Help with a pothole claim....
Discussion
So I managed to hit a pothole in my girlfriends car this evening, 2008 Scirocco all standard (although suspected remap), its the first time I've had to do this so need a few pointers if possible.
The damage seems to be quite bad too, tyre burst, alloy looks a little buckled on the inside and now the car pulls majorly to the left, there is a grinding noise and a high pitched squeal from the steering when moving off...not good!
It happened on a road on the way to dinner, 60mph NSL zone and the pictures of the crator are something else (below). From speaking to the bartenders and owner it's been there months and has ruined numerous cars over that time. He did say people had tried to claim but councils had batted it between them as being the others responsibility (I'll need help in a second to identify which I need to approach as I'm not sure...)
So the pictures....that's an iPhone 4 for scale and I have size 10 feet....
I was travelling towards the camera in the above so took out the NSF, c.20-25mph I think.
the phone and my foot point in the direction of travel.
The road is unlit so it couldn't be seen in the lights
It happened here: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/search/google+maps/@... on the park road side of the picture, the bend can be seen in the pictures and I was going to The White Bear.
What council is it?
I'm thinking that it can't be cheap, nearly new 18' tyre (mid range) and over the axle if a matching tyre can't be sourced, then plus whatever is broken with the suspension (over both sides) then steering, alignment etc. so want to ensure that it is sorted and am happy to go down the moneyclaim route if I have no joy. Planning to get a pro-forma invoice from VW tomorrow and get the work done when its settled (don't have cash to get it sorted without doing it this way), can borrow another car whilst its off the road but only for a few weeks....
Any advice greatly appreciated.
ETA. the hole was deeper than the height of my phone by some margin at the edge it was against and about double the height in the middle, the pictures don't really show it too well.
Edited by kiethton on Friday 21st November 23:32
Sorry to hear about your wheel OP. Despite what others may have said, I personally think 18" wheels aren't overly big in this day and age, also judging by the size of the pothole, it would have caused damage to a smaller circumference wheel in any event.
I can't really help you on who owns the road but can advise you on what the council may say. They will rely on the defence available to them under s.58 of the Highways Act 1980. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/66/sectio...
All councils have a system of inspection for roads and pavements. They maybe be done on foot or by vehicle and entail an inspector going along the carriageway looking out for defects in the road. The regularity of the inspection depends on the nature and footfall/volume of traffic moving along that particular road. A busy A road will warrant more regular inspections than a quiet country road.
If the council were aware of the defect through one of their inspections or by a report from a member of the public and haven't acted within a reasonable amount of time to repair it, you will have a strong case to recover your financial outlay.
On the flipside, of the defect was created in between inspections, and the council weren't to know of it's existence until an inspection due to occur after your incident, they could well successfully defend your claim as they wouldn't have been on notice of the pothole.
I think this defence was introduced as a matter of public policy to provide some level of protection to financial over stretched councils against slipping and tripping claims.
If the council reject your claim initially, you need to seek disclosure of the s.58 inspection records to satisfy yourself that they in fact have a system in place to inspect that particular carriageway.
I can't really help you on who owns the road but can advise you on what the council may say. They will rely on the defence available to them under s.58 of the Highways Act 1980. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/66/sectio...
All councils have a system of inspection for roads and pavements. They maybe be done on foot or by vehicle and entail an inspector going along the carriageway looking out for defects in the road. The regularity of the inspection depends on the nature and footfall/volume of traffic moving along that particular road. A busy A road will warrant more regular inspections than a quiet country road.
If the council were aware of the defect through one of their inspections or by a report from a member of the public and haven't acted within a reasonable amount of time to repair it, you will have a strong case to recover your financial outlay.
On the flipside, of the defect was created in between inspections, and the council weren't to know of it's existence until an inspection due to occur after your incident, they could well successfully defend your claim as they wouldn't have been on notice of the pothole.
I think this defence was introduced as a matter of public policy to provide some level of protection to financial over stretched councils against slipping and tripping claims.
If the council reject your claim initially, you need to seek disclosure of the s.58 inspection records to satisfy yourself that they in fact have a system in place to inspect that particular carriageway.
0a said:
I have little sympathy with this kind of claim when the car is wearing wheels sized for fashion rather than driving. If you must have big VAG alloys slow down or don't drive roads away from A roads.
Edited by 0a on Saturday 22 November 01:13
there's always one...Anyway, I'll try to contribute something constructive. You say that you're trying to find out which council is responsible for the road. Is your point that it's on the boundary between two council administrative areas and you're not sure? If so, you should be able to establish responsibility for the road by demanding that they confirm who's area it's in. In most cases it's the county council that's the highway authority (as opposed to the district, city or borough council), except where it's a unitary authority (ie a council that has responsibility for all local authority functions). If the site is in Tandridge District it's likely to be Surrey County Council's responsibility to maintain the road.
KimgFuPanda's advice is spot on. I suspect you might have a bit of a struggle on your hands however. Good luck
0a said:
I have little sympathy with this kind of claim when the car is wearing wheels sized for fashion rather than driving. If you must have big VAG alloys slow down or don't drive roads away from A roads.
Oh come on, that pothole would buckle a tractors wheel!Edited by 0a on Saturday 22 November 01:13
http://www.potholes.co.uk
See if it's been reported previously here..
Also good advice on claiming, rather than random stupid comments from Internet strangers!!
See if it's been reported previously here..
Also good advice on claiming, rather than random stupid comments from Internet strangers!!
Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 22 November 08:03
http://www.croydon.gov.uk/transportandstreets/rhps...
Looks like this LA, but i have to say looking at the general condition of the road I would expect there to be a poor surface/potholes there , its barely a track
Also good point about 18"'s , our local roads have ruined two sets of 18's so we dropped down to 17's and they seem much more robust so its worth considering
Looks like this LA, but i have to say looking at the general condition of the road I would expect there to be a poor surface/potholes there , its barely a track
Also good point about 18"'s , our local roads have ruined two sets of 18's so we dropped down to 17's and they seem much more robust so its worth considering
Holy f
king st that's a gigantic pothole! 
That's not even a pot hole, that's a bloody... Are there any nearby meteorites?!
I'm A) surprised that the wheel is actually in one piece and B) sadly not surprised that it's evidently done drivetrain damage.
You need to send a claim to the relevant council - look on their website for forms and/or the claim procedure. Send as much evidence as you can and ask whoever repairs the tyre/wheels/suspension/steering components to mention on the invoices that it was caused by road damage. Make sure you send photos and the exact time and HOPEFULLY it'll already be known to the council. If it is, they'll likely pay up. Don't stop pestering them until they do.
The same happened to me last Christmas and I lost a tyre thanks to a great big hole in the road. It was on a Saturday evening and the following Sunday morning when I went back it had been fixed!! So check back in a day or two and see if it's been repaired, and take photos of the repair. This will pretty much prove that it was known.
I put in a claim for two tyres (I replaced both front tyres) and they paid for the cost of one tyre and about 60% of the cost of the other which I wasn't going to argue with.
king st that's a gigantic pothole! That's not even a pot hole, that's a bloody... Are there any nearby meteorites?!
I'm A) surprised that the wheel is actually in one piece and B) sadly not surprised that it's evidently done drivetrain damage.
You need to send a claim to the relevant council - look on their website for forms and/or the claim procedure. Send as much evidence as you can and ask whoever repairs the tyre/wheels/suspension/steering components to mention on the invoices that it was caused by road damage. Make sure you send photos and the exact time and HOPEFULLY it'll already be known to the council. If it is, they'll likely pay up. Don't stop pestering them until they do.
The same happened to me last Christmas and I lost a tyre thanks to a great big hole in the road. It was on a Saturday evening and the following Sunday morning when I went back it had been fixed!! So check back in a day or two and see if it's been repaired, and take photos of the repair. This will pretty much prove that it was known.
I put in a claim for two tyres (I replaced both front tyres) and they paid for the cost of one tyre and about 60% of the cost of the other which I wasn't going to argue with.
0a said:
I have little sympathy with this kind of claim when the car is wearing wheels sized for fashion rather than driving. If you must have big VAG alloys slow down or don't drive roads away from A roads.
Seriously? That's a pathetic attitude to have. Edited by 0a on Saturday 22 November 01:13
0a said:
I have little sympathy with this kind of claim when the car is wearing wheels sized for fashion rather than driving. If you must have big VAG alloys slow down or don't drive roads away from A roads.
I agree that large alloys with low profile tyres are unsuitable for country roads, however what is the average motorist meant to do about it? Most 'good spec' cars come with them as standard. My wife's Ibiza diesel 'sport' came with 17's with 40 profile tyres, completely unsuitable for where we live. There was no option to change them for something more sensible except as a very expensive 'optional extra'. I looked around and eventually found someone who'd bought a bog standard Polo with 15's and wanted a swap for something more 'glamorous'. They hugely improved the ride, everyday handling and durability (on our car, hate to think what it did to the polo except make him look like a tw$t). How do sensible motorists change this stupid trend?Edited by 0a on Saturday 22 November 01:13
1. Get maintenance record for that particular road. Some councils try to make that difficult, but threaten with FOI demand.
2. If the road has been inspected correctly as per legal requirements, and the pot hole noted, then if they haven't repaired it within the required timescale, claim costs.
3. If it hasn't been reported, get a friend to report it. Wait 2 weeks, then make a claim. Of course that's a bit dodgy, but legal shenanigans to get out of road maintenance bloody well is as well.
2. If the road has been inspected correctly as per legal requirements, and the pot hole noted, then if they haven't repaired it within the required timescale, claim costs.
3. If it hasn't been reported, get a friend to report it. Wait 2 weeks, then make a claim. Of course that's a bit dodgy, but legal shenanigans to get out of road maintenance bloody well is as well.
Thankyou for all of the pointers all, just off to VW now.
From a check on potholes and fix my street the section was reported as having numerous potholes on 29 July with there also being a sepearte report for this hole specifically on 10 November.
Need to check when they are required to do something by and go from there.
Also those sites say Surrey was notified so looks like its their area.
iPhone was all I had for scale
From a check on potholes and fix my street the section was reported as having numerous potholes on 29 July with there also being a sepearte report for this hole specifically on 10 November.
Need to check when they are required to do something by and go from there.
Also those sites say Surrey was notified so looks like its their area.
iPhone was all I had for scale
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