Claim for pothole damage

[Bigmuz7]

Hit a nasty pothole whilst changing lanes coming up to a round about, so wasnt going that fast, 25 mph maybe My X5 has 255 x50 R19s on the fronts and they are run flats, so pretty tough, but the impact split the bead and burst the tyre

Any of you guys had any succes taking on your local councils to come good for the replacement costs ?

My Insurance has legal expense cover (thank fek ... its one of those do I dont I options when you buy insurance and I usually dont ) so I can use that if needs be

The rim looks ok, but I'll need to get the steering etc checked

More hassle

[matt h]

Each Council ,has a different criteria, There is No industry limit.. so check to save you a load of letterwriting.
As above. you will need to check out what your council Criteria's are...
you do need before you present your evidence is to take a photo of a tape measure measurement of the offending hole, I did it and won.
I first went back, photo of tyre and remaining tread, against the hole in question, i also laid a tape measure over the hole showing dimensions of the hole and finally your contact details etc.
The hole which burst my tyre was 6 inches deep by 12.3 inches wide etc etc, and had a shrp edge, the clain took 3 weeks.

Good Luck!!

[actions]

I know our council have a clause as a friend tried. They got out of the claim and said the following

- If they have been made aware of the hole and have not fixed it, had time to fix it etc then they will have to pay out if proved that hole casued the damage.

- If they are not aware of the damage they wont be paying out.

All i would say is its worth a try and dont get fobbed off with the first standard reply of bugger off they are most certainly going to try and give.

We recently won a fight with a horse insurance company but it took six letters and threats of court action. They decided to pay.

Good Luck

[spartacus]

My wife has an Audi A2 with low profile tyres. She hit a series of potholes last winter (dazzled by oncoming traffic) so didn't see the holes until she was on them.

Both tyres were shredded (holes were 2-3" deep with very sharp edge). She also broke a front coil spring. I photographed the holes and the tyres the next day and forwarded the receipt for the damage to the council (they'd sent out a claim form). Aberdeenshire Council is insured via Zurich. Cut a long story short, we were unsuccessful. Basically the insurer said we had to prove the council was aware of the hole and had failed to maintain the road surface. My argument was that the particular stretch of road on the A944 was always affected by water and the constant freezing and thawing had broken the road surface. (We had -18 last year). Made no difference to Zurich... almost as to say 'come and have a go if you think you're hard enough!' That took 6 months of letters back and forth.

I would still try - what have you got to lose? Send claim form by recorded delivery, photograph the hole if possible and damage to the tyre.

[Poly]

Originally Posted by spartacus

Basically the insurer said we had to prove the council was aware of the hole and had failed to maintain the road surface.

I believe that is the normal approach across the country, and its not really an unreasonable position - the council can't preempt a fault, and so need to know it exists to fix it.

I wonder if low profile tyres are more susceptible to damage? in which case even if the council didn't fix a fault as quick as it could have, does that mean that those of us driving (and paying taxes) with "normal" tyres are subsidising those who choose to drive low profile tyres? the same may be especially true for those driving heavier vehicles?

[Bigmuz7]

Originally Posted by Polwart

I believe that is the normal approach across the country, and its not really an unreasonable position - the council can't preempt a fault, and so need to know it exists to fix it.

But they have a duty of care to keep the roads in order dont they ?

Originally Posted by Polwart

I wonder if low profile tyres are more susceptible to damage?

Originally Posted by Bigmuz7

My X5 has 255 x50 R19s on the fronts and they are run flats, so pretty tough

........

Originally Posted by Polwart

in which case even if the council didn't fix a fault does that mean that those of us driving (and paying taxes) with "normal" tyres are subsidising those who choose to drive low profile tyres? the same may be especially true for those driving heavier vehicles?

HGV's pay a shed load more road tax than cars, so do 4x4's and also through the extra fuel they consume in fuel duty and tax

.. fact is ... there shouldnt be holes in the road like this, I drive a lot .. and I mean a lot .. HGV's 4x4's cars trailers you name it .. first time this happened to me in 26 years on the road ! but Ive heard it from others often .. these days I 'll swerve if safe to avoid holes in an HGV if I see 'em

[Mollers]

Some 4x4. A slight imperfection in the Bitmac and the tyres fall off.

[BogMonster]

Originally Posted by Mollers

Some 4x4. A slight imperfection in the Bitmac and the tyres fall off.

Wouldn't do well on the roads here then

[Poly]

Originally Posted by Bigmuz7

But they have a duty of care to keep the roads in order dont they ?

Their duty is take reasonable care to maintain it free from defects that might cause a reasonably forseable risk of damage or injury. That does not required them to keep all roads in pristine condition at all times.... ....more here: http://www.biggartbaillie.co.uk/idea...y-for-potholes

I'd guess either this was a very old pothole and you might have a claim, or given that the frost has only just arived, it was fresh damage which had yet to be spotted/reported or had been reported but they had not yet had a reasonable opportunity to repair it - in which case you might not be so lucky.

[Brian]

Why dont we have a system like in the States.
Anyone can "sponsor" a section of road. If holes appear in it you pay to fix it.
Might not be popular in some quarters, but imagine if you could sponsor just that section of road outside your house?
And to those who say "we are already sponsoring it just by paying our rates/taxes". Well you know now what that does-precious little!

[Bigmuz7]

Originally Posted by Polwart

http://www.biggartbaillie.co.uk/idea...y-for-potholes

Would you believe it Neil Amner is a personal friend of many years.. and a thoroughly top bloke .. we should be meeting for a beer shortly before or around christmas anyway so maybe he's they guy to speak to..

But on his point .. did you see the size of the hole ? going by the kerb stone its almost a metre in width and didnt happen yesterday ..

Nice find Polwart superb thats one I owe ye

[Poly]

Muz,

You probably want to do a Freedom of Information request for the repair/inspection/fault report records for that section of road.

[IBWET]

same thing happened to me years back,did all thats been suggested here,I also got the standard "we would have to know about it prior to your incident" letter,... I let it go...however with my newly hightened awareness of the issue,noticed one or two adverts from people asking with similar damage (highlighting the specific hole) in the local press looking for others in the same boat, to prove the council's prior knowledge....

[Hightower]

I would have got a friend to report the hole and get a receipt or evidence of receipt for the information that he reported from the council concerned, then a couple of days later put a claim in to the council for the damage caused providing said pot hole hadn't been repaired. If their reply was the standard "We didn't know it was there so are not libel" I would place an ad in the local paper for anyone reporting this hole to the council to come forward and then get your friend to confirm that the Council had lied.

It's a bit around the houses but they wouldn't have a leg to stand on and might even help others claim if they had read the Ad and had suffered damage after the pothole had been reported.

[PeterM]

I dont think you have a leg to stand on legally - morally is another issue. Local councils can stand behind a bit of law that says as long as they have 'system of inspection' in place - they dont have to anything for you .....

Cant recall the exact terms for it - a quick google will reveal it ...

[Poly]

Originally Posted by Hightower

I would have got a friend to report the hole and get a receipt or evidence of receipt for the information that he reported from the council concerned, then a couple of days later put a claim in to the council for the damage caused providing said pot hole hadn't been repaired. If their reply was the standard "We didn't know it was there so are not libel" I would place an ad in the local paper for anyone reporting this hole to the council to come forward and then get your friend to confirm that the Council had lied.

It's a bit around the houses but they wouldn't have a leg to stand on and might even help others claim if they had read the Ad and had suffered damage after the pothole had been reported.

Thats a lot of bloody trouble for a tyre.

[Hightower]

Originally Posted by Polwart

Thats a lot of bloody trouble for a tyre.

Yes it is, but equally it could be someones life we're talking about.

Besides, getting one over on your local council is priceless.

[HUMBER P4VWL]

Originally Posted by Mollers

Some 4x4. A slight imperfection in the Bitmac and the tyres fall off.

Was waiting for someon to have a pot shot at that!

Arguably in this world of blame, who is to blame? Council/Gov't or Car supplier? If you buy a new X5 with low profiles on it and the wheel goes in a pot hole, is it the council's fault for not maintaining roads to a standard that the MOT says is appropriate for British cars (ie the MOT will pass a low profiled wheel on a car)? Or is it BMWs fault for selling a car that is not fit for purpose. Hmmm.

How could it possibly be the owners.

[Bigmuz7]

Originally Posted by HUMBER P4VWL

Was waiting for someon to have a pot shot at that!

Arguably in this world of blame, who is to blame? Council/Gov't or Car supplier? If you buy a new X5 with low profiles on it and the wheel goes in a pot hole, is it the council's fault for not maintaining roads to a standard that the MOT says is appropriate for British cars (ie the MOT will pass a low profiled wheel on a car)? Or is it BMWs fault for selling a car that is not fit for purpose. Hmmm.

How could it possibly be the owners.

Indeed .. and I just put that comment down to some Cornish b*w b*g looking for a cheap hit .. fact is we all know an X5 is no off roader . but at least it doesn't end up in the stealers every 6 months for a failed module for this or that and is a well accomplished road and towing machine

The motors' been a gem but I dont expect 6 inch deep holes a meter wide in a suburban carriageway .. thats the problem going by that,.. we should all be driving tractors to get about

[Poly]

Originally Posted by Bigmuz7

I dont expect 6 inch deep holes a meter wide in a suburban carriageway .. thats the problem going by that,.. we should all be driving tractors to get about

Crikey where have you been driving for the last year or two?


However, I expect the response you get will be something like this:


Dear Mr Muz,

Thank you for your letter regarding the damage to your car and highlighting the need for carraigeway repairs. Unfortunately we have no budget left*, and we had hoped to get some more money but the central government have given it all to the Irish. Therefore please forward your invoice for your new tyre to Mr Willk!

Your etc...



* technically we, in Scottish local government, may still have the same budget we did last year, but the media have done a great job building up the cuts for us, which means that we can stop bothering to do anything, blame the tories and mope around the staff canteen trying to work out if we have enough people who can be bothered doing anything to organise a strike!