Damage From Roadworks

[roadsweeper]

Hoping for some advice on the following...

I was going down the Silk Road in Macclesfield last night. They have just finished some roadworks on the section I was on. A crappy Fiesta RS Turbo decided to overtake me (I was listening to the football so was taking my time) and kicked up a sh!tload of gravel that was all over the road. I checked out the front of my Chimp this morning and it's literally covered in stone chips all over the bonnet, lights surrounds and front bumper/intake. The car is 3 yrs old and was previously perfect - now it looks like it's had a very hard life. I'm just wondering, given the huge amount of tax we pay whether I have any comeback with the local council on this?

I've not had much look with the Chimp so far - only had it about 5 weeks and someone has already scratched it all the way from the front of the drivers door to the corner of the boot on the opposite side, and now this!

[dudereed]

You could try, i had a similar event, where i hit a pothole in the road on the A23,(in a very modded golf gti) caused tracking to be knocked out, put big buckle in 17"alloy wheel only weeks old. Tried writing to council, got re-directed 3 times to various council depts and eventually got a letter back saying "we cannot find any damage to road" When i went back the hole had been filled in. (B'stards) So take pictures if you can with date proof, then they cannot deny it..HOPE THIS HELPS YOU NAIL THE B'STARDS....

[jeffgleed]

A few years back I managed to claim damages from the council caused by a pothole. I took pictures and even dragged a policeman out of his cozy office (it was outside a cop shop) and made him fill in a report. Amazingly the council filled the hole before 7am on a Sunday and the Policeman claimed he had never seen me before and the report had gone missing. So I just kept on at them and they eventually made me an offer (without prejudice) which I accepted. Good luck.

[shnozz]

very difficult - the council would argue they had a duty to grit the road. if they had not, they would be facing umpteen claims for anyone that lost control in ice.................

you could only really argue "excessive grit". cant see that working. I tried a similar argument (and I am in the legal business) a few years back against the highways authority when a salt sprayer decided to shot blast my bonnet. no joy with that either and legal arguments were pants.

[mattjbatch]

Please kick up as much fuss as possible. Write to the council, Nick Winterton the fat MP, the Macc Express etc complaining about the stupid dumbass roadworks (Although I have yet to see anyone actually doing any work ) I don't think its a coincidence all this is happening at the end of the tax year.

[M@H]

quote:
very difficult - the council would argue they had a duty to grit the road. if they had not, they would be facing umpteen claims for anyone that lost control in ice.................

I think we're talking topping gravel here aren't we.. there was another thread on here a couple of months ago on a similar theme.. basically though you aren't going to get anywhere as you can't prove it was that particular gravel that did the damage, otherwise everyone would be queueing up for frontend resprays on the councils chequebook.. Bad luck though....
not that its a consolation but a Golf VR6 threw a load of gravel at the front of the S2 this morning, and the immaculate frontend now is chipped in half a dozen places too one of those facts of life and unfortunately due to the shock dissipation through fiberglass being different to metal, we come off much worse than your average motorist.

Cheers,
Matt.

>> Edited by M@H on Wednesday 10th April 11:05

[plotloss]

quote:
and the immaculate frontend now is chipped in half a dozen places too one of those fact of life and unfortunately due to the shock dissipation through fiberglass being different to metal, we come off much worse than your average motorist.

Cheers,
Matt.

Thanks for that Matt, I had been wondering why TVR's seem so prone to paint falling off the front of them. An annual front end respray seems to be one of those things that needs to budgeted for monthly like tyres!

How much is your average front end respray?

Matt.

[M@H]

Classically you get what you pay for... I'd expect to pay about £400 for a decent job on the S from an independant bodyshop..

Cheers,
Matt.

[salty]

Erm, it wasn't grit was it? It was stones from a re-surface. Gritting - fair enough. Too many loose stones - a no no. Couldn't they afford one of those roller things, or did they think they could save money by getting the cars to press the stones into the asphalt?

Maybe you should have taken the number plate of the Fiesta? that overtook you and report them. Give the council someone to chase (not that they will).

Paul

[cammy]

My brother successfully claimed damages against his council when wind blew a triangular road work sign against his golf at his flat. He is a lawyer mind you. If you don't try......

[roadsweeper]

Cheers for all the help.

I contacted Macclesfield Council today and they gave me the number of the company in charge of maintaining that section of the road. I then rang them and spoke to the guy in charge of handling claims. He was perfectly reasonable and is sending me a claim form. Of course, that attitude might change when it actually comes to giving me something, but we'll see....

I'll let you all know what happens.

Thanks.

roadsweeper.