Pothole damage

[Moose.]

Driving my mother to visit my father in hospital over the weekend, I was forced into two potholes along a country road due to a car coming the other way:


The road (note double potholes on the left)



Closer view of them



First one nearly 4" deep!



There's a large bulge in the tyre here (not very visible from this pic unfortuneatly)



Smaller bulge here (I assume by the second pothole)


It made a sickening double thump as we went over them but damage seems to have been limited to the front nearside tyre. Anyone have any sucess claiming for pothole damage from the council? Should I wait until I have an invoice for the new tyre or put my claim in now before I get it changed? These are big 17" tyres from my Dad's Saab 95, so not exactly cheap and I pay enough road tax as it is.

[FNG]

Heard that there was some success with wheel damage claims until recently. I tried my luck with the local council when I damaged a wheel a few months ago and was advised that since the council were aware of the pothole in question, and that its repair was on their scheduled-repair list to be filled within the next 6 months, they weren't liable to pay out.

Didn't really think that stood up to scrutiny but not long afterwards I managed to scuff another wheel on my own (can't believe I just owned up to that on a public forum) so I got them refurbed myself.

Not a great deal of help but you might wanna be prepared for that type of response from your council?

[BliarOut]

FNG said:

Heard that there was some success with wheel damage claims until recently. I tried my luck with the local council when I damaged a wheel a few months ago and was advised that since the council were aware of the pothole in question, and that its repair was on their scheduled-repair list to be filled within the next 6 months, they weren't liable to pay out.

Didn't really think that stood up to scrutiny but not long afterwards I managed to scuff another wheel on my own (can't believe I just owned up to that on a public forum) so I got them refurbed myself.

Not a great deal of help but you might wanna be prepared for that type of response from your council?

Then the council did you over good and proper. They have a duty to maintain them and didn't.

Send in an invoice and your pictures to the council and don't let them fob you off. If it was a biker who hit the potholes it could have been a fatality

[RemaL]

send the council the pics and a letter. and the bill.

and see what they say. or even better take it in person.

get back and tell us what they say if you get a reply

[Moose.]

My claim is currently with North Somerset Council's "Claims Officer" who has yet to contact me as promised I'll give him/her until Monday before I write another letter.....

[doug phillips]

Bad luck, but it could have been worse. Have a look here here a mates se7en, which now needs a complete rebuild.

[Roman]

BliarOut said:

FNG said:

Heard that there was some success with wheel damage claims until recently. I tried my luck with the local council when I damaged a wheel a few months ago and was advised that since the council were aware of the pothole in question, and that its repair was on their scheduled-repair list to be filled within the next 6 months, they weren't liable to pay out.

Didn't really think that stood up to scrutiny but not long afterwards I managed to scuff another wheel on my own (can't believe I just owned up to that on a public forum) so I got them refurbed myself.

Not a great deal of help but you might wanna be prepared for that type of response from your council?

Then the council did you over good and proper. They have a duty to maintain them and didn't.

Send in an invoice and your pictures to the council and don't let them fob you off. If it was a biker who hit the potholes it could have been a fatality

They actually admitted to knowing that the hole existed and that repairs were not instigated immediately?

Sounds like gross negligence to me.

A friend of mine was brought off his bike by such a pothole and sustained considerable injuries (could have been much worse if any traffic had been following closely).

He was warned at the time that prosecuting would be a lengthy process and not likely to be successful but he won his claim.

[Moose.]

Ok, after a few letters here and there I've now just received this:



Looks like their trying to get out of it I recon it's a total crock that they inspected the road on the 7th April as about two weeks after I sent them my inital complaint lots of painted lines around all the pot holes along that road appeared. If they'd already inpected it before, how come these lines weren't there? Also where they heck does the road finish and the verge begin? I assumed tarmac=road and grass=verge? As the potholes are in the tarmac bit I'd say that's the road!

So how can I respond to this then and if the road was kept in a decent order I wouldn't be out of pocket for a new tyre

Edited by Moose. on Thursday 10th August 17:59

[ChristianZS]

I hit a pothole early this year and buckled one of my alloys. I never did bother claiming due to the likelyhood of them doing jack-all about it. Its annoying but i just put up with the expense, Due really to do with the pothole being on the edge of the road..

C.

[Gaffer]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/no

A motorist has been taken to hospital with neck injuries after his car fell into a large hole that appeared in a road in Nottinghamshire.
Police said one car fell into the hole on the B6034 Ollerton Road, just south of Worksop, on Thursday. Several other vehicles also hit the hole.

It is reported to be several metres wide and at least 1m deep.

The road has been partially closed by the Highways Agency, who are investigating the incident.

A spokesman for Nottinghamshire County Council said: "We are investigating what caused the hole.

"At this stage we don't know whether the driver went into a hole that had appeared over time or whether the road collapsed when the car went over it."

The area has been a centre for mining for hundreds of years, though there is no indication as yet this caused the problem


So unless your car is swallowd by the hole, not a lot you can do.? the roads round Manchester are a nightmare and are getting worse for potholes.

Claire

[Moose.]

Hmmm. Judging by the lack of replies I guess no-one has ever managed to claim for pot hole damage? Perhaps I should go and cause £100 worth of damage to something of theirs

[pjskel]

Small claims court - £16 or so to lodge.
Why not avail of CAB or solicitor's free first consult to see their opinion.
Balls about the verge - those holes are still part of the road. They're responsible for the full width not just 90%.

[zippee]

Moose. said:

Hmmm. Judging by the lack of replies I guess no-one has ever managed to claim for pot hole damage? Perhaps I should go and cause £100 worth of damage to something of theirs

Successful outcome for me here -

www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?p=2&f=13&t=163109&h=0

[Don]

Moose. said:

Hmmm. Judging by the lack of replies I guess no-one has ever managed to claim for pot hole damage? Perhaps I should go and cause £100 worth of damage to something of theirs

I succeeded. The Scottish Executive settled with me after a pothole popped TWO tyres on my Porsche. They wriggled and tried to get out of it but I stuck to my guns and got the price of two new tyres and a new alloy wheel out of 'em.

Its your CIVIC DUTY to PUNISH the council for failing to spend their roads budget on maintaining the roads properly. If enough people do it they will stop diverting funds to other projects and do their job.

If they try to wriggle out of it threaten with Small Claims court as stated earlier in the thread and, if necessary, follow through on it.

[JMGS4]

They ARE liable in any case, take 'em to court, either small claims or through your solicitor. If they deny responsability you can get them done under H&S rules.....you may just have to get defined who exactly is responsible, county, town or local authority...
Did this in late 60s in Bristol, they started to whinge, solicitors letter, damage paid immediatly!

[stockhatcher]

Moose. said:

Hmmm. Judging by the lack of replies I guess no-one has ever managed to claim for pot hole damage? Perhaps I should go and cause £100 worth of damage to something of theirs

a few years back, i too buckled two alloys on my car due to potholes in the road, that were filled with water. they were however a fair bit bigger than yours, but i still successfully claimed for the cost of a replacement for both alloys and two tyres.

it can be done, just make sure you contact the right person, and have copies of the bills to hand. that way they have an idea as to how much your going to claim for, and therefore may be more agreeable to pay some or all of it.

[anonymous-user]

I've just recovered £163 from our local authority for a new Michelin so it's worth sending a letter and the photos. Damage was identical to yours. Their point about the verge not being part of the carriageway is valid so make sure you emphasise that a hole which may have started in the verge has subsequently encroached onto the carriageway. i.e. The situation has arisen sice their last inspection and you were driving on the carriageway, not the verge. Good luck!

[TimmerTVR]

Thats unfortunate and i do agree that road tax is expensive and therefore should provide decent quality roads.

To a smaller extent i have suffered similar problems as i have had my car for 2 weeks and I am addiment (cant spell) that the holes, pertruding man hole covers, poorly made roads and speed bumps are the cause of my cars ever increasing tendancy to pull to the left as my suspension is quite stiff and it shudders with every shoddy road.

[ridds]

Road is a road, they need to maintain it.

If it were the grass verge fair enough.

However that is a trip hazard to pedestrians as well as a danger to motorists.

The roads around the yard where my better half keeps her horses has just had all the verges patched up because they were subsiding gradualy. Nothing like that though yet they still deemed it necessary to repair.

Keep plodding on with it. Don't let them get away with it.

On another note a friend of mine has just managed to get 4 new outers to his split rims and 4 tyres due to damage caused by a large "stopcock" lid being left up by Severn Trent water. Best part of £1k by the time he'd finished! That was complete negligence though.

[Moose.]

Thanks for the suggestions folks I most defiantly won't let this rest! It's more a matter of principle than the money. Bloody council!