Bloody pot holes!!!

[biffothebear]

How are you being fair if you claim for twice the amount of damaged caused? If all four wheels need to be refurbed, surely all four needed a refurb BEFORE the incident or the other two DON'T need a refurb . Whilst I agree that someone may be at fault regarding the pothole, I really don't like to see folks taking the p!ss, it's my council tax as well!

I currently drive an Audi with quattro 4 wheel drive, and I had a flat a couple of weeks ago, and due to the nature of the 4 wheel drive system I had to replace all 4 tyres - had this been caused by a pothole would you consider that I was taking the p!ss if I'd claimed for all 4 tyres? I'm sorry but councils have a duty to maintain the highway to a satisfactory standard, something which they plainly fail to do, they refuse to pay compensation in the vast majority of cases and are thus costing many motorists thousands of pounds with impunity.
Bruce, claim for what you can get away with - I would say at least 2 tyres and wheel repairs/replacements, you pay your council tax and you are entitled to be able to undertake a journey without having to negotiate enormous and damaging potholes, and if you do and suffer the consequences, as you have, then make them pay, maybe then they will pay more attention to carrying out their statutory duties. It's easy to be virtuous when it's not costing you anything.

 

[brucemillar]

Biffo

You make a good point. I don't think you meant Bruce Claim For?

Some cars are very tyre sensitive so replacing tyres out of the normal sequence could lead to other issues and you may well need to replace a pair if not all tyres.

What got to me was that the Council seemed happy to admit liability at the start. They ten told me I should claim from my insurance who in turn would claim from the Councils insurers. Not a good move as I then get a claim and a hike in premiums. I pay £400pm in Council Tax and would like to believe that this gives me some level of protection from the Council against problems that they are aware off.

 

[dvb247]

Very harsh Aoraki! as I haven't put my claim in yet I can't therefore be taking the p#=$. I wanted to gauge opinions and take advice and have been given both in abundance which I am very very grateful for.
I think I will ultimately claim for 2 tyres but show a reciept for the 4, all refurbed wheels as you simply can't refurb 2 no matter how you argue the point, tracking and run flat bottle (MB, cost me £53!!!!!)
I would if I could claim for 3 weeks car hire, costs of running round getting wheels sorted, taking my car into garages in company time therefore using holidays etc, etc etc. I pay £2400 council tax and have never claimed for anything.
Sorry if this is seen as moaning but my car is in the garage on stands and it's dry outside of the first weekend in months!!!!
Thank you all again tho, clear a hot topic!

PS should I use a solicitor from the off using some of the Freedon of Information Act advice from you?
PPS I have details pictures of my wheels, tyres, other vehicle changing wheels in the layby, the hole, the wheel trims in the bush, other victim details, called councel with 24hours of damage, reciepts when they come, I think I've done all I can and the women who took my call said "it's no problem as we are insured, so it seems the coucel have a back-to-back insurance against motorist claims???

 

[saorbust]

Just to back up the point regarding we are all payers of council tax etc, I've never claimed for a pot hole. My father never has, and he's had damage on his car from many years ago happen which he fixed at his own cost. (20 +) Before you could claim for it....

It's frankly almost impossible to check all roads all the time, especially with lots of different idiots digging it up.

I'm not sanctioning the state of our roads, but ask yourself this - if you make the claim, then what's the opportunity cost of doing so ? That money comes from the same pot used to repair the roads. The more people claim, the less money is there, and so on. When it runs out our council tax goes up, and our roads get worse.

It sucks and no system is perfect, but all views are valid. But let's all take a moment to consider our role in the grand scheme of things - are we helping ourselves, our community or each other ?

 

[st13phil]

PS should I use a solicitor from the off using some of the Freedon of Information Act advice from you?

No, it's not worth it IMO.

The fact that you have suffered damage does not guarantee that you will be able to claim compensation. The key part in all this is that the council will have a statutory defence against your claim if they can demonstrate that they were unaware of the pot-hole but have a regular inspection regime in place that is reasonable, or that they were aware of it but had insufficient time to effect a repair before you suffered your incident. In other words, you have to establish that they were deficient in carrying out their duty to maintain the road.

The first stage is to put in a claim. If the council accept liability that's the end of it and you will get paid out. If they deny liability then you can make a FOI request to establish the facts of the case in the same way that Bruce did. If the information you then glean establishes that they have a deficient inspection regime for that road, or that they were aware of the pot-hole but had failed to repair it in a reasonable time, then your claim must succeed.

 

[brucemillar]

Phil makes a very important point. In my case it was clear from the outset that the Council were aware of the pot hole (they had sprayed lines around it and the number 8) I also discovered that others had complained about it to the council. The infuriating thing was that 7 months after my complaint and claim were received the hole had still not been repaired.

 

[dvb247]

Well my AMG style IV wheels should be back from Rimstock this coming Thursday, it's taken 4 weeks to refurbish them! I think they are going to be worth the wait though! new Hankooks and booked in to Nigel Langs for the tracking on 12th Feb, can't wait to get my car off the axle stands!!!
Just had a call from one of the other pot hole victims, he has his bills now so is a little further on than myself, I'll keep you all up-to-date with my progress!

 

[camerafodder]

I've been playing 'dodge the pothole' since Christmas. I was doing quite well until yesterday. Unavoidable due to oncoming traffic. Bang, sidewall gone on rear nearside tyre. Only a few weeks old too. I'm not letting the council get away with it this time. They made a half ****d attempt at repairing the holes in mid Jan. The repairs lasted a week. I know they're short of cash but if the roads had been properly maintained in the first place they wouldn't be in such a state now. We're driving from our village into town on a road that looks like something found in the African Bush!