Damaged sump - advice from claiming from the council !!!

Damaged sump - advice from claiming from the council !!!

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Discussion

nigel911

Original Poster:

20 posts

232 months

Sunday 3rd August 2008
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Hi,

On Saturday I collected my '97 1.6k. I have waited patiently for years to be able to say that.

Well my joy was short lived. As within an hour I hit a raised man hole cover and oil was dripping from the sump. You can well image my anger and frustration. The car is back at Freestyle Motorsport (near Brands) and I am waiting to hear the extent of the damage.

I am guessing this is not that uncommon as the sump hangs low and is not that far from the road.

Hence I am also guessing that other Caterham drivers have contacted the local council for compensation. How have you got on, do you have any tips on how to deal with it, who in the council do I need to contact, etc ??

Many thanks to all.

Regards,

Nigel

rubystone

11,254 posts

261 months

Sunday 3rd August 2008
quotequote all
Regardless of the council, youre insurance should cover this as "impact damage". If you're insured with MSM, Dave Spragg successfully claimed for the damage I sustained in exactly the same way on my Superlight R (the damaged sump dumped the oil and the engine seized).

Take some photos, report it to the insurance company as "impact damage" (assuming that you intend to claim on the insurance). If you don't want to claim, make sure you photograph the drain cover and show that it is above the "norm"

BertBert

19,194 posts

213 months

Sunday 3rd August 2008
quotequote all
Yup, I successfuly claimed on my ins co for engine damage (not on a manhole cover though).
BErt

Bobo W

766 posts

254 months

Monday 4th August 2008
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Didn't the same thing happen to Steve Mell - Surrey AO ? Have a chat to hime through BC.

rubystone

11,254 posts

261 months

Monday 4th August 2008
quotequote all
Bobo W said:
Didn't the same thing happen to Steve Mell - Surrey AO ? Have a chat to hime through BC.
Nah - he never drives that car - must've damaged it by overpolishing.

Actually he did hole the fuel tank didn't he?

caterhamnut

429 posts

205 months

Tuesday 5th August 2008
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Bobo beat me to it - yep, Steve did considerable damage to his car hitting a raised manhole cover (exposed during roadworks) - took ages to sort, but that was with the construction company ISTR - still certainly worth having a word with him if you can...

WIRREN

46 posts

284 months

Wednesday 6th August 2008
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Hi, Many years ago (15 ?) I claimed against Sheffield Council... took ages but eventually they paid me for a new sump & 5 litres of synthetic oil. I fitted it...... twice actually as the first one had a leak from the baffle plate spot weld !! (ford xflow ) but thats another story.
Good luck definately worth pursuing.

tight fart

2,949 posts

275 months

Wednesday 6th August 2008
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If it's just done your sump and no other damage I'd just get Gary to repair the sump and forget all about it.

Lotusgray

4 posts

207 months

Thursday 14th August 2008
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I have just successfully claimed from a council sub contractor for the damage caused to the front of my Exige. The damage was caused when driving over a raised manhole at road works.

The most important thing to do is collect as much info as possable. Photographs of the raised manhole cover and damage caused to your car. Measurements of the raised manhole cover, they are only supposed to plain the road 40mm. The main thing in my favour was that there wasn't any signs warning of raised manholes before the incident, and three hours later after reporting there were.

Be persistant my claim took three months to sort out. Didn't have to make a claim against my car insurance, bonus.

mday

32 posts

194 months

Saturday 16th August 2008
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I had a steel wheel buckled in a pothole in 1985. Sent details to local authority, along with detailed photographs, & their insurers paid up for new wheel & tyre quite quickly.

ISTR that there's been a recent court case, the result of which means we have to take the road "as is" & the local authority isn't responsible for repairs caused by road defects if it wasn't notified to them in advance. So if a new pothole springs up they will only be responsible if they've noted it & failed to repair. Try proving that though.

One of our local roads is closed to through traffic but open both ends for access to local shops. Complete resurfacing job. The exposed manhole covers were well over 40mm above the surface & it was a very rough ride in the Legacy even at 5mph. Contractors are on tight budgets so ensuring all the boxes are ticked to protect low cars doesn't figure. One of the reasons I run my Se7en with a decent ride height.