Pothole Damage - Claim form T&Cs

[XMT]

HI All,

I hope someone can help as I am really determined to take this as far as I can.
I am just sick to death of having to repair/replace damaged alloys and bursts tires.

I requested a claim form which I got today. The motorway on which my alloys were damaged is managed and maintained by a third party well known company.

On the letter it states "Company A would only compensate any valid claim for damage against a fully paid invoice"

Can someone tell me the legalities around this statement. People don't have say 2-3k lying around to spend on alloys that were damaged on poorly maintained roads that wouldn't be damaged otherwise.

My initial thought process was I would send the claim in with a quote for the replacement parts and fitting and once approved I would pay for it out of pocket and they would compensate me.

Is this something I can propose. Surely they cannot be allowed to stipulate such terms? This again seems like another loop hole to stop people claiming.

Any advise or help on claiming for pothole damage in Scotland would be great.

[KevinCamaroSS]

Please also bear in mind that you could avoid the potholes, particularly on a motorway where visibility is good. From your comment where you say you continually damage wheels and tyres in potholes I would suggest better observation may be called for.

[XMT]

KevinCamaroSS said:

Please also bear in mind that you could avoid the potholes, particularly on a motorway where visibility is good. From your comment where you say you continually damage wheels and tyres in potholes I would suggest better observation may be called for.

Quite a silly remark. I can assure you I try my upmost to avoid potholes. I look as far as possible and avoid the majority of them. Common sense will suggest this is not always possible.

Again I am thinking your comments are very silly. At night its much harder to see further ahead, when weather is poor and rain in on the ground, it is more difficult to ascertain if its a 10cm hole or a 1cm hole. You have have assisted nothing to the thread.
Thank you

[Bobtherallyfan]

You will have to be far more detailed to stand any chance of getting compensation....they will require clear evidence of a specific pothole, preferably with photographic evidence and obviously an invoice for repair, ideally with a statement from the garage that the damage consistent with a pothole. Quotes for repair won’t get you anywhere as they are to open to abuse.

[XMT]

Bobtherallyfan said:

You will have to be far more detailed to stand any chance of getting compensation....they will require clear evidence of a specific pothole, preferably with photographic evidence and obviously an invoice for repair, ideally with a statement from the garage that the damage consistent with a pothole. Quotes for repair won’t get you anywhere as they are to open to abuse.

I can fully understand the process being open to abuse but do you think putting forward the idea of having a valid quote (which states the damage) from a garage being approved first being possible. So once approved I would spend out of pocket, show proof it was paid and then they would compensate me?

[Evans01]

They will also ask for your insurance company!

[NGee]

XMT said:

I am just sick to death of having to repair/replace damaged alloys and bursts tires.

The motorway on which my alloys were damaged.................

How can you do so much damage on a MOTORWAY!!! It just doesn't make sense.

Anyway you have given me an idea, next time I kerb an alloy - I'll drive it up the kerb, take it to the local garage to give to me a quote and state it 'probably' hit a pothole 'somewhere' and then get the tax payer to buy me a new wheel & tyre - simples!

[Camelot1971]

There are some pretty bad potholes on the M11 as you get to the A120 exit. It's very difficult to avoid them as they are across 3 lanes in various places and when the road is busy you can't always see that far ahead to dodge around them. A car with very low profile tyres would be vulnerable I'd imagine.

Not sure how anyone would be able to take pictures of a motorway pothole either?

[21TonyK]

Can't help OP but you have my sympathy. I had a £700 bill for a new alloy and tyre on a new car Approached the council who mumbled something about not enough resources, the pothole (which was more like a crater) was still there weeks later.

[Helicopter123]

OP - you need an invoice rather than a quote to stand any chance.

If the wheel/tyre are damaged (as you say) then presume car is off road being repaired in any event so what's the problem?

It is of course, important to us all that public money is only used t support genuine claims.

[Welshbeef]

Helicopter123 said:

OP - you need an invoice rather than a quote to stand any chance.

If the wheel/tyre are damaged (as you say) then presume car is off road being repaired in any event so what's the problem?

It is of course, important to us all that public money is only used t support genuine claims.

OP is correct people don’t usually have £2-3k ready to go on changing tyres and wheels unexpectedly.

This is what insurance claims are for - OR failing that buy a car with huge side walls and cheap tyres.


I managed to claim once for 2x tyres and to refurb the wheels (it was over £1k comfortably). But invoice first - I was stranded so had little option at the time so went ahead and risked it.

[Eddieslofart]

NGee said:

XMT said:

I am just sick to death of having to repair/replace damaged alloys and bursts tires.

The motorway on which my alloys were damaged.................

How can you do so much damage on a MOTORWAY!!! It just doesn't make sense.

Anyway you have given me an idea, next time I kerb an alloy - I'll drive it up the kerb, take it to the local garage to give to me a quote and state it 'probably' hit a pothole 'somewhere' and then get the tax payer to buy me a new wheel & tyre - simples!

Tell that to the 20 plus cars that were on the hard shoulder just after Waltham Abbey the other week. Including a couple of lorries. The crater was wrecking everything. It happens.

And if you do mega miles, it happens more.

[joshcowin]

I can understand the OP 2 weeks ago I went over a set of unavoidable potholes on the A2 near Canterbury, i was in my van luckily, however I am sure several cars suffered damage.

The problem is these potholes on major busy roads are not dealt with, 5 days later the road damage was still there now worse!!

[KevinCamaroSS]

XMT said:

KevinCamaroSS said:

Please also bear in mind that you could avoid the potholes, particularly on a motorway where visibility is good. From your comment where you say you continually damage wheels and tyres in potholes I would suggest better observation may be called for.

Quite a silly remark. I can assure you I try my upmost to avoid potholes. I look as far as possible and avoid the majority of them. Common sense will suggest this is not always possible.

Again I am thinking your comments are very silly. At night its much harder to see further ahead, when weather is poor and rain in on the ground, it is more difficult to ascertain if its a 10cm hole or a 1cm hole. You have have assisted nothing to the thread.
Thank you

Really? I have driven around 500K miles and never had any pothole damage severe enough to need a replacement wheel. Once I had to replace a tyre. Some of the roads I have had to contend with are far worse than those in the UK.

[Mr Whippy]

KevinCamaroSS said:

Really? I have driven around 500K miles and never had any pothole damage severe enough to need a replacement wheel. Once I had to replace a tyre. Some of the roads I have had to contend with are far worse than those in the UK.

I’m finding I’m increasingly watching for potholes than on the road ahead.

At some point priorities will be set incorrectly for the prevailing conditions!

That’s not good.

I’d be skeptical that you can manage potholes and the myriad of other road risks without a subsequent drop in safely appraising the road ahead... unless you just drive really slowly everywhere?

[XMT]

Mr Whippy said:

KevinCamaroSS said:

Really? I have driven around 500K miles and never had any pothole damage severe enough to need a replacement wheel. Once I had to replace a tyre. Some of the roads I have had to contend with are far worse than those in the UK.

I’m finding I’m increasingly watching for potholes than on the road ahead.

At some point priorities will be set incorrectly for the prevailing conditions!

That’s not good.

I’d be skeptical that you can manage potholes and the myriad of other road risks without a subsequent drop in safely appraising the road ahead... unless you just drive really slowly everywhere?

Mr Whippy I wouldn't even entertain him. He clearly just want to derail the thread, I only came to ask for advise on a claim. There are multiple threads across PH in different subsections about poltholes and damage. If he's not encountered it then I am happy for him.

[KevinCamaroSS]

Not trying to derail the thread, merely suggesting people take more responsibility for their own actions.

[anonymous-user]

KevinCamaroSS said:

Not trying to derail the thread, merely suggesting people take more responsibility for their own actions.

Very few prepared to do that these days.

Having said that, other than the apparently odd situation of being ‘sick to death of having to repair/replace damaged alloys and bursts tires’ I have some sympathy with the OP in his task.

Then again, given how easy it would be to get a loaded quotation, I can understand the need to get the work done and paid for before claiming. It needs doing anyway and that way should avoid obvious scamming.

Seems to me that the cost of a wheel and tyre or two would be proportionate to the cost of the car. If you can afford the car surely you can afford the cost of a couple of wheels etc for a short while?
Assuming the claim is otherwise valid, of course.

[herewego]

Welshbeef said:

Helicopter123 said:

OP - you need an invoice rather than a quote to stand any chance.

If the wheel/tyre are damaged (as you say) then presume car is off road being repaired in any event so what's the problem?

It is of course, important to us all that public money is only used t support genuine claims.

OP is correct people don’t usually have £2-3k ready to go on changing tyres and wheels unexpectedly.

This is what insurance claims are for - OR failing that buy a car with huge side walls and cheap tyres.


I managed to claim once for 2x tyres and to refurb the wheels (it was over £1k comfortably). But invoice first - I was stranded so had little option at the time so went ahead and risked it.

Deeper sidewalls will give you more resilience so less likelihood of damage so no need to compromise tyre quality.

Assuming the work needed to be done what did you risk?

[woodyTVR]

herewego said:

Deeper sidewalls will give you more resilience so less likelihood of damage so no need to compromise tyre quality.

Assuming the work needed to be done what did you risk?

He risked fronting the money rather than claiming through his insurance and losing his no claims. If he'd lost the claim the insurance would most likely tell you to do one for not using their approved supplier.

I hit one a few years ago in the dark on a wet road. The way it was positioned on the road you simply couldn't see it. I even went back to photograph it from the driving position and you couldn't see it on the camera as the glare of the lights off the road masked it.

Two new allows and a scuffed front bumper - it was deep. Council refused to pay up as it was a minor road and therefore not within the inspection period. They quickly filled it after I reported it though.