Re: Claim for damage to car by broken paving. Council rejected claim under sect 58. Next step..

paulo8

Hi, 
I claimed for damage to the lower part of my front wing & bumper as I drove over a broken pavement edging flag whilst parking in a designated parking space. I backed in & moved forward to complete my manoeuvre & I felt a grinding sound & realised I had driven over something. When I looked it was a piece of paving from the edge of the pavement. It was half of the length & it was at right angles to the pavement, overhanging the edge (there were 2 other pieces). My best estimate for damage was £425.
I claimed on the council's website. They denied liability citing section 58 HA1980. Their inspection log showed the road was inspected the previous week. The pavement is now repaired but I have pictures 2 days after the incident showing the broken paving.
What advice can you offer about appeal & possible small claims court?

elsien

If their inspection shows that there was no damage a couple of days before the incident, I’m not sure you have a case. You would have to prove negligence.

paulo8

The inspection occurred on the 8/9 and the incident happened on the 17/9; so 9 days later. The damage was next to a pay station for the parking spaces and 2 days after the incident there was a traffic cone next to the paystation; captured on my pictures. This suggests that someone had flagged up a problem in that area without repairing the pavement. I reported the damage to the pavement to the council after the incident and within 2-3 weeks it was repaired.

user1977

None of those statements appear to contradict each other.

MattMattMattUK

You drove into a static hazard and damaged your vehicle, as the correct inspections and repairs were carried out the council/Highways Agency is not at fault.

You either claim or go via your insurance, if you go to court the council will inform your insurer that you had an at fault accident and you will loose in court, your choice is to pay personally or claim on your insurance. You should have informed your insurer regardless of whether you claim with them or not.

Bigphil1474

OP, the cone appearing after you had the accident only proves that they took some action after they discovered the damaged road/pavement, and as you say they fixed it shortly after that. It's a council, so to expect it to be fixed as soon as it's discovered is unrealistic. The council also can't go round inspecting every road every week. The general rule of thumb is if they follow their own rules in checking roads and something happens because of an issue they weren't aware of, it's not their fault. 

paul_c123

I will assume (dangerous I know...) that you drove past the space before reversing into it. (The other possibility is that you drive everywhere backwards). You had the opportunity to look at it then. You also had the opportunity at any point during the manoeuvre to Get Out And Look (GOAL). That's the best advice I can give.

ROY47

I' ve picked out these 2 comments from preious replies 

This suggests that someone had flagged up a problem in that area without repairing the pavement 

OP, the cone appearing after you had the accident only proves that they took some action after they discovered the damaged road/pavement

Maybe a member of the public saw it , saw a cone nearby and placed it there ? 

Not being argumentative but maybe it wasn't the council who put the cone there 

paulo8

Thank you for the comments so far. I appreciate it is not looking good. However, my argument would be that the cone was there on the night of the incident: I saw it but have no proof. It was getting dark & the cone was 2 feet away from the edge. If the council had placed the cone there surely they should have removed the 3 parts of the paving that I drove over. I drove past the space as a van was leaving therefore I didn't see the damage as I pulled over to stop a car's length in front of him. Any further comments, especially with better news, very welcome.

sheramber

If the cone was 2 feet away, maybe it had nothing to do with the loose paving.

Did the van come out the spqace you reversed into?

Mildly_Miffed

...or maybe the cone had been moved by somebody else, wittingly or unwittingly.
...or maybe the cone had been nicked by some other driver from elsewhere and put near the damaged bit of paving, after they'd done exactly what you did.

ALWAYS look where you're about to drive. Never assume.