car damage due to pothole

[Diablos-666]

Hi,

My gf damaged her car (new mini one) the other day going down a pot hole (although it was more like a callapsed man hole cover as the hole was nearly 1m wide and 1/2m deep) - Anyway it popped her tyre and thought it best that it gets taken to the main dealer for a check up underneath.

Anyway we just got a call back - damage... £2,500!

They said the suspension is damaged, the alignment is out plus a new tyre! Now is it me or does that just seem a bit exessive?

[pembo]

A few people have had this problem, maybe this might help:
http://www.minitorque.com/forum/f275/pothole-damag...

[BigShow]

pembo said:

A few people have had this problem, maybe this might help:
http://www.minitorque.com/forum/f275/pothole-damag...

What ^^ said... the MINI's suspension towers are easily mushroomed as I know first hand from potholes and that quote is similar to what I got from BMW for mine. However, if its not being covered by the council or your insurance then go to a specialist to get it sorted as it will be a damn site cheaper. Not sure where you live but give 1320MINI in st Neots a ring as they've sorted this sort of thig many a time and also have a MINI breakers yard so can get cheaper parts to replace the damaged ones.

http://www.minitorque.com/forum/f337/about-contact...

[Diablos-666]

Just a follow up to this thread...

The council are refusing to pay out on the damage to the car. They are saying that the road was inspected within the 6 month period and because the pot hole had not been reported before the damage caused to the car is not down to them.
If after she reported the hole and someone else went down it and caused damage to their car then they would be cover the damage. This doesnt seem to be fair.

My gf has now lost her no claims bonus and her renewal has come through at £2,200 up from ~£700 the year before

Is there anything we can do?

[DanGT]

The only thing you can do is try the comparison web sites and see if some one will give you a lower price. You are not stuck with how you are with and even if you have paid if the diffrence is big you can stop the policy and get the most of the money back.

[blueg33]

I wonder what would happen if you tried to clain from the Council via Money Claim online? What you need is someone that lives near to the site of the pothole to say that it had been there for wa while before your incident

[RKDE]

How much was the claim for?

if the claim is £1300 then you can help to make your insurance cheaper for the next years to come.

If the claim was £600 then you can ring the insurance and buy back the claim which they normally accept. This will make your insurance £1300 but it will be cheaper the next 5 years...

Sometimes it pays to buy back your claim