Private road!

Author
Discussion

DB7V12

Original Poster:

2 posts

73 months

Thursday 3rd May 2018
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I and one other private dwelling have right of way over a private road. It is our only entrance and exit. There are four other light industrial units off this road three of which use heavy vehicles every day which cause the road to suffer large potholes. In the past I and the other private houses hold have complained to the trust (managed by an agent) that the road required maintaining and after some time a very poor repair was done but within two or three weeks the potholes were much greater than before so we complained again. Little response was received but the agent wanted the two private dwellings to pay 25% each towards a 'proper repair.' We argued that we were happy to pay a fair proportion which we worked out at 10%. In the meantime I complained that my car was being damaged due to the lack of enthusiasm to repair the road and I offered to do the repairs with the residents if the trust would pay for materials approximately £3000. I got no response. At this stage I informed the trust that repairs to my Mercedes would likely be £500 and I would be billing them after repairs were carried out.
Subsequently repairs have been carried out and I have contributed 12.5% as agreed with the agents.
The question is are the liable for the damage to by car? They denied all responsibility.
Regards
Alan

Zetec-S

5,890 posts

94 months

Thursday 3rd May 2018
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What damage was done to your car?

PAULJ5555

3,554 posts

177 months

Thursday 3rd May 2018
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Sounds like you knew the road was bad so why drive down it, I know fire is hot so I dont stick my hand in it.

Maybe you could have parked somewhere else and got a taxi or walk and then you would have a better case to claim for loss of use.



spookly

4,020 posts

96 months

Thursday 3rd May 2018
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PAULJ5555 said:
Sounds like you knew the road was bad so why drive down it, I know fire is hot so I dont stick my hand in it.

Maybe you could have parked somewhere else and got a taxi or walk and then you would have a better case to claim for loss of use.
Yeah, that ^^

You surely are responsible for mitigating any losses. I'm sure if you know the road is pot holed then you'll do little damage if you slow right down.

Hoolio

1,146 posts

222 months

Thursday 3rd May 2018
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The clue is in the OP's first sentence.

Johnnytheboy

24,498 posts

187 months

Thursday 3rd May 2018
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Getting a taxi down your own road is a classic, even for PH.

Toltec

7,161 posts

224 months

Thursday 3rd May 2018
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Park your cars at the bottom of the road and walk up, if it blocks the road for the larger vehicles then explain why you need to do this.

More sensibly, is there an area at the bottom of the road that could be made into a parking area for your and your neighbours cars?

akirk

5,394 posts

115 months

Thursday 3rd May 2018
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Toltec said:
Park your cars at the bottom of the road and walk up, if it blocks the road for the larger vehicles then explain why you need to do this.

More sensibly, is there an area at the bottom of the road that could be made into a parking area for your and your neighbours cars?
or how about - those who have responsibility to keeping the road maintained doing so?! wink
why on earth would the answer be to park at the end of a road when you have the right to drive down it...

OP - probably a question you need to ask of a lawyer, you won't get many sensible replies on here!

7795

1,070 posts

182 months

Thursday 3rd May 2018
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PAULJ5555 said:
Sounds like you knew the road was bad so why drive down it, I know fire is hot so I dont stick my hand in it.

Maybe you could have parked somewhere else and got a taxi or walk and then you would have a better case to claim for loss of use.
WOW, left field even for PH.

User complains of damage to a private road that has potential to damage their car. Told to not use the road, but call a taxi to get to their house.

The hand/fire analogy used is more a random sentence than an analogy as it's so far off the mark.

OP, without knowing the make up of the road surface, age etc it's hard to say if the heavy plant is causing the damage on your road. If it is as you say and only two other dwelling uses the road, it is likely. How many plant vehicles use it, how often, how heavy, waht sort of tyres, and a myriad of other factors will need to be taken into account also if it goes legal. inc, legal rights of way, who legally has to maintain etc...

A sensible solution would be the two dwellings pay a small % as you suggest but there are many, many variables to take into account and how "legal" and how much fight all parties have.

Best solution until then, annoyingly I'm sure, is to avoid where possible the potholes!!! Grrrr.....



Toltec

7,161 posts

224 months

Thursday 3rd May 2018
quotequote all
akirk said:
Toltec said:
Park your cars at the bottom of the road and walk up, if it blocks the road for the larger vehicles then explain why you need to do this.

More sensibly, is there an area at the bottom of the road that could be made into a parking area for your and your neighbours cars?
or how about - those who have responsibility to keeping the road maintained doing so?! wink
why on earth would the answer be to park at the end of a road when you have the right to drive down it...

OP - probably a question you need to ask of a lawyer, you won't get many sensible replies on here!
I was just pointing out alternatives, they could be used to show flexibility in finding a solution or at worst a pragmatic approach for the short term.

There might well be a legal recourse, if there are some clauses about paying in proportion to usage and requirement to maintain to a specified level then that might work. Again pragmatically paying a proportion towards having the road rebuilt to a specification that would sustain the usage is another approach. If the OP is lucky they might get away with paying only the proportion to bring the road to a spec to support their usage and have the business units pay the extra to bring it to a spec for heavy vehicles.

Looks like you need to ask Opulentbob what spec the road should be...

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...



Edited by Toltec on Thursday 3rd May 17:11

Jasandjules

69,931 posts

230 months

Thursday 3rd May 2018
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You have right of way but no obligation to maintain the road. I would suggest your paying towards the upkeep is exceeding your obligations. What time period are we discussing here between the road being dangerous/damaging to your car and the repairs?

poo at Paul's

14,153 posts

176 months

Thursday 3rd May 2018
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How fast are you driving over these potholes and how big were they. If you knew they were there, and they are not avoidable, you have to accept some responsibility for damage if you knowingly proceeded.

Or are you trying to claim for damage claimed by other potholes that you don't know are there.

And £500? what for?

I suspect they think you're just trying it on. Convince them you're not, if you're not.

Do you have any responsibility to maintain the road, that's not yours? That would be where I would be arguing.

cootuk

918 posts

124 months

Friday 4th May 2018
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Was the road built for use by heavy vehicles, or was it just supposed to be vans/cars with heavier vehicles coming after?

blueg33

35,986 posts

225 months

Sunday 6th May 2018
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As long as the road isn't obstructed the ROW can be exercised. There is probably no obligation on the owner to repair and maintain unless specified in the deeds.