Insurance AGAIN

[Diablos-666]

Bit of a long story but i'll give you the key points...

Back in February my gf damaged her brand new Mini going down a pot hole / collasped man hole.

At the time we took plenty of pictures and reported to both insurance company and council.

We had the car recovered to the BMW garage and they informed us that as well as damage to the wheel there was damage to the suspension too.

We got the car fixed via the insurance and had to pay £400 exess. Insurance inform us that they should be able to get the money back from the council and well as maintaining the NCB.

However, the council are having none of it. They said that we were the first people to report the hole and that the road had been inspected within 6 months and therefore legally it was not there fault and they would not be paying any monies. They also said we have insurance and should be used for incidents like these.

On tp of this my gf has just had her renewal come through and it's £2,200 up from £700 last year.

Do we have a leg to stand on, or do we need to take it on the chin?

Thanks for reading

[amirzed]

there is some pothole website you can use to help claim your money back, however if it's your insurance co. persuing this then I suspect some insurance agent can't be arsed to chase the council properly for the money.

if you actually want this paid the request all the get correspondance off your insurance co. and persue the council yourself - the excuses they have given do not sound reasonable.

[Animal]

Diablos-666 said:

1) However, the council are having none of it. They said that we were the first people to report the hole and that the road had been inspected within 6 months and therefore legally it was not there fault and they would not be paying any monies.

2) They also said we have insurance and should be used for incidents like these.

3) On tp of this my gf has just had her renewal come through and it's £2,200 up from £700 last year.

1) So? Someone always has to be first, doesn't make it any less valid, does it?! Irrespective of whether or not the council had followed its procedures correctly by inspecting the road surface it is apparently still a fact that the road surface had deteriorated to the point where your g/f damaged her car. Does the council not have a duty of care (their inspections notwithstanding) to ensure that the road surface is safe:? If so then legally it is their fault. Was the person you corresponded with legally qualified? If not, then how can they say that legally they are not at fault? How would they know?

2) Yes, and she has claimed on her insurance. However, her insurer can attempt to recover monies if someone else is at fault.

3) Unfortunately, that's only to be expected. The current position with her insurance is that she has suffered a loss (that, at the time renewal is due, has been paid by her insurers) and as such her renewal premium has been adjusted to represent the risk as it stands.

The decision is yours (hers) as to whether or not you pursue the council. I suspect that her insurers would be happier to drop the matter and not pursue it any further: if they cannot get any money out of the council then they have incurred further costs in chasing.

Good luck.

[volvoforlife]

The council are liable in this case. You are entitled to claim your money back from the council as it was the quality of their road surface, which they are responsible for, that caused the damage.

I'm sure any small claims court would rule in your favour. Remember to claim your costs as well for pursuing them.

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/claim...

[Diablos-666]

volvoforlife said:

The council are liable in this case. You are entitled to claim your money back from the council as it was the quality of their road surface, which they are responsible for, that caused the damage.

I'm sure any small claims court would rule in your favour. Remember to claim your costs as well for pursuing them.

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/claim...

Thanks for this, i will have a look at going down this route.

Would we need to let the insurance company know that we are taking things further ourselves seeing as they have given up?

Also, could we claim for the extra over insurance costs incurred due? i.e. the difference between the £2,200 and £700?

[trickywoo]

Just out of interest do you know what the total repair bill was?

[Diablos-666]

trickywoo said:

Just out of interest do you know what the total repair bill was?

I think it was ~£1,200. Don't think that includes the hire car costs either.

[croyde]

So in one renewal the insurance company gets its money back yet she will be loaded for a few more years as well.

[Noger]

volvoforlife said:

The council are liable in this case. You are entitled to claim your money back from the council as it was the quality of their road surface, which they are responsible for, that caused the damage.

I'm sure any small claims court would rule in your favour. Remember to claim your costs as well for pursuing them.

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/claim...

They are not automatically liable. It depends on a lot of factors, like what type of road and the inspection schedule. The majority of pothole claims fail.

Going to court for to claim for something that you didn't pay out......sounds interesting.

Anyway, yes it is possible for the insurer to recover. It is a fairly labour intensive process, you need to get the inspection schedules and reference that against the guidlines. The various websites, whilst rather shrieky, will give you the details.

[lost in espace]

If its up for renewal have you followed moneysavingexpert guide to getting your premium down? Also don't forget excess insurance.

[Dog Star]

They are liable - just trying to stonewall you, doubtless due to the sheer volume of these claims.

My mum and dad got a surprisingly instant response and payout from iirc Huddersfield for the damage they sustained on a tyre on their 5 day old Yaris. You couldn't even see the pothole as it was in a puddle.

With regard to my own local authority whose roads are in a shocking mess - I will be claiming if I suffer the slightest damage. Perhaps if they hadn't taken on the rest of the country's "asylum seekers" and sacked a few outreach workers and diversity officers they could fix the fking roads

[Animal]

croyde said:

So in one renewal the insurance company gets its money back yet she will be loaded for a few more years as well.

It's not just the repair bill though, is it? What about the cost involved in investigating and handling the claim, together with the cost of time taken to arrange repairs and contact the council. Also, statistically speaking, the OP's g/f is now a worse risk than someone who has cost their insurers nothing, and this is reflected in the price.

[croyde]

I understand, yet she would have been better off paying the repairs herself by a long margin after she has paid 5 years of extra loading on her insurance.

I am always trying to get insurers to give me a very high excess in return for a cheaper premium as £1000 or even £2000 spent is better than being shafted at renewal time.

[Noger]

There is no statutory liability on a local authority for pothole damage.

There is however, a statutory defence in Section 58 of the HIghways act for them to show :-

"such care as in all the circumstances was reasonably required to secure that the part of the highway to which the action relates was not dangerous for traffic”

Although it is often possible to claim for a small amount and the council (or their claim handlers) view it as cheaper to pay you than fight you.

However, this is all pointless. As YOU can't recover something that YOUR insurer paid out. You subrogated your recovery rights to them when you made a claim.

[Diablos-666]

It wasn't exactly a pot home, more like a collapsed man hole cover.

We put a cone in the hole and you could barely see the top of it! The hole must half been about half a meter wide too.