How to get a repair bill for £1500 in 2 seconds!

[rlowy]

Last Saturday night at a cruise controlled 31 MPH I hit this:

Did this to the front wheel:

Did this to the back wheel:

Punctured the front tyre, knocked all the suspension out and got a bill for £1500 to put it right which I am discussing with Croydon Council.....

Do councils pay up, have other members had good or bad experiences of such claims?

The hole measured 39" x 37" x 5"

Regards

Richard

 

[ringway]

I should think it's a certain settlement.

That hole should never be allowed to get to 5" deep

 

[kbhogalW126]

Was that pot hole in Croydon, Kenya or Croydon, England???

Sheesh, usually Kenyan roads are that bad, if not worse!

Haven't seen anything 5 inches deep in the UK for a long time!

Regards,

KJ

 

[rlowy]

Actually in Coulsdon but Croydon Council are responsible

 

[yachtman]

yes had a payment from stoke on trent in 1991.

you need to set out cost of repair less "betterment"

ie a rim lasts 20 years so appropriate allowance is made for age, equally for the wear on the tyres.

then add your costs of loss of use of vehicle per day& your time. expect to argue about the last two.

 

[Dryce]

Haven't seen anything 5 inches deep in the UK for a long time!

You haven't been to the UK for a long time then

Or maybe the wrong parts.

Round central Scotland and on the M8 between Glasgow and Edinburgh the state of the roads are appalling. And it would appear that some of the worst damage is as a result of damage to sloppily resurfaced repairs.

 

[kbhogalW126]

I'm in England and where we live the roads aren't great but they're not that bad!

I remember years ago that coming off the M8 at Charing Cross from the Kingston Bridge used to be really bad.

It was like rumble strips across the road!

I don't drive around Scotland that much these days, just to our house up there and back down south.

btw, what is it with the Kingston Bridge?

They've been doing work on it for years!

 

[Dryce]

btw, what is it with the Kingston Bridge?

They've been doing work on it for years!

There was major structural work a couple of years ago which involved moving the whole bridge a few inches. There was major resurfacing of the motorway last summer on the sections heading out west from the bridge.

The rest of it is intermittent stuff but what looks like permanent roadworks is a realignment of the traffic system so it's no longer 5 lanes going West-East (or North bound in terms of actual direction on the bridge) with the two left most lanes allowing traffic to merge in from an on-slip and traffic to exit via two off-slips.

A permanent concrete barrier has been put in place to isolate the left most two lanes as a separate crossing route where the onslip only allows you to exit on the off-slips.

The state of the M8 east Ballieston is a scandal. There are sections of lane 1 which have sequences of bad potholes and surface damage.

 

[hawk20]

Official figures show that Councils now pay out more in compensation cliams than they spend on repairing our roads.

 

[ringway]

Official figures show that Councils now pay out more in compensation cliams than they spend on repairing our roads.

Surprise Surprise

Don't we all pay a tax for the upkeep of our roads?

 

[The G.F.P]

im sure you will eventually get some money back

its pathetic that our various councils would rather cross their fingers and pay out every now and then than just fix the bloody roads

 

[AANDYY]

And of course we all pay in the end as its our money and not the councils, etc.

http://www.potholes.co.uk/

 

[rlowy]

I found this web site to, very interesting, thanks for the link.

 

[vijilants]

After the recent snow, Croydon and the surrounding area's roads seem to have fallen apart. Dunno what they make these roads from where they fall apart from just a couple of days snow.

 

[rlowy]

yes had a payment from stoke on trent in 1991.

you need to set out cost of repair less "betterment"

ie a rim lasts 20 years so appropriate allowance is made for age, equally for the wear on the tyres.

then add your costs of loss of use of vehicle per day& your time. expect to argue about the last two.

Hi Yachtman,

Yes I agree in respect of the tyres but not the wheels. I don't see these as a wear and tear items and why they would not last the lifetime of the car.

Ironically and in agreement with your point, I had just ordered new rear tyres that day which have now been fitted. The tyre on the damaged rear wheel had suffered "impact damage" according to the MB dealer I use.

I did not include this on the claim or any unmeasured costs and pointed out why, hopefully my fairness will be reflected in a speedy and not argued settlement.

Regards

Richard

 

[Deleted member 6183]

Compensation hinges on whether the pothole has been reported, i.e. reported before you hit it.

They will argue thet they were unaware if it was not reported to them.

 

[Vlad]

A good idea is to get a ruler and place it in the hole and then photograph it, as that way you can demonstrate the depth of the hole........obviously taking care not to get flattend in the process whilst you are bending down to take the photo!!!!!!!!!

 

[Seamster15]

Compensation hinges on whether the pothole has been reported, i.e. reported before you hit it.

They will argue thet they were unaware if it was not reported to them.

Yes indeed. Might be best to get someone else to report it before you get the car fixed and the bill......


Unless its too late.

 

[crockers]

Another good website

Fillthathole

 

[grober]

First let me go on record that I have every sympathy with Richard's situation and I hope that he gets full restitution from the council. However it is pertinent to point out that the physics involved seriously put into question the present obsession with lower and lower profile tyres for fractional gains in handling performance against durability. As I visualise what happens the wheel fully enters a deep hole and the damage is inflicted by the forward edge of the hole hitting the wheel+tyre. Unfortunately the suspension is primarily designed to absorb loads in a vertical direction leaving only the tyre wall to absorb loads in the horizontal plane. Low profile tyres are patently unable to absorb this shock loading and compressed to a level where they and the wheel they are mounted on are damaged. We have every right to expect our roads to be maintained to an adequate standard but are we pushing the "performance envelope" of wheels/tyres beyond realistic limits for motoring on A and B class roads?? Just asking the question you understand??