Pothole claims against councils

[martinhayes17]

Im wondering if anybody out there has managed to have a successfull claim against a council (particular Wakefield) for damage to their car caused by a pothole.
Yesterday I had no choice but to drive through a pothole 1m diameter and 10cm deep at about 40mph and has completedly knackered up suspension.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, I have already took photos, reported the pothole as soon as I got into work about 15 mins after the incident and asked for a claim form. Anything else anyone thinks I should do?

[magpie215]

If it has not already been reported they will try to wriggle out of paying.

[martinhayes17]

It had got the spray paint already round it, as far as I am concerned that means the council is aware and it is marked up for repair.
Surely the photo's of that and the £700 bill from the garage will be enough for a claim?

[lwt]

Go to potholes.co.uk. I got the cost of new wheels, tyres (less allowance for wear) and suspension check from salisbury council. Takes ages.

ian.

[Hornblower]

This is a really sucky subject. A few years ago some friends of mine drove over a pothole and caused over £500.00 worth of damage to their car. They tried claiming from the council, they flatly refused to give anything. Some pathetic excuse like "well if you couldn't see it to miss it, you shouldn't be driving".
I'm pretty sure though the councils round here have got more reasonable..maybe.

Hope you get something

[randlemarcus]

Hornblower said:

Some pathetic excuse like "well if you couldn't see it to miss it, you shouldn't be driving".

Tempted to agree with them, to be honest. New roads, distance you can see to be clear and all that.
Was driving a road the other day, and had to drive straddling the centreline due to the horrendous potholing from either verge. Came to a corner, had to slow right down as it was a blind corner, and discovered a freshly rolled CR-V. " I swerved to avoid a pothole". FFS...

However - I do feel its a primary responsibility of the council to fix the fricking roads. Empty the bins, fix the roads and the rest can wait. They need to be educated to re-prioritise the necessary services, and having £700 suspension claims every day might get them there.

[g_stacey]

Son hit a pot hole that ripped a hole in a tyre today, £146 for a new tyre, in the car we share. Can take picture of the offending pot hole, but would be very interested if anyone has succeeded in claiming from a council. What do you have to show or prove? Thanks.

[Robb F]

Girlfriends vxr had a wheel buckled due to a pothole late last year. It was unavoidable to drive over, about 1/3 foot deep and a foot diameter.

We went and took several photos, including some with the surrounding area to put it in context, and my phone inside it to show the scale of the hole.
Kept all receipts and got the mechanic it was taken to, to write down what had happened and state the wheel was buckled and would required to be replaced, which he then signed
A polite but firm letter setting out the evidence etc etc etc

3 months later a cheque arrived covering the new wheel, tyre, and the recovery costs.
Happy days.

[TWR]

I year ago in the area where I live you have to cross a level crossing it was like taking a trip over snowdon with the state of the surface, I contacted Network Rail & stated if my car got damaged on this crossing I would sue them, I had taken a photo from all angles regards this surface I even lay down on the road to prove that the surface was really bad, I copied the pics & sent the Orig to Network rail, there was no response, 2 weeks later I had to replace the rear Springs on my car due to this crossing I took a photo of the springs & also the part No on the spring itself I said to Net Rail if need be I would send the springs off to them, I never speed over the thing so that was out, I sent an Email to Network stating what I had already intended to do they ask me a few question regards the crossing within a month Network sent my a cheque for the 2 replaced springs, It does not matter how big the comp if you have a case go for it, there are a lot of people that will just say sod it I'm afraid I am not one of these people, if there property damages my car I will sue them.

[martinhayes17]

Just to let you all know, I got a cheque in the post from the council for £280 today to go towards the cost of the damage. They said if I cash it, it will mean that I have accepted that as the final sum.
Think I will just cash it because I didn't expect to get anything back from them.

For those of you that were wondering what evidence you have to give, I sent them copies of all receipts relating to repairs, photos of the pothole looking down the road, close up photos of the pothole with a tape measure to show its size and a print from google maps circling where the pothole was. You also need to complete a claim form that the council send to you once you have reported the incident. A lot of hassle but if it means getting £280 from them its well worth it.

Good luck to the rest of you.

[PaulHogan]

I won such a dispute with Leeds CC a couple of years ago. Their first stance was a due dilligence defence. I asked for their paperwork to show such due dilligence and when I responded and pointed out that none of the paperwork was signed, much of it was undated and it did not identify the road in question they simply sent me a cheque for the amount I claimed.

[TWR]

"Are you made money"

As you are all aware the state of the roads! be honest, would you take the time, effort, to claim or would you just say sod it? I cant understand why people moan about the roads surfaces & do bugger all about it, I phoned our local council up over the stated of 2 separate roads in the town where I live & to give them credit, the Sunday following my call they closed one road & filled up the holes the other road had to be ripped up & resurfaced this was done in a week, so it does pay.