Council claiming for damage to road!

[kev b]

A couple of months ago one of my motorcycling mates was returning from one of our ride outs as darkness was falling.

His Suzuki Hayabusa hit either a Badger or Muntjack deer, he stayed on but the oil radiator was smashed, spraying 2 or 3 litres of oil onto the road.

Concerned about the oil on the road, he called the police who came and put a few cones out before leaving the bike in a driveway and being collected by his wife.

This week he was contacted by the council, who requested his insurance details so they could claim for the cost of clearing up the road, when he hesitated the caller warned him he must provide his details or they would take legal action against him personally.

Are the council/highways authority able to do this or just chancing their arm?

[rs1952]

kev b said:

Are the council/highways authority able to do this or just chancing their arm?

Yes they are able to do this, in exactly the same way as if, for example, you manage to wrap your car or bike around a lamp post then they will seek to recover the cost of a new lamp post from your insurers.

Or you, if you don't play ball

You can play this one of two ways - give the Council the insurance details and let them sort it out with the insurers, or refer it to the insurers when the Council's legal department contacts you.

[dmiller]

It actually seems pretty smart from the council as well, I'd expect them to make an effort to recover money where they can rather than just lumping it onto the tax payer.

I'd give them the insurance details and move on, let the insurance company deal with it!

David.

[Magog]

Can't say it seems that smart a decision to me...

Next time you spray oil all over the road, just get your vehicle recovered and don't tell anyone... Then let the police/ambulance/undertaker/coroner etc sort out the mess after someone has come across it.

[Pit Pony]

Magog said:

Can't say it seems that smart a decision to me...

Next time you spray oil all over the road, just get your vehicle recovered and don't tell anyone... Then let the police/ambulance/undertaker/coroner etc sort out the mess after someone has come across it.

Indeed, the law of blindingly obvious consequences.

Or point out that the damage to the road surface was there before you crashed and was the cause of your crash and counter sue the council

[JustinP1]

Would you legally be liable for the financial outcome of an accident where you were not negligent?

[BertBert]

you might not be negligent in the accident, but you would be if you decided not to sort out the consequences of your oil everywhere.
Bert

[kev b]

As Magog says, he would have been wiser from a financial view to simply have left the scene but did the responsible thing and is now suffering the consequences, no good deed ever goes unpunished does it?

Perhaps he should tell the council to sue the badger, tricky though as it was wise enough to leave the scene.

Anyhoo, thanks for the advice everyone, he'll just have to lose his no claims then, I wish they were as keen at repairing potholes though.

[f1rob]

Few years ago friend was going round the M25 when a side screen flew off his kit car and onto the edge of lane 3/central res
He pulled over and phoned the police,who arrived after 40 minutes.All the time he was waiting my friend watched his side screen get more an more destroyed as more and more cars clipped it
Police told him to forget about it and leave it where it was-an fined him for unsecure parts on his car ! he was really glad he called them !!!

[aw51 121565]

Is this not an act of god - ie an unexpected event - and as such I'd be expecting the OP's insurer to be arguing the same (and telling the LA to get stuffed, in due course )?

[atom111]

On the M6 programme the other day they had to resurface a part of the carriageway due to diesel I think it was after an accident they stated the cost is and would be picked up by the insurer, of the responsible party.

[kowalski655]

That was after an accident,someone will have been at fault. Will the council not have to show your mate to have been negligent? Riding too fast etc. Or they can sue the badger!

[anonymous-user]

aw51 121565 said:

Is this not an act of god

If there is one thing I have learnt over the last few years on here, it is that there is no such thing in insurance.

[DanSaff]

I remember reading a thread on here about a guy who got charged for clean up when his car dropped its coolant onto the road highways agency turned up put some granules on the spill and gave him the bill.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

garyhun said:

aw51 121565 said:

Is this not an act of god

If there is one thing I have learnt over the last few years on here, it is that there is no such thing in insurance.

Correct. "Act of god" is an urban myth.

[John145]

It was the right thing to inform the police however it was negligent not to check over the vehicle after the incident. It was also negligent to unknowingly spill oil on the carriageway.

[anonymous-user]

Magog said:

Can't say it seems that smart a decision to me...

Next time you spray oil all over the road, just get your vehicle recovered and don't tell anyone... Then let the police/ambulance/undertaker/coroner etc sort out the mess after someone has come across it.

Job recently advertised by a council roads subcontractor for a "Green claims development officer" to work more closely with the police and recovery industry to help recover uninsured losses to infrastructure etc when people do exactly as you say and leave the scene therfore leaving the local council tax payer to pick up the bill.

If you hit the "old" central res on a motorway the biggest part of the bill will probably be traffic management costs for closures, less likely now with the lovely new concrete central reservations that don't "bend"as easily

[Eclassy]

I think this is the extremely stupid and counterproductive from the council.

I wonder if they would have contacted thw riders family for insurance details had he died after his collision with a badger.

I understand claiming where there has been a fault accident but if it was me I would be fighting this all the way. Hitting a badger that suddenly appears from bushes can not be prepared for. To further punish the person by trying to claim off their insurance is ridiculous.

Respect to your friend for calling the council/police to clean up. He probably saved another motorcyclist's life.

I say fight it, No negligence can be proven. If they take it to court, I would counter claim against the council for not controlling the badger population.

[Corpulent Tosser]

Magog said:

Can't say it seems that smart a decision to me...

Next time you spray oil all over the road, just get your vehicle recovered and don't tell anyone... Then let the police/ambulance/undertaker/coroner etc sort out the mess after someone has come across it.

You would risk being taken to court for negligence, which could potentially be causing death through negligence.

There was a case in NE Scotland quite recently where a mobile crane leaked oil and a mother and two children were killed after skidding on the oil.

The driver and company were prosecuted for failing to maintain the vehicle, if you knowingly left spilt oil on the highway you would leave yourself open to such a prosecution.

In addition to being stupid/irresponsible.

[rs1952]

Eclassy said:

I say fight it, No negligence can be proven. If they take it to court, I would counter claim against the council for not controlling the badger population.

OP - take this advice if you like - if your friend's bank balance can cover the court costs

Otherwise just leave it to your insurers.

The attitudes revealed in threads like these can often be revealing. If the posters lived in the area covered by the Council in question, and the local press ran a story about highway maintenance costs increasing because the council wasn't collecting money it was entitled to from people's insurers, they would be up in arms accusing the council of incompetence with taxpayers money and feck knows what else. When the boot is on the other foot their attitudes change remarkably.

Consistency is a marvellous thing