Check your tyres mrmo – I now have small sidewall bulges where the image was on mine, almost invisible when I did a cursory check.

no need to check the tyres, i had a brand new set on order at the time and have since been fitted.

andrewh – I think maybe you shouldn't be driving if you're so unaware of the potential range of problems that might occur. For me I was driving late at night in an unlit road and didn't see the pothole simply because the road was unreflective so couldn't see any detail on he road.

andrewh – jees..

you wont get anywhere unless as stated the council are aware of it.. which means you need to report a hole in the road before you know about it so that you dont misatakenly hit it..

Ok, so far I have reported hole and spoke to highways dept at local council who have told me to write to them with details, photos and copies of costs incurred.

Local Ford dealer wants £211 per alloy.

Seen them online for £186 so will prob get them there if they have them in stock.

Try your local breakers first – Yellow Pages is the place to start (I only paid £55 for mine and could inspect it before handing over the cash).

working on the basis that prevention is better than a cure

i always report potholes

http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/

and everyone has been sorted quite quickly, im most proud of teh huge great gouges outside hammersmith bus station that got sorted

Not sure I'd buy alloys from a breakers, I've bought second hand before and even then I'm VERY cautious, it can be very hrd to spot damage before getting it on a car, and in rare cases can lead to wheel failure if it was previously badly repaired to a standard that means you can't spot it.

Kimbers – must be a half-decent council where you live then, I normally have to wait weeks for action. Prevention is better than cure, but that's only really applicable if you drive that road regularly.

I now have the issue of the wheel not being in stock anywhere and being on back order at Ford!!!!

Consider yourself lucky. My wheels are no longer made/stocked anywhere, I dented 1 and now need to buy 4.

You can often get 4 alloys plus tyres at Halfords for £250…

I thought about getting a whole new set but partner doesn't want the car looking like something Ali G would drive.

you wont get anywhere unless as stated the council are aware of it.. which means you need to report a hole in the road before you know about it so that you dont misatakenly hit it..

You are correct in saying that the LA has to be aware, but the report could come from anyone…as long as the hole is reported, you will have a case. As mentioned above, put in a request under FoI, and see if there have been any reports on the specific hole.

molgrips – not usually wheels you would want on a decent car. I just want plain 5 spokes that suit the car, the OP just wants the original wheel. unfortunately the originals are usually more pricey than aftermarkets.

You are correct in saying that the LA has to be aware

really? Re they not under a duty to inspect their roads periodically?

Inspection regime could be months. A while ago I worked with the Highways dept to help them reenginer their processes, and pot hole reporting was a project done by one of my team. I remember the Risk Management team would not even look at a claim if the Council had not been given an opportunity to remedy – the SLA at our place was (and remains) 24 hours from report to fill.

During the reengineering, my colleague reported several potholes which all got filled within the timeframe. Councils know that they will be paying out, but have to prioritise their work somehow – so despite they no doubt drive past the potholes on their way to work…they are going to fix the ones that have been reported.

I report the ones on my cycle commute, as the last thing I want to do is swerve into traffic!

*this is true where I work, other LA's may differ*

really? Re they not under a duty to inspect their roads periodically?

Only trunk roads.

so despite they no doubt drive past the potholes on their way to work…they are going to fix the ones that have been reported.

They should report them themselves, was my thought, not fix them on the spot.

Surely it's simple…find out which Council area Andrewh lives and hope it isn't in the same as yours…if not, go mental on the claim…if so, go even more mental as it'll annoy him even more!

Is andrewh tandemjeremy in disguise? He obviously doesn't drive a car, or certainly nowhere there's any imperfections in the road. I wrecked an alloy wheel late one night on a narrow singletrack road and there was a pickup truck in front of me had done the same thing. Rough Tarmac, lots of loose debris and mud, a pothole is easily missed, and when it's on a road with little space to avoid, even if you can see it, there's sod-all you can do. Last year I also had to replace two alloys on my Octavia, where the rim had been bent outwards on the inside through hitting potholes. One was near the top of Box Hill, coming home from Bath, following other vehicles. Just after a slight bend, shadowed by overhanging trees, there was an almighty bang from the front of the car. I was doing 50 in a 50 limit, and the hole was about a metre out from the kerb. Didn't see it before I hit it, as I was watching other cars, and even if I had, there was hardly anywhere to go to avoid it. Andrewh is s stupid sanctimonious cock, and I truly hope he hits a nice big hole in the dark and writes off some nice expensive wheels and tyres. Arse.

Our CC has stated they will not pay out for damage caused from potholes due to the amount caused in the bad weather, they are getting around to them but they are lots of them and the cost will be huge.

Thought I would provide an update on this.

A couple of months back I was asked for info on age/condition of tyres, I assumed this was because I wouldn't get back the full amount for the new tyres I had to buy.

Obviously not as a cheque for the full £672 arrived today 🙂

Took a while but I'm chuffed about the result.

Very impressed you managed to get the full amount back. As per my earlier post on this thread – the council will not pay out unless it believes it is in the wrong so I see no harm in claiming, you WILL be rejected if you're taking the mick unfairly.

Roads around my way are a mess currently, I've just had to replace 2 track rod ends and have 2 more knackered tyres from the constant pounding over lane-wide potholes in the road that don't get fixed regardless of reporting them.