Claiming for a burst Tyre

amtrakuk1975

Evening of the 6th Nov not far from home I struck a pot hole that ultimately split the wall of my tyre.  Took photos of the pot hole, close up (shoulder of a manhole had collapsed) as well as area photos.   The next day limped the car to Kwik fit who replaced the tyre as it was not repairable, sending me photos of the damage costing over £200 all in.

I contacted the council to report the pot hole and asked to can claim for damaged caused.  I received an email asking for documentation, map location and photos - this I provided along with the invoice from Kwik fit and the train ticket.

This afternoon I got an email from Zurich - I assume the councils insurers who said the road is checked every 3 months and the council is not liable as the road was in good condition check.

A report on the 10th say "It's a sunken road drain that's beginning to get deeper, been down it a couple of times..  Heavy wagons from new housing estate don't help....."   I'm not sure if this an admittance of guilt or not?

I'm not sure where to go next.  I don't pertinently care to hear from the council's insurer, the issue I have is with the council.  At the end of the day at that time the pot hole on the council's road damaged my tyre.

MattMattMattUK

amtrakuk1975 said:

Evening of the 6th Nov not far from home I struck a pot hole that ultimately split the wall of my tyre.  Took photos of the pot hole, close up (shoulder of a manhole had collapsed) as well as area photos.   The next day limped the car to Kwik fit who replaced the tyre as it was not repairable, sending me photos of the damage costing over £200 all in.

I contacted the council to report the pot hole and asked to can claim for damaged caused.  I received an email asking for documentation, map location and photos - this I provided along with the invoice from Kwik fit and the train ticket.

This afternoon I got an email from Zurich - I assume the councils insurers who said the road is checked every 3 months and the council is not liable as the road was in good condition check.

A report on the 10th say "It's a sunken road drain that's beginning to get deeper, been down it a couple of times..  Heavy wagons from new housing estate don't help....."   I'm not sure if this an admittance of guilt or not?

It is not, it is a statement of fact. 

amtrakuk1975 said:

I'm not sure where to go next.  I don't pertinently care to hear from the council's insurer, the issue I have is with the council.  

You need to work out if you have a legally valid claim and if on that basis it is worth trying to proceed or not. Remember that the rules are very specific and "I hit a pot hole" is not enough, the council have to be deemed negligent, which is why the have quoted you the inspection dates. The council's insurer are dealing with it on their behalf, you need to deal with them.

amtrakuk1975 said:

At the end of the day at that time the pot hole on the council's road damaged my tyre.

At the end of the day you drove into a static hazard, you need to be aware that is not allow you to claim from the council by default, here are very specific requirements to be able to claim from a council, or the Highways Agency. You should also be aware that this will be reported to your insurer as an "at fault" accident so will have an impact on your NCD and policy costs going forward. 

Mutton_Geoff

You drove your car with a tyre you knew was damaged? You could argue the damage was made worse driving it after the pothole event. Did it deflate after the pothole incident?

If you drove to Kwit Fit with a flat tyre, you are lucky you weren't stopped/prosecuted for "Using a vehicle in a dangerous condition".

Anyhow, councils don't just cough up, expect a bit of work to get your money analysing road inspection reports etc. More info on these forums.

DullGreyGuy

amtrakuk1975 said:

Evening of the 6th Nov not far from home I struck a pot hole that ultimately split the wall of my tyre.  Took photos of the pot hole, close up (shoulder of a manhole had collapsed) as well as area photos.   The next day limped the car to Kwik fit who replaced the tyre as it was not repairable, sending me photos of the damage costing over £200 all in.

I contacted the council to report the pot hole and asked to can claim for damaged caused.  I received an email asking for documentation, map location and photos - this I provided along with the invoice from Kwik fit and the train ticket.

This afternoon I got an email from Zurich - I assume the councils insurers who said the road is checked every 3 months and the council is not liable as the road was in good condition check.

A report on the 10th say "It's a sunken road drain that's beginning to get deeper, been down it a couple of times..  Heavy wagons from new housing estate don't help....."   I'm not sure if this an admittance of guilt or not?

I'm not sure where to go next.  I don't pertinently care to hear from the council's insurer, the issue I have is with the council.  At the end of the day at that time the pot hole on the council's road damaged my tyre.

To have a claim you have to show they have been negligent... that generally means either they knew about the problem had categorised it as a priority repair and had failed to repair it as a priority or they had failed to follow their inspection guidelines. 

You say your accident was on the 6th and you talk of a report on the 10th which is presumably after your accident so irrelevant. What does the report for the quarter before that say?

You say you weren't far from hime so this is presumably somewhere you know? Had you notice the pothole previously and reported it to the council?

Car_54

amtrakuk1975 said:

A report on the 10th say "It's a sunken road drain that's beginning to get deeper, been down it a couple of times..  Heavy wagons from new housing estate don't help....."   I'm not sure if this an admittance of guilt or not?

A report produced by whom? For whom?

Whatever, since it was some days after your incident, it's not clear how it helps.

amtrakuk1975

MattMattMattUK said:

amtrakuk1975 said:

Evening of the 6th Nov not far from home I struck a pot hole that ultimately split the wall of my tyre.  Took photos of the pot hole, close up (shoulder of a manhole had collapsed) as well as area photos.   The next day limped the car to Kwik fit who replaced the tyre as it was not repairable, sending me photos of the damage costing over £200 all in.

I contacted the council to report the pot hole and asked to can claim for damaged caused.  I received an email asking for documentation, map location and photos - this I provided along with the invoice from Kwik fit and the train ticket.

This afternoon I got an email from Zurich - I assume the councils insurers who said the road is checked every 3 months and the council is not liable as the road was in good condition check.

A report on the 10th say "It's a sunken road drain that's beginning to get deeper, been down it a couple of times..  Heavy wagons from new housing estate don't help....."   I'm not sure if this an admittance of guilt or not?

It is not, it is a statement of fact. 

amtrakuk1975 said:

I'm not sure where to go next.  I don't pertinently care to hear from the council's insurer, the issue I have is with the council.  

You need to work out if you have a legally valid claim and if on that basis it is worth trying to proceed or not. Remember that the rules are very specific and "I hit a pot hole" is not enough, the council have to be deemed negligent, which is why the have quoted you the inspection dates. The council's insurer are dealing with it on their behalf, you need to deal with them.

amtrakuk1975 said:

At the end of the day at that time the pot hole on the council's road damaged my tyre.

At the end of the day you drove into a static hazard, you need to be aware that is not allow you to claim from the council by default, here are very specific requirements to be able to claim from a council, or the Highways Agency. You should also be aware that this will be reported to your insurer as an "at fault" accident so will have an impact on your NCD and policy costs going forward. 

It seems the council does have a policy loophole, if their own generated paperwork say there is no issue with the road on their last inspection cycle their is nothing to repair - therefore no liability.   Only if they have identified a pothole and not fixed it withing (i assume) their inspection cycle will they be liable.

Check out this persons experience https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HtOXCIsrSw

amtrakuk1975

Mutton_Geoff said:

You drove your car with a tyre you knew was damaged? You could argue the damage was made worse driving it after the pothole event. Did it deflate after the pothole incident?

If you drove to Kwit Fit with a flat tyre, you are lucky you weren't stopped/prosecuted for "Using a vehicle in a dangerous condition".

Anyhow, councils don't just cough up, expect a bit of work to get your money analysing road inspection reports etc. More info on these forums.

I'm working that out the hard way, it seems a lot of advise seems ot be try the route I did or small claims court - but make sure I do my home work.

amtrakuk1975

DullGreyGuy said:

amtrakuk1975 said:

Evening of the 6th Nov not far from home I struck a pot hole that ultimately split the wall of my tyre.  Took photos of the pot hole, close up (shoulder of a manhole had collapsed) as well as area photos.   The next day limped the car to Kwik fit who replaced the tyre as it was not repairable, sending me photos of the damage costing over £200 all in.

I contacted the council to report the pot hole and asked to can claim for damaged caused.  I received an email asking for documentation, map location and photos - this I provided along with the invoice from Kwik fit and the train ticket.

This afternoon I got an email from Zurich - I assume the councils insurers who said the road is checked every 3 months and the council is not liable as the road was in good condition check.

A report on the 10th say "It's a sunken road drain that's beginning to get deeper, been down it a couple of times..  Heavy wagons from new housing estate don't help....."   I'm not sure if this an admittance of guilt or not?

I'm not sure where to go next.  I don't pertinently care to hear from the council's insurer, the issue I have is with the council.  At the end of the day at that time the pot hole on the council's road damaged my tyre.

To have a claim you have to show they have been negligent... that generally means either they knew about the problem had categorised it as a priority repair and had failed to repair it as a priority or they had failed to follow their inspection guidelines. 

You say your accident was on the 6th and you talk of a report on the 10th which is presumably after your accident so irrelevant. What does the report for the quarter before that say?

You say you weren't far from hime so this is presumably somewhere you know? Had you notice the pothole previously and reported it to the council?

I'm not saying there is negligence, but I would expect to use a road without it causing damage and I want money back for the damage caused.

The damage was cause on the evening of the 6th.   I got a report emailed to be generated on the 10th.  Your right about the Quarterly report.  It seems if they generate a report on say 1st Jan saying there is no damage to the road, it seems they are not liable for the next 3 months.  Also there doesn't seem to be a need to generate anything to backup the report.

amtrakuk1975

hope this creates some clarity

DullGreyGuy

amtrakuk1975 said:

DullGreyGuy said:

amtrakuk1975 said:

Evening of the 6th Nov not far from home I struck a pot hole that ultimately split the wall of my tyre.  Took photos of the pot hole, close up (shoulder of a manhole had collapsed) as well as area photos.   The next day limped the car to Kwik fit who replaced the tyre as it was not repairable, sending me photos of the damage costing over £200 all in.

I contacted the council to report the pot hole and asked to can claim for damaged caused.  I received an email asking for documentation, map location and photos - this I provided along with the invoice from Kwik fit and the train ticket.

This afternoon I got an email from Zurich - I assume the councils insurers who said the road is checked every 3 months and the council is not liable as the road was in good condition check.

A report on the 10th say "It's a sunken road drain that's beginning to get deeper, been down it a couple of times..  Heavy wagons from new housing estate don't help....."   I'm not sure if this an admittance of guilt or not?

I'm not sure where to go next.  I don't pertinently care to hear from the council's insurer, the issue I have is with the council.  At the end of the day at that time the pot hole on the council's road damaged my tyre.

To have a claim you have to show they have been negligent... that generally means either they knew about the problem had categorised it as a priority repair and had failed to repair it as a priority or they had failed to follow their inspection guidelines. 

You say your accident was on the 6th and you talk of a report on the 10th which is presumably after your accident so irrelevant. What does the report for the quarter before that say?

You say you weren't far from hime so this is presumably somewhere you know? Had you notice the pothole previously and reported it to the council?

I'm not saying there is negligence, but I would expect to use a road without it causing damage and I want money back for the damage caused.

The damage was cause on the evening of the 6th.   I got a report emailed to be generated on the 10th.  You're right about the Quarterly report.  It seems if they generate a report on say 1st Jan saying there is no damage to the road, it seems they are not liable for the next 3 months.  Also there doesn't seem to be a need to generate anything to backup the report.

on what basis are you claiming if not the tort of negligence? Do you have a contract with them? False Imprisonment?

You'd normally claim under the tort of negligence but if you think you've another route then all ears but even this website's formal guide says to claim under negligence. 

That's more or less correct, if they follow their own process and the last time it was clear then they've not broken the rules... In some cases roads are inspected less than quarterly, in others they have a scoring system and damage could even have been spotted but its given a low grade and the low grade means it has to be repaired with 24 months. 

So your only other option is to find out if others have reported the problem since the prior inspection and what the council should have and did do about it. Obvs nice and easy if you reported it yourself a while back. 

Okell

amtrakuk1975 said:

 but I would expect to use a road without it causing damage and I want money back for the damage caused...

The only legal basis for your claim would be if you could establish on the balance of probabilities that they had been negligent.  If you want to claim, then you are saying they were negligent.

amtrakuk1975 said:

It seems the council does have a policy loophole, if their own generated paperwork say there is no issue with the road on their last inspection cycle their is nothing to repair - therefore no liability.   Only if they have identified a pothole and not fixed it withing (i assume) their inspection cycle will they be liable...

amtrakuk1975 said:

... The damage was cause on the evening of the 6th.   I got a report emailed to be generated on the 10th.  Your right about the Quarterly report.  It seems if they generate a report on say 1st Jan saying there is no damage to the road, it seems they are not liable for the next 3 months.  Also there doesn't seem to be a need to generate anything to backup the report.

I'm not sure that what you describe is either the council's policy loophole or a policy of the council's own making.

I suspect you'll find it's case law determined in decided court cases creating a binding precedent.

Zurich won't give up without a fight.  I suspect case law is against you.