Claiming from the council for damage to car due to pothole

wingnut143

Hello all - I thought as a last ditch attempt I would post a thread on here to see if anyone has any advice. I had an accident in January 08 when I hit a pothole in the road which I could not see as it was filled with water. I had to pay out £190 for 2 new tyres and contacted the appropriate council to try and claim the cost back. Finally at the end of April I received a letter saying they weren't negligent as the pothole had been reported on the afternoon of my accident and they fixed it as soon as they could which was around 2 days later. I therefore contacted my insurers as I have legal protection and they have told me today that they get a lot of these sorts of claims and they couldn't really take it forward as the councils always wriggle out of the claims by saying they weren't negligent in keeping the road in a good order (apparently if they had left it for a couple of weeks then I'd hit it, I would have a case). I thought about taking them to the small claims court but the man I spoke to at my insurers thought this was a waste of time. Also there's no point me claiming against my insurance as my excess is £150.
Has anyone here had any experience with this and managed to successfully recover their losses? Any responses greatly appreciated before I give up!! :mad: Thanks

scbk

How is it the council's fault? They fixed it as soon as was possible

headpin

scbk wrote: »

How is it the council's fault? They fixed it as soon as was possible

Because they need to demonstrate that they have in place a regime to regularly inspect and repair roads themselves. They cannot rely upon Joe public to act as their highways inspectors or say they are short of funds.

debred86

i've seen a few people complaining about this in the local paper but i dont think that there is much you can do. If you were the first person to report thr pothole and they fixed it asap then in their eyes they have sorted it. And they wouldnt have known about it before to fix it, they are supposed to do inspections but whether they do them regularly is another question.

*MF*

OP - what you have been told is - sadly - correct. I recently replied to a post elsewhere on this forum with broadly that answer. Councils are now aware that they can deny negligence (which is what you have to prove to succeed in a claim) if they have a reasonable repair regime in place and are following it, ie responding to reports within a reasonable time - it is also one of the reasons why you now frequently see signs asking motorists to report potholes or defects in the road.

raskazz

*MF* wrote: »

OP - what you have been told is - sadly - correct. I recently replied to a post elsewhere on this forum with broadly that answer. Councils are now aware that they can deny negligence (which is what you have to prove to succeed in a claim) if they have a reasonable repair regime in place and are following it, ie responding to reports within a reasonable time - it is also one of the reasons why you now frequently see signs asking motorists to report potholes or defects in the road.

Yes, this is definitely correct. The only way around it would be to prove that the Council (a) knew that the pothole was there and (b) did not see to its repair in good time or put in place appropriate warnings. I suppose you could try to put in a Freedom of Information request on the subject of where potholes were reported and when, but I wouldn't pin any hopes on it. If it was in a residential area you could try and ask some local people how long the pothole was there for.

jimbobfruitbat

Hi,

Having read this thread, I want to at least have a go at recouping the money I have had to spend to replace a spring and tyres on a pothole. I think the council know about it, as there are already some white spray paint markings so it may well be that they claim they are not negligible. In any, case, I'd like to try. What is the first step I should take - should I simply write a letter to the council's highway department, or do I need to go straight to the courts?

dacouch

http://www.potholes.co.uk/

[Deleted User]

jimbobfruitbat wrote: »

Hi,

Having read this thread, I want to at least have a go at recouping the money I have had to spend to replace a spring and tyres on a pothole. I think the council know about it, as there are already some white spray paint markings so it may well be that they claim they are not negligible. In any, case, I'd like to try. What is the first step I should take - should I simply write a letter to the council's highway department, or do I need to go straight to the courts?

First gather evidence (photos of the defect) in case they rush out and fix it.

If there are markings it means they've seen the defect and highlighted it for the repair people.

In this area they spray orange paint around potholes then leave them until the paint has faded. In that scenario they'd be liable for damage.

instaunt

scbk wrote: »

How is it the council's fault? They fixed it as soon as was possible

Did they? Since when did a pothole occur in a single afternoon! "Well, sir, the road was fine in the morning, then a pothole suddenly appeared in the afternoon and we repaired it as quickly as we could."

Certainly, if the council have a good plan in motion to detect pot holes then they can't be held responsible if they are doing their best to keep up. Despite suspicions that the council might be being fully truthful in their response that it was only reported that afternoon, proving otherwise is a long costly legal process that no solicitor is going to take on "no win, no fee" and the amount doesn't seem worth that hassle.

I think the council know that. And with tens of millions going in pothole compensation every year, they're not going to pay out unless you have an open and shut case.

ooitslovely

Hi, I've just had a wheel bearing come out of its housing two months after my Van had its MOT. 5 Minutes before I had driven over a large bump on a 60 mph road. Do you think I could claim for this as the bump is over three inchers. I think its worthwhile as the wheel came off the wishbone as I went round the corner, luckily I was only going 20 mph. I was about to drive onto a dual carridge way and the seriousness could have been a lot worse.