Pothole claims guide discussion
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Somewhat confused. Where is this section of road? I may be able to tell you if is a HA (now HE) road. Though usually HE only owns the slip roads at junctions, not the roundabout itself (there are some exceptions)
And if no-one has adopted it, who fixed the pothole?
Newcastle Council came back directly and said it was the responsibility of the Great North Park consortium, whose insurers declined the claim.
The potholes were filled in a fortnight after my initial contact, and the road was resurfaced last month.
Fast forward to about 2:30 . The traffic joining from the right in the seconds leading up to it, has just left the A1.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfhPeb_k7KM0 -
I am surprised they rejected you, that looks good evidence.
Sadly, this is a case where Highways England DOES own the roundabout, but not that stretch just before it where you got damaged. So the consortium appear to have repaired it exactly up to the Stop Line boundary..
BTW what camera do you use? - it looks good quality.0 -
I am surprised they rejected you, that looks good evidence.
Sadly, this is a case where Highways England DOES own the roundabout, but not that stretch just before it where you got damaged. So the consortium appear to have repaired it exactly up to the Stop Line boundary..
BTW what camera do you use? - it looks good quality.
It's an SJCAM SJ4000, certainly does the trick and hopefully I'll never need it as evidence.
Their response was:Our insurers do not consider that there is evidence that the damage you claim was caused, could be clearly attributed to the road on NGP. There is no doubt that the road needed repair and this has been undertaken but the insurers do not consider we have any evidence about the state of the tyre before the alleged damage was caused and actual evidence that the damage was caused in our land. If you can provide such evidence I will forward this to them but as I stated at the outset I thought the insurers may take this stance.
To which I replied (if nothing else, then to give myself a final chance at a rant):Beyond a copy of the receipt for four new tyres in November 2014, I cannot see what anyone could reasonably show as evidence that the tyres were OK that morning; other than the video clip of the car nosediving through the pothole in the afternoon, and that I wouldn't drive a car with a bulge in the sidewall as it's unsafe to do so. National (the tyre garage who fitted the replacement for me in April) offered to write on the receipt that, in their opinion, this was caused by pothole impact, but again, I assume your insurer will refute this.
I doubt many people are in the habbit of photographing their tyres every morning before work, nor would I view 2500 miles as a reasonable return on a £170 tyre. From reading online, it seems we're in an almost unique situation here, as most people's experience of this type of issue relate to the local council or highways agency, upon whom it appears the onus is to prove the road was properly maintained as per their policies, when damage like this arises. However, I'm acutely aware that the FOI act won't apply to yourselves as private consortium.
As per my reply, how on earth can anyone prove that this type of thing happened at the place they're claiming for, beyond ditching the car there and then?0 -
As per my reply, how on earth can anyone prove that this type of thing happened at the place they're claiming for, beyond ditching the car there and then?
Sounds like you've been entirely reasonable. Evidence is judged on the balance of probabilities. It sounds like they expected you to photograph all sides of the tyre just before and just after the hazard in question which clearly isn't reasonable.
I would be considering a court claim as you have better evidence than most, but this is something you'd better seek advice about before proceeding.
Have you checked to see whether anyone reported the pothole? That would help prove that they were aware. If you check my post a little further up, there are links to some sites.
I report serious potholes when I can and they generally will get repaired (unless it's in Birmingham where Amey "manages" the network). We can all do our bit.
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The newsletter mentions bikes but I can't see any mention of that in the article or on the thread.0
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Hi all, I'm new to the forum, and have been following Martins advice on claiming for pot hole damage to my car. I hit a pothole back in May that resulted in a new tyre having to be bought, however when my car went in for it's MOT a few weeks later I was advised a suspension spring was damaged and need to be replaced. I submitted a claim to the council which was rejected, so following Martin's advice I then applied for a FOI.
I have been notified this morning that my request for the FOI has been rejected because "In the circumstances "" Council believe that the public interest in not disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information. The public interest test is met.
I am now at a loss as what to do, has anyone else had a similar experience, or can advise what to do next please?
I really need this money back, as my partner has been off work for the last year battling cancer and these extra costs have really been a massive burden.
Any advise would be greatly received, Thanks0 -
That sounds absurd to me. How can disclosure of pothole information not be in the public interest.
I would suggest you start a new topic (with a title like "Pothole FOI refused - advice please") , with the same message (noting that you have already posted on this one and were advised to start afresh). The reason for this is that people often do not read older threads, even when new posts are added. And technically this is a different question, so requires different answers.
Can you include the text of the FOI request you sent in. Remove any personal/identifying details.
Do persevere with this, I suspect someone smarter than me will be able to help.0 -
Curious about damage caused over a long period of time? We have one road that never has all the potholes filled in. No sooner do they mark for repair a series of potholes, than new ones appear that get repaired later. Meanwhile, some of the original repairs fail & holes get bigger.
MoT discovered we need new suspension & link arms & rear shockers need sorting soon.Truth always poses doubts & questions. Only lies are 100% believable, because they don't need to justify reality. - Carlos Ruiz Zafon, The Labyrinth of the Spirits0 -
I tried to make a claim to a Council. I went through a very lengthy process designed to put you off of submitting photographs, copies of insurance, vehicle ownership and such.
I was then informed that the Council only has a statutory duty to inspect roads and repair. My particular road only required inspection every two years and this was done by them without any problems identified.
They then went onto say that they are only required to pay compensation for potholes previously reported which they have not repaired. Obviously being the first to report this then my claim was rejected. This implies that any others would have been paid. Had I known this at the outset, I have to ask why they required me to go through their process just to tel me I had no legal basis of claim.
This makes it obvious to get a friend to report the pothole to the Council before you make a claim.0 -
Oxford City Council don't care how inconvenienced you are having damaged your wheels by hitting a pothole. They make you feel like you're trying to rob them and on the phone, they just want to get rid of you. As for paying, they try everything they can to worm their way out of paying. Last time I damaged an alloy, it took me nearly 18 months to get compensation and still didn't adequately cover the inconvenience of having my car off the road while I found a replacement alloy and the time I wasted filling in forms, wrting letters and making phonecalls. I've recently damaged an alloy again and there was no way I was going to go through all that again. Instead I went to this place called Oxford wheel repairs. They've got a machine for taking the buckle out of alloys and they had me back on the road with my alloy fixed and as good as new in about 20 minutes. This pothole collision was a lot worse than the other one because the alloy was cracked too and they welded the crack too. They actually brought the alloy into reception and showed me the crack and then showed it to me again after they had welded it. I would never waste my time going through all that claiming compensation drama again.0
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