Hourly Rate for Own Time

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I'm in the process of claiming from a local council for damage to my car when entering a car park.

The speed hump (rubbery bolted down one) was loose and had a protruding bolt which damaged the side skirt.

I reported it to them the same day, with photos and video.

Being a council they're very slow, but I have now been sent a claim form to complete.


I replaced the side skirt about a week after the damage. I have the invoice for the parts which I got at trade price of about £150. I replaced it myself.


My question is what, if anything, should I use as an hourly rate for my labour replacing it? A garage would be £100 per hour I'd guess, but I'm not a garage.

I feel like I've done my bit to minimise the costs (it would be a £500+ job at a garage easily). If I can only claim the actual cost of the part then fair enough, but feels like I should be able to get something for the couple of hours I spent replacing it and the hundreds I saved compared to a garage/body shop.

[Doofus]

Take the money, move on. They owe you for the damage, not for your living.

You're not actually out of pocket, unless you lost income for the time you spent fixing it, which you didn't.

[MDMA .]

Say you’re on the basic living PH salary of £100k a year. You do a 3 day week and work 4 hours a day, just bill them the standard £160p/h for time lost.

[Aretnap]

In principle you can claim the full market cost of the repairs - whether you actually pay a garage to do them or whether you bodge it up yourself with gaffer tape and parts from a scrapyard makes no odds to the amount you can claim.

In practice you might encounter more resistance from the council without an actual receipt for repairs. Have they actually admitted liability and is the firm just about the amount that you are claiming, it is it also asking for evidence to support your claim that they are liable?