Anyone know how you go about claiming for damage to your car caused by pot hole damage?
I need 2 new alloys and imagine they will cost a fair bit from Ford.
Any help appreciated.
Thanks.
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Claiming for Pot Hole Damage to a Car
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Posted 2 years ago #
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Can you prove it was a particulat hole, and what state of repair were they in before?
Posted 2 years ago # -
I can't imagine anyone could do that but I'm sure I'd heard of people claiming?
Posted 2 years ago # -
Take lots of pictures using something with a known size to gauge the hole, eg ruler or Soft drink can,etc.
Take pictures of the damage to your car,and keep all receipts for car hire and taxis when your car is being repaired,also phone and copier costs.
Get written estimates for the work required and the time the work should take to complete.
Then find out which council or compny is incharge of that road,some councils have privatised the roads.
Then either go to a no cost solicitor with your evidence, or approach the relevant council or private company or both,
Expect a long drawn out battle.
Submit a freedom of information request to the council/private company,and ask for specific information about the road in question, repair log,complaints log, and also how nmany times the road is swept, and drains emptied,for the last 3 years.
This information has to be supplied by law.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Programe on channel 4 this week about insurance scams.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Best of luck but in my experience you'll get nowhere without spending money on solicitors letters - might as well spend it on the car. As long the road has been checked according to guideline - which is just under once a year round here then you're screwed!
Posted 2 years ago # -
Oh, I forgot, how ever much you get back (plus the 'free' legal) is how much the council won't have to spend on services - so don't ever complain!
Posted 2 years ago # -
Thought it was going to be easier than that!
Posted 2 years ago # -
If the council knew about the problem ( ie already reported) then your claim is good, if not you will not collect..so don't run up any crazy bills - in any case you will only get your reasonable costs, ie if the tyres need replacing then you won't get fully reimbursed unless the original tyres were brand new and so on.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I trashed a wheel on my Puma recently and ended up buying 4 wheels from Ebay - the tyres were barely used and the cost was such that the wheels were effectively free.
Posted 2 years ago # -
If you damaged your car on the pothole were you
a) not looking where you going?
b) going to fast to avoid it?You need points on your licence, not compensation paid by my council tax!
Sorry if that sounds unsympathetic, but I am.
Posted 2 years ago # -
You're not in Gloucestershire, are you? Same happened to me (but I 'only' bust one alloy). Wife was all for claiming and contacted the CC. They then sent a claim form, but I chose not to persue it mainly because I object to the claim/blame culture that's squeezing the spark out of modern life (that, and the fact that I should take at least some of the blame for not avoiding the 'hazard'.) Renault wanted £190 for a new alloy (on 'back order') so in the end I just got one from a scrappie...
Posted 2 years ago # -
andrewh - it was dark, there was a busy motorway junction ahead so I was more focused on the traffic ahead and difficult to avoid due to road island.
Its my council tax too!
Posted 2 years ago # -
Is andrewh edukator in disguise?
Posted 2 years ago # -
I wouldn't normally bother either but tyres are £100+ and I'd imagine the alloys will be £200 each - expensive trip to the swimming pool!
Posted 2 years ago # -
I damaged tyre, alloy and knocked out tracking- took photos ( with measurements) described the incident in detail, sent receipts etc and got full payment by Leeds City Council about 6 years ago.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Andrewh - imagine a blind turn, narrow road, car coming in opposite direction - would that still be points?
Posted 2 years ago # -
Gloucestershire seems to have a lot of potholes or it did when i lived there.
Posted 2 years ago # -
blind turn, narrow road, car coming in opposite direction
unable to avoid obsticle.
If it were a small child on the other side of the blind bend rather than a pothole he wouldn't be getting compensation!Small child may be easier to spot, but it is a (hypothetical) blind bend after all.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Posted 2 years ago #
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And your point is?
Posted 2 years ago # -
Thought it was going to be easier than that!
It is easier than that - claim on your car insurance.Posted 2 years ago # -
If it were a small child on the other side of the blind bend rather than a pothole he wouldn't be getting compensation!
Small child may be easier to spot, but it is a (hypothetical) blind bend after all.
So you travel at 30 mph round all blind bends (most bends are blind) do you andrewH just in case there's a child in the middle of the road?
Sometimes the self rightousness on here is epic.
Posted 2 years ago # -
So you travel at 30 mph round all blind bends (most bends are blind) do you andrewH just in case there's a child in the middle of the road?
Nope, but if I hit something like a pothole it's my fault for not seeing it/avoiding it. I don't sue the council for every little mistake I make. As Skidartist says, claim on the car insurance if you must, not on my council tax.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I pay counclil tax partly for the roads to be kept in a decent condition so I'll gladly claim on your or anyone else's council tax.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I pay my taxes in the rather naive hope that they will pay for schools, hospitals, the army, houses for MP's ducks, etc, not new wheels for drives who weren't paying attention.
I can just see out riding "I wasn't paying attention for moment and I've hit a rock and bent my wheel. I demand compenstaion."
MTFU
Posted 2 years ago # -
Count yourself lucky. The Nissan GT-R OEM wheels cost over £1000 corner, without a tyre..
Posted 2 years ago # -
I've successfully claimed for a tyre, an alloy and a pair of shocks after a rather nice hole in the road (8" deep, approx 1/3 of a lane width, turns out the council were well aware of it, had been for weeks) took out a wheel and bent a shock. Put forward a letter telling council about the hole, they replied automatically forwarding my claim to their claims department. Took about 1 month. They did try to say I should have avoided the hole, much like the self-righteous idiots on here sometimes try to, but after I pointed out that being in heavy traffic and narrow lanes it wasn't really a smart idea to swerve and brake across 1/3 of a lane width. They agreed.
Since then I've lost 2 more tyres and a track rod end, one to a **** enormously deep hole in a puddle that is normally just a shallow puddle in a very busy 40 section of dual carriageway trunkroad, and one on the motorway (M74) on the inside lane, nearly knocked me into the next lane, must admit I didn't spot it but on later re-passing it's bearly even noticable despite having very sharp edges. Both brand spanking new tyres after the last claim. I've not put in claims for those, but I'm very much aggreived about it. I pay my taxes in the hope that it'll pay for schools, services and keeping the roads in a decent state of repair so they don't damage my vehicle. That is what they're there to pay for. If they want to leave the roads and give me a reduction, that's fine, I'll put it towards a 4x4 that will cope with the crap surfaces they currently pass as roads.
Quite frankly the way they detect and repair the roads is sub-standard and they should be pulled up on it. I've seen council vehicles driving past massive holes day after day and it never get fixed, it only gets fixed when I go to fillthathole.org and fill in a complaint, and then ONLY if I say it's extremely dangerous or that I've damaged something. It's not the publics job to do this, the council should be doing it automatically. If they don't, people are well within their rights to claim. Don't forget the council works FOR YOU, YOU pay for roads to be repaired, THEY claim off their insurance if you claim off them. It's cheaper for them to pay claims than pay repair teams, until that swaps (when everyone complains/claims) you've little choice.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I reckon you'll struggle to prove negligence given the amount of damage the winter has caused to the roads this year
Posted 2 years ago # -
I can just see out riding "I wasn't paying attention for moment and I've hit a rock and bent my wheel. I demand compenstaion."
If you hit a pothole in a road whilst riding a bike and was thrown off into the path of an oncoming vehicle, leaving you paralysed would you accept it was your fault as you should have been looking where you were going?Posted 2 years ago # -
I hit a pothole one winter which was 6" deep and about a foot long while riding my road bike. I got nicely catapulted which bent the fork and wheel.
andrewh has a point but he's being an arse trying to make it so black and white. The pothole I hit was full of water and so impossible to see in the dark. It turned out the council had known about it for a while and hadn't done anything about it. It got fixed the day after my accident because I reported it and said I was going to chase them for payment for the fork and wheel (though actually I didn't - too much hassle frankly).
Currently the problem is that the roads are full of potholes post-snow and it's unrealistic to think that the council could have fixed them all yet so you may just have to accept that it's bad luck in this case.
Posted 2 years ago # -
andrewh has a point but he's being an arse trying to make it so black and white.
I don't think he has really. But I do agree he is being an arse
Posted 2 years ago # -
Andrewh you really do talk rubbish! How about you walking along the pavement and you catch you foot on an uneven paving stone and smash yuor teeth in. Would that be ok with you? Of course not! STFU!
As others have said its the safety implications potentially that are the greatest concern, but at the same point, why should i be out of pocket through no fault of my own?
I've had exactly the same scenario about 9 years ago, narrow road on a right hand bend, pothole on the LHS of the bend, no way of avoiding unless i go on the wrong side of the road, so no option but to go through. Two alloy rims bent and two burst tyres.
Took lots of photos (with a ruler for scale), submitted a claim to the roads dept and got the money back after about 6 weeks. Im not claiming to make a profit, just to put my car back the way it was prior to hitting the hole in the road.Posted 2 years ago # -
Having to negotiate the rubble that was once roads on my daily cycle commute, the more drivers who complain and claim compensation the better.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I pay my taxes in the rather naive hope that they will pay for schools, hospitals, the army, houses for MP's ducks, etc, not new wheels for drives who weren't paying attention.
Thats your hope not your right.
Often "potholes" are all the way across the road making it difficult to avoid them. As a reasonable driver I do my best to avoid them however back in the real world its not always practical and occasionally its not realistic to brake suddenly for a poor road surface whilst in a Q of moving traffic.Posted 2 years ago #
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