Claims court costs if you lose

oldpetrolhead

I am making a claim against my concil for just under £1.000 for pothole damage, although I feel that I am in the right besides losing the application fee are there any other costs I would have to pay if I lose?

DullGreyGuy

oldpetrolhead said:

I am making a claim against my concil for just under £1.000 for pothole damage, although I feel that I am in the right besides losing the application fee are there any other costs I would have to pay if I lose?

You would have to pay all the court fees, so the initial application, the directions and the hearing. Though if the total cost is under £1,500 then there is no fee for Directions. 

Whilst you wouldn't ordinarily have to pay the third party's legal fees the judge has a high level of discretion and if you have been unreasonable, haven't followed the pre-litigation procedures etc the judge can make you liable for their costs even if you win. 

cw8825

oldpetrolhead said:

I am making a claim against my concil for just under £1.000 for pothole damage, although I feel that I am in the right besides losing the application fee are there any other costs I would have to pay if I lose?

It’s more likely to be when you lose rather than if
£1000 is a lot for pothole damage.  You must have given it a large whack

DE_612183

I think I read somewhere that if you damage your vehicle whilst driving over a pot-hole, a councils defence can be that you were driving without due care and attention unless you can prove that the said pothole was hidden in some way.

Have you got photographic evidence of said pothole? 

caprikid1

Lots of internet threads on this, have you been through their inspection logs etc. Low rate of success on this.

Ectophile

DE_612183 said:

I think I read somewhere that if you damage your vehicle whilst driving over a pot-hole, a councils defence can be that you were driving without due care and attention unless you can prove that the said pothole was hidden in some way.

Have you got photographic evidence of said pothole? 

Probably on this forum.  But then there are people here who will tell you that anything bad that happens is your fault.

The council's usual defence is that (a) they inspect the roads regularly and (b) it was fine when they last inspected it. Councils can't be expected to inspect every road every day.