can see whether, and when, it was inspected in January and what they recorded about the pothole at that time.

You can also ask for records of any and all complaints made about potholed on that road for the period Dec to Feb.
However, unless that yields evidence that they did know (e.g. the pothole is recorded on their December inspection, (or possibly if the records show tat they didn't in fact inspect as frequently as they say, as they seem to have said that reasonableness required them to inspect 12 times a year, so if they didn't do it that often you may be able to argue that they were not taking reasonable care, although you would still need to prove that the damage was caused by the pothole) or that someone had complained about it / reported it then there's no reasonable expectation that they knew of the issue or could have prevented the incident. 

You could try contacting local residents to ask whether the pothole was there before the date of the December inspection and whether they ever reported it. 

GabbaGabbaHey

Not much consolation to the OP, but it does show how important it is for all of us to report potholes when we do encounter them.

If enough people reported potholes, then councils would be forced to repair them, as it would be more cost-effective than paying out for damaged wheels and tyres.

Car_54

GabbaGabbaHey said:

Not much consolation to the OP, but it does show how important it is for all of us to report potholes when we do encounter them.

If enough people reported potholes, then councils would be forced to repair them, as it would be more cost-effective than paying out for damaged wheels and tyres.

But if no-one reports a pothole, then the council is not negligent (assuming the required inspection regime has been followed) and does NOT have to pay out. So no saving.

GabbaGabbaHey

[Deleted User] said:

GabbaGabbaHey said:

Not much consolation to the OP, but it does show how important it is for all of us to report potholes when we do encounter them.

If enough people reported potholes, then councils would be forced to repair them, as it would be more cost-effective than paying out for damaged wheels and tyres.

But if no-one reports a pothole, then the council is not negligent (assuming the required inspection regime has been followed) and does NOT have to pay out. So no saving.

I'm not sure whether you've misunderstood what I said, or whether you're trying to agree with me?

If nobody reports potholes, then councils indeed won't have to pay out for damaged wheels/tyres, and so there is no incentive for them to spend money repairing potholes.

However, if we all report potholes whenever we see them (which is what I am advocating), then councils will be liable for damage caused by those potholes, and it will save them (and us, as motorists) money by repairing them.