Claiming for Pot Hole Damage to a Car

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Claiming for Pot Hole Damage to a Car

62 posts & 30 voices | Started 2 years ago by Jase | Latest reply from coffeeking

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TheLittlestHobo - Member

My wife hit a pothole recently. She wondered what was going on when the steering went 'mushy' shortly afterwards. She got out and realised she had punctured. Stay with me, this is the interesting part.......

She was only 1/2 mile from home so she decided to do a U TURN and proceeded to rip the tyre off the brand new alloy wheel. I got a call to come and sort it out and found the tyre hanging off the gouged rim. The tyre was less than 500mls old

I havent considered claiming off the council as i really cant be bothered working myself up about it. Instead i told her she was not getting her hair done at the posh hairdressers as the money was being spent on a new tyre & wheel

Posted 2 years ago #
bigyinn - Member

Littlest hobo, thats an expensive hairdressers your wife uses!
Clearly Andrewh doesnt actually drive, or is smee / glupton trolling!
What a ridiculous position to take up.
Not everyone is in a position to be able to afford such luxuries as round wheels and inflated tyres all the time.
I'd quite like my taxes etc not to subsidise dole scroungers and stupid traffic calming schemes, but they are, i accept i have no control on how my taxes are spent and thats just how it is. Andrewh should too!

Posted 2 years ago #
cynic-al - Member

Andrewh do you pay your taxes for road maintenance?

Posted 2 years ago #
coffeeking - Member

Incidentally the council will not pay out if they don't believe they are in the wrong, so there should be no problems whatsoever in submitting a claim, if they agree that it's your fault you'll get rejected.

Posted 2 years ago #
mrmo - Member

somehow a few weeks ago hit one of a couple of holes that opened up on a newly resurfaced road. Luckily no damage done, there were a few cars at the bottom of the hill hazards on with damaged tyres and suspension.

It was dark, wet and just after a corner, speed wasn't the problem more the first you knew about the hole was when you were in it.

My attitude is that the council would have got contractors in, if the road fails after 10 years fine, if it fails in a few months then the council should be seeking any costs from the contractor.

Posted 2 years ago #
coffeeking - Member

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

Posted 2 years ago #
mrmo - Member

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

Posted 2 years ago #
mudshark - Member

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.

Posted 2 years ago #
scotia - Member

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..

Posted 2 years ago #
Jase - Member

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.

Posted 2 years ago #
Steelfreak - Member

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).

Posted 2 years ago #
kimbers - Member

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

Posted 2 years ago #
coffeeking - Member

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.

Posted 2 years ago #
Jase - Member

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

Posted 2 years ago #
coffeeking - Member

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

Posted 2 years ago #
molgrips - Member

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

Posted 2 years ago #
Jase - Member

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

Posted 2 years ago #
sc-xc - Member

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.

Posted 2 years ago #
coffeeking - Member

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.

Posted 2 years ago #
cynic-al - Member

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

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

Posted 2 years ago #
sc-xc - Member

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*

Posted 2 years ago #
coffeeking - Member

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.

Posted 2 years ago #
DickBarton - Member

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!

Posted 2 years ago #
CountZero - Member

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.

Posted 2 years ago #
Drac - Moderator

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.

Posted 2 years ago #
Jase - Member

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.

Posted 1 year ago #
coffeeking - Member

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.

Posted 1 year ago #

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