Damage to bike from pothole - can I claim?
Discussion
Hi
So I was riding the other day with a friend - one of the first rides of the season and I hit a rather large pothole - despite the fact that I was riding a soft roader with front suspension it has buckled both front and rear wheels, I had to replace front inner tube and buy a new set of tyres.
I haven't ordered any new wheels yet as I am wondering if I can claim from the council, I know that they occasionally pay out for car damage.
Thanks
So I was riding the other day with a friend - one of the first rides of the season and I hit a rather large pothole - despite the fact that I was riding a soft roader with front suspension it has buckled both front and rear wheels, I had to replace front inner tube and buy a new set of tyres.
I haven't ordered any new wheels yet as I am wondering if I can claim from the council, I know that they occasionally pay out for car damage.
Thanks
Be sure to mention this in your letter of complaint...
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaign...
I'm not a sun reader usually, but I spotted the headline in a supermarket lunchtime.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/campaign...
I'm not a sun reader usually, but I spotted the headline in a supermarket lunchtime.
Why did you need to replace the tyres? You only seem to have punctured the front innertube (prob a pinch flat - understandable). Why do you want to claim for new wheels..they are only buckled, and buckled wheels are perfectly fixable. Now I don't mean to sound like a t
t, but if you claim, they will ask the same questions, and will prob want photo evidence of the damage.
t, but if you claim, they will ask the same questions, and will prob want photo evidence of the damage.Front tyre was shredded through the side wall so I had to replace the front and I wanted the rears to match.
I am trying to get the wheel repaired but everyone has huge waiting lists atm and I use the bike alot - hence why I was considering buying new ones instead. I would have a go at doing it myself but I have no idea how you work the magic to make wheels straight again by tightening the spokes! Plus why would I bother.
They will ask for pictures and I have them to show them, its not a massive amount of money - £15 per wheel to be starightened, £40 for the tyres and about £5 for an inner tube - but why should I have to pay that just because they can't put a cone out?
I am trying to get the wheel repaired but everyone has huge waiting lists atm and I use the bike alot - hence why I was considering buying new ones instead. I would have a go at doing it myself but I have no idea how you work the magic to make wheels straight again by tightening the spokes! Plus why would I bother.
They will ask for pictures and I have them to show them, its not a massive amount of money - £15 per wheel to be starightened, £40 for the tyres and about £5 for an inner tube - but why should I have to pay that just because they can't put a cone out?
Sorry, off topic
Looking at that photograph in The Sun's article I can't see why the lorry driver was overtaking on such a narrow road with solid white lines.
Additionally why was the road still open? If the defect was so bad that you couldn't ride through it and it stretched so far into the carridgeway that avoiding it meant crossing the solid white lines then the road should have been closed or temp traffic control installed.
Looking at that photograph in The Sun's article I can't see why the lorry driver was overtaking on such a narrow road with solid white lines.
Additionally why was the road still open? If the defect was so bad that you couldn't ride through it and it stretched so far into the carridgeway that avoiding it meant crossing the solid white lines then the road should have been closed or temp traffic control installed.
£15 per wheel to true..fook me that's expensive..sounds like Evanscycles?...if they accept a claim they will not reimburse you for 2 tyres when only 1 is damaged and if its a different tyre to the damaged one(especially if they are more costly) I doubt they will pay, wheel true could easily be done for £15 for both wheels at a normal bike shop. They will examine the road with the pothole in, they will want to know how you rode into the pothole..ie why didn't you steer round it?..was your visibility obstructed..ie were you riding close behind your friend or another vehicle?, I honestly don't think you will get anywhere but you can only try.
I have every sympathy. Last night I did a quick 30 minute circuit of the local roads (new chain + old cassette on mtb = fail) on my roadie.
They were utterly appalling. I couldn't take my eyes off the patch of road 20 feet ahead of me, there were that many holes, grids, and undulations.
They were utterly appalling. I couldn't take my eyes off the patch of road 20 feet ahead of me, there were that many holes, grids, and undulations.
mk1fan said:
Sorry, off topic
Looking at that photograph in The Sun's article I can't see why the lorry driver was overtaking on such a narrow road with solid white lines.
Additionally why was the road still open? If the defect was so bad that you couldn't ride through it and it stretched so far into the carridgeway that avoiding it meant crossing the solid white lines then the road should have been closed or temp traffic control installed.
It's not really a narrow road; two good sized lanes.Looking at that photograph in The Sun's article I can't see why the lorry driver was overtaking on such a narrow road with solid white lines.
Additionally why was the road still open? If the defect was so bad that you couldn't ride through it and it stretched so far into the carridgeway that avoiding it meant crossing the solid white lines then the road should have been closed or temp traffic control installed.
Crossing solid white lines is fine to overtake a slow moving vehicle. I think I have read slow-moving is considered around 10mph; not tractors doing 20mph, or perhaps cyclists doing a similar speed. So yes, it looks like the truckie could have been in the wrong trying to overtake there.
Closing the road seems a bit extreme; and there aren't enough traffic lights in Wiltshire for every pothole that size!
If that's a good wide road then the box drawn on it to show the size of the pothole is even bigger than I thought. In fact I'd arque that, if the pothole was that size I'm sure The Sun isn't dramatising, the pothole was a serious road defect and so some form of temp traffic management should have been in place until it was repaired.
If that is the common state of the roads in Wiltshire I suggest the road users start complaining!!
If that is the common state of the roads in Wiltshire I suggest the road users start complaining!!
http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/districts/bo...
The local answer to pothole damage is basically for the council to stick thier fingers in thier ears and shout "la la la la la ..."
The local answer to pothole damage is basically for the council to stick thier fingers in thier ears and shout "la la la la la ..."
There was the mother of a pothole on my road after the snow - 4"-6" deep and two feet across, with a nasty sharp edge as you came out of it.
Cycled past it one day and there was a cinquicento 10 yards on with it's hazards on and it's front nearside wheel ripped clean off! 24 hours later the hole had been mended, along with some others so I assume the coucil heard about it.
I got a pinch puncture on my fixie last week from a pothole - hit it hard enough to put a small ding in my back rim too. It annoyed me, but at £4 for an innertube it's not really worth making a fuss. In your case (£100 or so of damage) I might see how far a letter and a few photos go. It might get the pothole fixed!
Cycled past it one day and there was a cinquicento 10 yards on with it's hazards on and it's front nearside wheel ripped clean off! 24 hours later the hole had been mended, along with some others so I assume the coucil heard about it.
I got a pinch puncture on my fixie last week from a pothole - hit it hard enough to put a small ding in my back rim too. It annoyed me, but at £4 for an innertube it's not really worth making a fuss. In your case (£100 or so of damage) I might see how far a letter and a few photos go. It might get the pothole fixed!
bitwrx said:
Crossing solid white lines is fine to overtake a slow moving vehicle. I think I have read slow-moving is considered around 10mph; not tractors doing 20mph, or perhaps cyclists doing a similar speed. So yes, it looks like the truckie could have been in the wrong trying to overtake there.
Highway code rule 129 - 10mph is the limit, so unlikely to have been a legal overtake on such a straight, flat section of road.You will have absolutely no luck getting a single bean off the council, I've tried numerious times from a car pespective for windscreens, tyres, rims, all legitimate claims by monster potholes, everytime the council are teflon coated.
They will eventually after many emails trying to bore you and put you off the trail send you copies of their quarterly road checks for the area your pothole is in, it will show that someone has inspected the road and the pothole wasn't there then, this is the councils legal requirement, they can't be libal for something they don't know about.
The only hope you have if to report the pothole first, then have the accident......but if you try this tacked they point out that you should have know it was there.
By all means give it a try but don't expect to see a penny off them, especially for items that you just want to match....they'll just laugh at that idea.
Also report the pothole, and every single other one you see on your local ride and fill the road inspectors inbox, if they aren't reported they don't know about them, but if they are they have to do something about them....
They will eventually after many emails trying to bore you and put you off the trail send you copies of their quarterly road checks for the area your pothole is in, it will show that someone has inspected the road and the pothole wasn't there then, this is the councils legal requirement, they can't be libal for something they don't know about.
The only hope you have if to report the pothole first, then have the accident......but if you try this tacked they point out that you should have know it was there.
By all means give it a try but don't expect to see a penny off them, especially for items that you just want to match....they'll just laugh at that idea.
Also report the pothole, and every single other one you see on your local ride and fill the road inspectors inbox, if they aren't reported they don't know about them, but if they are they have to do something about them....
Just remember if you claim from a publicly funded body like a council then you'll end up paying for it.
I do have sympathy, I rammed a big hole recently on a 30mph downhill stretch and flattened both wheels (fortunately it was my pub bike - so cheap wheels, not my road bike with £300 ksyriums). I just put it down to experience.
Councils have a pot of money to fix the roads and pay people who pursue them for claims, if they pay out more in claims then the roads get fixed more slowly, remember we've had a harsh winter and the council isn't responsible for the weather. I certainly don't want my council tax being used to fix other peoples cars and bikes.
I cycle everywhere and pot holes are a problem for me too but I just look carefully where I'm going......
I do have sympathy, I rammed a big hole recently on a 30mph downhill stretch and flattened both wheels (fortunately it was my pub bike - so cheap wheels, not my road bike with £300 ksyriums). I just put it down to experience.
Councils have a pot of money to fix the roads and pay people who pursue them for claims, if they pay out more in claims then the roads get fixed more slowly, remember we've had a harsh winter and the council isn't responsible for the weather. I certainly don't want my council tax being used to fix other peoples cars and bikes.
I cycle everywhere and pot holes are a problem for me too but I just look carefully where I'm going......
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