Council Common Car Park - Pothole damage - able to claim?
Discussion
Was out with the family yesterday in one of the cars, and had to pull into Ockham Common car park for a rest stop. I believe this car park is owned by Surrey County Council.
Given its location, I don't expect it to be a perfect surface, and I'd even to expect some small holes, dips and bumps. But at the entrance currently is an almighty great pothole, and as we turned in it was impossible to see (it was 5pm and dark). The car went down it with an almighty bang. We were only crawling in and at first I though it was a wheel that had born the brunt of the impact. In reality when I got out to check, the wheel was fine. However, due to the dimensions of the pothole, and while it being (very!) deep but not that long, as the wheel dropped into the hole the underside of the bumper smashed into the ground in front of said pothole. The result was the bumper was torn from its mount and ripped along the crease where it folds and meets under the front wing.
Now I know if this was on the road, it would be open to a compensation claim for the damage. But does this extend to car parks (particularly those at commons, woodland and other public nature spaces, if that makes a difference?). I guess the point is these aren't large expanses of tarmac'd parking, and given their "natural" state in some ways (albeit they are prepared surfaces capable of taking vehicle traffic), does the same requirement for upkeep follow?
I guess the rule for highway potholes, that if the council know about it and are negligent in repairing then they are open to fines, could potentially apply, and so the question may be would/does anyone report potholes in such locations.
Anyway, thought I'd ask if anyone knows and can guide on this?
Given its location, I don't expect it to be a perfect surface, and I'd even to expect some small holes, dips and bumps. But at the entrance currently is an almighty great pothole, and as we turned in it was impossible to see (it was 5pm and dark). The car went down it with an almighty bang. We were only crawling in and at first I though it was a wheel that had born the brunt of the impact. In reality when I got out to check, the wheel was fine. However, due to the dimensions of the pothole, and while it being (very!) deep but not that long, as the wheel dropped into the hole the underside of the bumper smashed into the ground in front of said pothole. The result was the bumper was torn from its mount and ripped along the crease where it folds and meets under the front wing.
Now I know if this was on the road, it would be open to a compensation claim for the damage. But does this extend to car parks (particularly those at commons, woodland and other public nature spaces, if that makes a difference?). I guess the point is these aren't large expanses of tarmac'd parking, and given their "natural" state in some ways (albeit they are prepared surfaces capable of taking vehicle traffic), does the same requirement for upkeep follow?
I guess the rule for highway potholes, that if the council know about it and are negligent in repairing then they are open to fines, could potentially apply, and so the question may be would/does anyone report potholes in such locations.
Anyway, thought I'd ask if anyone knows and can guide on this?
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