Pothole claim Council rejected

Mildly_Miffed

flopsy1973 said:

cw8825 said:

flopsy1973 said:

L

The defect is on copy of garage quote sent to them and I have told them damage was caused by continuous going over potholes over few moths period in fact after I reported the potholes the whole stretch of road was resurfaced. What are my options thanks

You have 2 options

give up 

continue to pursue this throwing good money after bad

the fact you drove on it for 4 months before reporting it. Then it was repaired once you reported it

how are the council liable?

They are responsible for upkeep of that road it was in bad condition which caused damage to my car. Yes it was repaired once reported which proves how bad it was. Maybe I should have reported it sooner but it only caused damage at that point so then reported it. I have to travel on this road so where are they not liable

Is that the only road you ever drive on? Can you prove that?

Their legal responsibility is to repair roads within a certain timeframe once they are made aware of their condition. That timeframe varies according to the classification of the road.

If you can prove that they were aware of the condition of the road for longer than the appropriate timeframe, then they have failed in their duty.

But that ALONE is not enough. You need to prove it was that bit of road, no other bit of road, that is responsible for the damage. You simply can't do that.
If it was a tyre that burst after hitting a pothole, you could. But a consumable that gradually wears over time? Nope. Not possible.

How old were the droplinks in question? What brand?

user1977

And couldn't you have mitigated the effect of the potholes by driving more slowly (given you were already aware of them)?

flopsy1973

it has been 90% of my driving the last few months surely the fact if they knew abouit it or not is not important their inspections should have picked this up and if not their policy of inspections was not right. the fact is my car was damaged by a road not maintained how can the council prove that stretch of road did not damage my car. Again the council wins if this is dropped even though its cost me money 

Phoenix72

flopsy1973 said:

it has been 90% of my driving the last few months surely the fact if they knew abouit it or not is not important their inspections should have picked this up and if not their policy of inspections was not right. the fact is my car was damaged by a road not maintained how can the council prove that stretch of road did not damage my car. Again the council wins if this is dropped even though its cost me money 

It's not their burden of proof though is it. You are the one making the claim but have zero evidence.

Seems like you are going to plough on regardless so not much else needs to be said.

DullGreyGuy

flopsy1973 said:

it has been 90% of my driving the last few months surely the fact if they knew abouit it or not is not important their inspections should have picked this up and if not their policy of inspections was not right. the fact is my car was damaged by a road not maintained how can the council prove that stretch of road did not damage my car. Again the council wins if this is dropped even though its cost me money 

How would anyone here know? Each council has its own rules on the frequency of inspections, its own scoring system to determine how quickly something has to be repaired etc. Some roads may only be inspected annually and thats fine as long as thats what their policy states. 

As the claimant its up to you to prove on the balance of probability that they damaged the car and breached their own rules... its not up to them to disprove it as the defendant. 

born_again

What type of road is this ?
A, B or one in a housing estate?
What have council said the inspection period is & how quick after it was reported did they fix the holes?

Pictures of the pot holes helps as well.

flopsy1973

Phoenix72 said:

flopsy1973 said:

it has been 90% of my driving the last few months surely the fact if they knew abouit it or not is not important their inspections should have picked this up and if not their policy of inspections was not right. the fact is my car was damaged by a road not maintained how can the council prove that stretch of road did not damage my car. Again the council wins if this is dropped even though its cost me money 

It's not their burden of proof though is it. You are the one making the claim but have zero evidence.

Seems like you are going to plough on regardless so not much else needs to be said.

Hi 
I have evidence photos of potholes report from garage stating car damage caused by potholes. 
This was a B road and waiting for reply on inspections 

victor2

flopsy1973 said:

Phoenix72 said:

flopsy1973 said:

it has been 90% of my driving the last few months surely the fact if they knew abouit it or not is not important their inspections should have picked this up and if not their policy of inspections was not right. the fact is my car was damaged by a road not maintained how can the council prove that stretch of road did not damage my car. Again the council wins if this is dropped even though its cost me money 

It's not their burden of proof though is it. You are the one making the claim but have zero evidence.

Seems like you are going to plough on regardless so not much else needs to be said.

Hi 
I have evidence photos of potholes report from garage stating car damage caused by potholes. 
This was a B road and waiting for reply on inspections 

And the garage report clearly states which pothole(s) caused the damage?

Apodemus

You say that the length of road is about 500m and also that it constitutes about 90% of your driving over the last few months?    So for every time you drive along this road you only ever do another 55m?  Best of luck convincing the council of that one!

jimjames

Apodemus said:

You say that the length of road is about 500m and also that it constitutes about 90% of your driving over the last few months?    So for every time you drive along this road you only ever do another 55m?  Best of luck convincing the council of that one!

I was thinking the same. If you're only driving 500m then you probably don't need to use your car, just walk.