Pothole damage and claiming for repairs

[Heaveho]

I had to have the car recovered by the AA yesterday and it returned home on a lowloader. Two newish Goodyears wrecked, not sure what else until I get the tyres replaced. The pothole responsible is difficult to see in traffic and would require a swerve into the oncoming lane to avoid. The edges of it have torn the sides out of the tyres. In spite of the fact that they were only fitted in the summer, Goodyear are now phasing them out ( asymmetric 3 ) and I'm being offered asymmetric 5s now, which will mean replacing all four to keep a matched set.

Anyone had any success claiming for stuff like this from the responsible authority? I won't waste time on it if that's likely what it'll turn out to be.

[donkmeister]

While you were waiting did other cars succumb to the same pothole? I remember someone on here getting done by a similarly described pothole that resulted in car after car getting immobilised. Makes it a bit easier to prove what caused it if 20 others are having the same issue!

Check it's already been reported before you drove through - if they had no knowledge of it the council can fall back on "it was fine when we last inspected it".

[Heaveho]

donkmeister said:

While you were waiting did other cars succumb to the same pothole? I remember someone on here getting done by a similarly described pothole that resulted in car after car getting immobilised. Makes it a bit easier to prove what caused it if 20 others are having the same issue!

Check it's already been reported before you drove through - if they had no knowledge of it the council can fall back on "it was fine when we last inspected it".

Thanks for that, the car if front was a Range Rover, he drove through it and didn't have a problem, I saw it late and there was stuff coming the other way, so I was stuffed regardless. Typically there was very little traffic while I was waiting for the AA, but in all fairness, it wasn't like my layby was littered with vehicles with the tyres hanging off. I think I'm probs wasting my time, but you obviously pay to drive on the roads, I'm inclined to think they should be fit for purpose and not in such a condition that they can cause this, even to only one car.

Is the Govt website the best way to check for it being previously reported, this is a first for me?

[tedblog]

donkmeister said:

While you were waiting did other cars succumb to the same pothole? I remember someone on here getting done by a similarly described pothole that resulted in car after car getting immobilised. Makes it a bit easier to prove what caused it if 20 others are having the same issue!

Check it's already been reported before you drove through - if they had no knowledge of it the council can fall back on "it was fine when we last inspected it".

Even if reported they still have up to 3 months to repair.
If the hole is dangerous then up to 14 days.
Extremely hard work to get a result. They dont pay costs either if you win.

[ellingtj]

I had success claiming for two wheels to be straightened. The hole had been reported about a month before on fixmystreet.

[davek_964]

It isn't difficult. When I had similar a few years ago, I asked for similar advice on here and was told I would be wasting my time.

I tried anyway, and it was very simple. Council paid for two new tyres and wheel refurb (-10% betterment). I also needed all 4 replacing, because I didn't want to mix old and new on the same axle but only claimed the two that were damaged.

They took longer than they are supposed to, and I had to chase them a few times, but it was pretty painless.

(The council forwarded mine too the company who handles their road maintenance, so it was them the paid it in the end)

Edited by davek_964 on Tuesday 22 December 11:59

[Heaveho]

Thanks for the replies. My first problem is locating the actual postcode for the stretch of ( secluded ) road I was on. Difficult to see exactly where I was on google maps, hopefully the AA can tell me. All credit to them yesterday, they had a local contractor to me within an hour, great guy, couldn't have been more pleasant or helpful.

[davek_964]

Heaveho said:

Thanks for the replies. My first problem is locating the actual postcode for the stretch of ( secluded ) road I was on. Difficult to see exactly where I was on google maps, hopefully the AA can tell me. All credit to them yesterday, they had a local contractor to me within an hour, great guy, couldn't have been more pleasant or helpful.

I didn't have the postcode. I knew the road name, and described where it was relative to side roads etc with photos

[Heaveho]

davek_964 said:

I didn't have the postcode. I knew the road name, and described where it was relative to side roads etc with photos

Cheers, I found a property very near the location and used that. I've got pics of the damage, and obviously it was witnessed by the recovery guy, so it's a start.

[covboy]

I tried last year for a wrecked front tyre, but ran up against the usual "if it hadn't been reported" situation. Ironically about three weeks after I passed the same spot and it had been repaired.

[C350Akra]

Am I the only one struggling with this? If the car in front went through it and it was noticeable surely you should have been able to stop before getting to the pot hole? Providing you were not too fast and/or too close? In 650,000 miles of driving I have only ever damaged one tyre from potholes or other road issues.

[davek_964]

C350Akra said:

Am I the only one struggling with this? If the car in front went through it and it was noticeable surely you should have been able to stop before getting to the pot hole? Providing you were not too fast and/or too close? In 650,000 miles of driving I have only ever damaged one tyre from potholes or other road issues.

When mine happened, it was the result of a van coming the other way. Very slight left hand bend for me, and he started drifting over my side of the road which caused me to move left slightly. Both tyres blew.
I assumed I'd moved too far left and clipped the kerb. It was only when I watched it back on dash cam, I noticed that the car dipped down as the tyres blew which suggested a pothole not a kerb. Went back to where it happened and found the cause.

Given the state of the roads these days, you cannot avoid every pothole - whether it causes damage will depend on many things, not least the tyre profile. The idea that it's the drivers fault is not really reasonable - plenty of people have accidents, plenty don't. Things happen

[Heaveho]

C350Akra said:

Am I the only one struggling with this? If the car in front went through it and it was noticeable surely you should have been able to stop before getting to the pot hole? Providing you were not too fast and/or too close? In 650,000 miles of driving I have only ever damaged one tyre from potholes or other road issues.

So you've also done it then? So why are you " struggling " with it? I've probably done more miles than you as a driver and it's the only time it's happened to me, so what's the difference between us. I've already stated why I couldn't avoid it, do you think I'd have driven through it if I didn't have to?

Edited.......dunno why I or anyone else ever bother responding to drivel like this, there's always one. Thanks to all who replied on the basis of offering help.

Edited by Heaveho on Tuesday 22 December 15:12

Edited by Heaveho on Tuesday 22 December 15:12

[tms996]

Have had success with claiming for new wheel and tyre for a Golf GTi couple of years ago. Coming out of Manchester Airport in the middle of the night, driving rain so no chance to avoid the flooded crater across the road in a well-known bit of road. Again, lots of folk telling me not to bother but had a new wheel from the dealer and pair of tyres across the front to match.
Took about two months - had to go back and take photos during the day to prove the depth of the hole in the road but got paid out in full from Cheshire. Just keep pushing them.

[mdw]

I knocked out 2 tyres on a poorly lit traffic island in Cambrdshire early this year. Where I stopped they said I was the 4th person to do it, the Green flag tow truck said I was the 3rd they had collected from that spot. I tried to claim, the council said Foxtrot Oscar you are the first to have damage. I submitted a freedom of infomation request with 3 targeted questions, got the answers back and they paid up straight away. Turns out their own safety guys had been saying for 3 months it is VERY dangerous and told them 3 times on 3 inspections to get it repaired.
Dont give up and get the right questions answered.

[Heaveho]

tms996 said:

Have had success with claiming for new wheel and tyre for a Golf GTi couple of years ago. Coming out of Manchester Airport in the middle of the night, driving rain so no chance to avoid the flooded crater across the road in a well-known bit of road. Again, lots of folk telling me not to bother but had a new wheel from the dealer and pair of tyres across the front to match.
Took about two months - had to go back and take photos during the day to prove the depth of the hole in the road but got paid out in full from Cheshire. Just keep pushing them.

Again, thanks, nice to see people getting results from this. I think I might have finally sourced 2 matching tyres to be delivered tomorrow. I would have bought four, but the set were only recently fitted and I'll be surprised if there's enough discrepancy in the tread depth for it to matter.

[TheDrownedApe]

Yeah I did, stick to it and hope

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

[mattyprice4004]

Ive had this happen twice, and both times I’ve claimed for the remaining life of the tyre plus a second hand alloy.

I’m lucky my cars are old and I’m happy to do this; both times I made it clear to the council that I was keeping costs to a bare minimum in exchange for a speedy resolution and that angle seemed to assist things along.