Anyone ever claimed from the council over Pothole damage?
Discussion
The title says it all really.
We had 2 wheels damaged in a large pothole a couple of months ago and applied to the council for compensation( I pay enough tax and I £500 for 2 new wheels is not funny)
I had a reply today from their solicitors saying they are not liable but I could appeal.
There was a report with it detailing complaints and inspections
The hole had been reported twice as dangerous 1 month before I hit it and inspected twice but an inspector for the council said it was a depressiton and not a pothole no action to be taken until summer.
The hole has now been filled in due to the location of the hole it was too dangerous for me to take any photographs. (begining of an exit ramp of a national speed limit dual carriageway)
what are my next steps? Or basicaly is that it?
We had 2 wheels damaged in a large pothole a couple of months ago and applied to the council for compensation( I pay enough tax and I £500 for 2 new wheels is not funny)
I had a reply today from their solicitors saying they are not liable but I could appeal.
There was a report with it detailing complaints and inspections
The hole had been reported twice as dangerous 1 month before I hit it and inspected twice but an inspector for the council said it was a depressiton and not a pothole no action to be taken until summer.
The hole has now been filled in due to the location of the hole it was too dangerous for me to take any photographs. (begining of an exit ramp of a national speed limit dual carriageway)
what are my next steps? Or basicaly is that it?
pesty said:
The title says it all really.
We had 2 wheels damaged in a large pothole a couple of months ago and applied to the council for compensation( I pay enough tax and I £500 for 2 new wheels is not funny)
I had a reply today from their solicitors saying they are not liable but I could appeal.
There was a report with it detailing complaints and inspections
The hole had been reported twice as dangerous 1 month before I hit it and inspected twice but an inspector for the council said it was a depressiton and not a pothole no action to be taken until summer.
The hole has now been filled in due to the location of the hole it was too dangerous for me to take any photographs. (begining of an exit ramp of a national speed limit dual carriageway)
what are my next steps? Or basicaly is that it?
We had 2 wheels damaged in a large pothole a couple of months ago and applied to the council for compensation( I pay enough tax and I £500 for 2 new wheels is not funny)
I had a reply today from their solicitors saying they are not liable but I could appeal.
There was a report with it detailing complaints and inspections
The hole had been reported twice as dangerous 1 month before I hit it and inspected twice but an inspector for the council said it was a depressiton and not a pothole no action to be taken until summer.
The hole has now been filled in due to the location of the hole it was too dangerous for me to take any photographs. (begining of an exit ramp of a national speed limit dual carriageway)
what are my next steps? Or basicaly is that it?
My girlfriends dad claimed when he came of his bike in a similar way.
If they filled it in, it must have been a problem!?
Difficult to get around that one I would have thought...!
1st response of "not liable" is apparently normal - the important thing is if they previously knew of the hole, if they did that's the biggest hurdle. If they've filled it in, I'd say they really are looking a bit shakey!
Note - this is just my comments based on questioning a friend at the council, I'm no legal person in any way shape or form. I'd push it a bit further though!
Note - this is just my comments based on questioning a friend at the council, I'm no legal person in any way shape or form. I'd push it a bit further though!
My father successfully claimed from the council after he virtually took the bottom of his car off! As his insurance was only TPFT he would have been left with the cost of replacing the car. Although it took some time (and the council began with their no liability statement) he got a full payout for the value of the car.
Incidentally he had no photographic evidence and they filled that hole in pretty quickly after he sent his claim in.
Incidentally he had no photographic evidence and they filled that hole in pretty quickly after he sent his claim in.
Had an "off" on the motorbike in 1968 on the Centre in Bristol due to a huge pothole, bent the forks, front wheel looked like a Möbius strip, tyre burst....
The (then) City and County of Brissle didn't want to know until we brought a case against them, then they paid sharpish.... plus damages which was all of all of the huge sum of £47,- plus solicitors fees etc, bike took 3 months to get fixed (MZ = east german parts!)
The hole was filled in within 24 hours after the initial paperwork was filed. My solicitor noted that as his office was about 100 yds behind the Centre.....
devious city buropratts......
The (then) City and County of Brissle didn't want to know until we brought a case against them, then they paid sharpish.... plus damages which was all of all of the huge sum of £47,- plus solicitors fees etc, bike took 3 months to get fixed (MZ = east german parts!)
The hole was filled in within 24 hours after the initial paperwork was filed. My solicitor noted that as his office was about 100 yds behind the Centre.....
devious city buropratts......
I claimed successfully for about £1200 of damage last year. Initially went through the council but they denied liability on the fact they didn't do the work.
Turned out the work had been carried out by Angliamn Water, took many photographs etc of work before and after (was still very shoddy even after they'd filled it) and managed to claim.I even claimed for taxi fares to/from the repairing garage and petrol costs to other work carried out that couldn't be done locally.
Edited to add the relevant links;
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=13&t=163109
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=164017&f=10&h=0&hw=pothole
Turned out the work had been carried out by Angliamn Water, took many photographs etc of work before and after (was still very shoddy even after they'd filled it) and managed to claim.I even claimed for taxi fares to/from the repairing garage and petrol costs to other work carried out that couldn't be done locally.
Edited to add the relevant links;
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=13&t=163109
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=164017&f=10&h=0&hw=pothole
Edited by zippee on Thursday 29th June 11:25
I claimed £1100 or so off the Scottish Executive when a pothole took two tyres out on My Porsche.
I viewed it as a civic duty to punish them for not spending road tax on actually maintaining roads.
If everyone who gets their vehicle damaged claims and wins councils will be forced to do the job we pay them for...instead of reassigning road maintenance cash into "traffic calming"!
I viewed it as a civic duty to punish them for not spending road tax on actually maintaining roads.
If everyone who gets their vehicle damaged claims and wins councils will be forced to do the job we pay them for...instead of reassigning road maintenance cash into "traffic calming"!
8Pack said:
Our local council have gone MAD recently with speed ramps.......I don't know why......The potholes are enough to slow you down! 
Quite, they waste money on adding bumps and other congestion-creating things like traffic islands but neglect repairs to the road. It's pretty clear what the agenda is...
So Councils move money from maintenance budgets to 'safety schemes'? Errm no... or they didn't until recently as far as I know.
They get budgets for maintaining the roads. They also get a budget for 'safety schemes' (road humps, mini roundabouts, daft markings etc) as some sort of 'credit' (the name eludes me - they get the same kind of credit for 'landfill gas remediation' on old tips, the posts with 'revolving tops' often to be seen on sports fields, as well as a few other tings too) - and if this ''road safety budget' for a particular financial year isn't spent then they get less the next financial year.
Road maintenance budgets and 'road safety scheme' budgets are seperate, and 'ringfenced' in that they cannot be transferred to other budgets. This might have changed extremely recently, but I am unaware of this.
Also, on new housing developments, the developers can be made tp contribute to 'road safety schemes' on the adjacent roads.
They get budgets for maintaining the roads. They also get a budget for 'safety schemes' (road humps, mini roundabouts, daft markings etc) as some sort of 'credit' (the name eludes me - they get the same kind of credit for 'landfill gas remediation' on old tips, the posts with 'revolving tops' often to be seen on sports fields, as well as a few other tings too) - and if this ''road safety budget' for a particular financial year isn't spent then they get less the next financial year.
Road maintenance budgets and 'road safety scheme' budgets are seperate, and 'ringfenced' in that they cannot be transferred to other budgets. This might have changed extremely recently, but I am unaware of this.
Also, on new housing developments, the developers can be made tp contribute to 'road safety schemes' on the adjacent roads.
Don said:
I viewed it as a civic duty to punish them for not spending road tax on actually maintaining roads.
If everyone who gets their vehicle damaged claims and wins councils will be forced to do the job we pay them for...instead of reassigning road maintenance cash into "traffic calming"!
If everyone who gets their vehicle damaged claims and wins councils will be forced to do the job we pay them for...instead of reassigning road maintenance cash into "traffic calming"!
Kind of, except this is why Stockport council recently claimed that they could no longer afford to repair pavements - because all the money for doing that had gone on paying out claims to pedestrians who had suffered the intense trauma of tripping over a loose paving stone.
I don't disagree that the roads are in a state, and I make a point of reporting any potholes that I encounter and mention how much it will cost the council if my wheels are damaged because I have to drive down one, and that usually gets a quick response. I've never had to test it out in real life, luckily. But a flood of claims isn't likely to increase how much time and money they spend on road maintenance, it's likely to decrease it.
More importantly has anyone claimed for damage done to cars by speed humps? My Boxster was on a ramp having tyres looked at the other day, and i noticed that the paint work on the underside of the front valance was scraped to buggery. I've noticed a scraping sound as I've gone over speed humps before and assumed it was just unpainted plastic trim. now I know the truth I'd like to claim in the first instance, and get them to remove any humps which exceed the minimum legal ground clearance height of a car manufactured within all the relevant standards, which my un-mod'd Boxster is sure to be.
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