Pothole Claim

JoeBloggs22

I am new to this forum and would like some advice on a pothole claim I have with Essex County Council with the circumstances as follows: -

-            Drove into the pothole on the evening of 7 December along what was a single track rural road with no street lighting; my front offside tyre had completed deflated within 200 yards and I had to call the AA out to put a space saver tyre on (no spare) so I could drive it to a nearby garage for a replacement tyre.

-            I attended the location later that evening and took photographs of the pothole in question which measured about 180mm deep to some sacking.

-            This pothole had been filled with black sacking which I guess had been done to try and reduce the depth. In an adjoining field to the road, there are ongoing pipework’s with tipper lorries regularly using the road and I suspect it is the lorries that have caused the hole.

-            I reattended the location the following day to take further photographs in daylight. By now the hole had further sacking in it and its depth was reduced.

-            I reported the pothole to Essex County Council and noted it had been previously reported in May 2024.

-            The vehicles tyre was replaced at a cost of £120 and I made a claim which has been rejected with the Council citing Section 58 of the Highways Act.

-            I have then made a FOI Act request and received the inspection records for the road.

-            The offending hole was inspected the day after it had been reported with its measurements being 0.8m x 0.4m x 50mm in depth with its status noted to be ‘no action required’.

-            A point of interest on the inspection records show 2 other potholes along the road to be inspected that same day.

-            For these other potholes, one was bigger and deeper (60mm) that the one subject of this claim and ‘action required’ was noted while the other hole which was also noted for ‘action required’ was almost identical size to the hole I drove in (this hole measure 0.7m x 0.4m x 50mm).

I believe that Essex’s criteria for the pothole being dangerous is for it to have a depth of 50mm. In the Council’s letter to me rejecting the claim they state the following must apply for a claim to be successful: -

1. The highway was in such a condition that it was dangerous, and
2. The dangerous condition was created by the failure to maintain the highway.

I am thinking that the Council inspections measurements taken in May 2024 deem the hole to be dangerous and by their lack of action, they have failed to maintain the highway leading to my incident.

My claim was submitted in late January 2025 and the inspection records show the hole in question was ‘made safe’ on 10 February.

I am willing to take this matter through the small claim court if necessary but would appreciate any thoughts from somebody more knowledgeable in these matters.

 

DullGreyGuy

You take it to court, the court decides if it goes to small track or elsewhere, you have no option to only issue in the small track. 

You need to get the councils policy as well as the inspection records. The norm is that the position of the pothole is also used in factoring if a particular one needs fixing or not and not just size alone, the other 50mm hole may have been further from the edge and therefore considered a higher priority. 

How often does their policy state the road should be inspected? If it's a minor road then it could be as little as once a year so based on your dates there is no foul there. 

Were there any further reports of the problem after their inspection until yours? 

At the moment were you to issue you'd most likely just be adding to your losses unless you can prove they didnt follow their own rules (if they defend)