Claim from council for wheel damage

Conor_3

Keith wrote: »

Tesco lost a case where they failed to clear yogurt from their isles, it may be worth a call to consumer direct or similar to see if they agree that the council should keep their roads clear in a similar vain.

The difference is that Tesco can be reasonably expected to keep the isles in a store clean whereas it's not reasonable to expect a council to keep thousands of miles of its road network completely free of debris 24/7 is it?

Bloody stupid comment.

chris147_2

I had a similiar problem on the motorway going through a section of bridge repairs. A piece of metal was kicked up from a HGV in lane one and subsequently hit the front of my car at 50mph puncturing through the bumper, through the air-con radiator and coming to rest on the main radiator. It was a spiked piece of metal and had it been 2 feet higher up it would have actually gone through the windscreen and in to me (the hole in the car was directly in line with the drivers seat!).

Total of about £800 worth of damage.

At the time the motorway was still down to a two lane section and the works were just being cleared up. I argued with highways that the piece of metal was infact a concrete re-inforcing bar (old one that had been cut) that had obviously been missed and rolled in to the carriageway. I even sent a building engineers report saying that it was as well.

They just replied saying that their contractors make every effort to ensure that the debris created does not enter the carriageway. Although they did admit that the company had been replacing old concrete around the bridge supports. My insurance company (who I had to get to do the repairs as I had just moved house and had no spare cash) didn't even bother fighting it!

Basically it was a case of 'prove it was from the works and not fallen off someones vehicle'.

Also had a tyre torn at the side wall from a pot hole. When I asked the council about it they sent someone out to it but said I was the only person who'd had this happen (no other complaints) and the hole wasn't big enough to warrant a repair! Great I'll just go and fork out another £110 on another tyre then . . . . . .

Crabman

chris147, have you considered using the small claims court for either of those, or merely the threat of court action against the council/highways agency?

Sometimes it can provoke a settlement though if you have clear evidence (building engineer report) pointing in your favour you should definitely consider going all the way.

natalie1974

jaxkesa wrote: »

Unfortunately my big brakes mean I can only use the alloys designed for my car which are quite rare or a choose from a few others. So can't really get a steel wheel. Will have to bite the bullet and hadn over the £320 to dealers.

Thanks for the advice people

I thought you could get any wheel and it would fit as long as the size was right
What car is it then ?

vaio

natalie1974 wrote: »

I thought you could get any wheel and it would fit as long as the size was right What car is it then ?

Car wheels come in different diameters (10 inch on old mini to 20 inch on modern sports cars), different widths (range is 3 inch to maybe 10 inch), different number of wheels studs (3, 4 or 5), different stud spacings and finally different offset (which is the amount the centre line of the tyre is offset from the wheel face that bolts to the hub. All must be right for the wheel to fit and be safe.

There, aren’t you glad you asked

natalie1974

Er no ! :rotfl: I am even more confused now ! Thanks for letting me know though , I do know a fair amount about cars , basics more so but tyres and stuff I just normally only know the size of the car i drive at the time .

chris147_2

natalie1974 wrote: »

I thought you could get any wheel and it would fit as long as the size was right
What car is it then ?

Same as my car. Due to the front brake size no steel wheel (space saver) will fit over the calipers.

jaxkesa

natalie1974 wrote: »

I thought you could get any wheel and it would fit as long as the size was right
What car is it then ?

It has AP Racing brake calipers as standard and the wheel has to be wide enough so it fits over them. The nice thing is I get a genuine spare alloy, not a space saver. The annoying thing is having to replace it!

natalie1974

jaxkesa wrote: »

It has AP Racing brake calipers as standard and the wheel has to be wide enough so it fits over them. The nice thing is I get a genuine spare alloy, not a space saver. The annoying thing is having to replace it!

Bit like OH's Subaru Impreza , he has genuine Subaru brakes with 4 pot calipers but as his wheels are original they obviously fit over them ok . Didn't realise the more complicated the braking system the harder fit for a tyre .