[Closed] pothole damage claim

Always worth a try, but they are only liable if it has been reported previously - I think, may be wrong.

Edit: You're the bloody lawyer 🙂

A highway authority can often successfully defend any claims under the Highways Act if they can establish that they had in place a reasonable system of inspection and maintenance. This is called a “section 58 defence”. For example, if a typical road is inspected once every 3 months and a pothole appears after the last inspection, then the council may be able to escape liability if they can demonstrate that they were unaware of the hazard. There are often difficulties in proving that a highway authority was fixed with knowledge of a defect and this is why it is important that cyclists do report defects using Fill That Hole.

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

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Ah **** I've just remembered the legals...

Edit...yes, as you say Geoff. Edinburgh being a cycling city, the council witter prob be on top of this. ****ers.

Still worth a punt tho I think.

Can't believe you ride through puddles.

It was hosing it down, I had nowhere to go with a pedestrian by it.

Nice dig tho.

Report the pothole tomorrow.

Report the broken wheel next week.

Good luck. In the last 2 years I've had 1 broken spring, 1 wheel cracked, 2 wheels with flat spots and a ripped tyre, over £1500 worth of damage. I've not managed to get a penny out of any of the councils involved but I did get the pothole filled in front of my drive. This took about 6 months and numerous phone calls/emails. It was eventually repaired when I told them an old men fell and broke his arm because the pothole, no old people were harmed but it got the job done.
I'm seriously thinking of getting a 4x4 next as the increased fuel costs can't be worse than the pothole damage

Druid I did think of that, but it's criminal.

Aren't you always criticising those avoiding import taxes etc?

Oh dear...

I'm only messing! 😀

The garage man told me I could claim for a broken rear (car) spring but I would have to prove when and where it was done...god knows how you are supposed to do that. It's worth a go in your case but I am sure they will do everything to avoid paying out on this kind of claim. If nothing else it will be reported and maybe even seen to!

druidh - Member

Report the pothole tomorrow.

Report the broken wheel next week.

[quote=cynic-al ]Druid I did think of that, but it's criminal.
Aren't you always criticising those avoiding import taxes etc?
Oh dear...
I think you have me mistaken with someone else. I've explained a couple of times on STW that it's possible to reduce your import taxes by splitting a bike into two boxes, so that each contains bike parts (4%) and not a whole bike (14%).

I used to work in a bank. Do you think I've not worked out how to milk the system?

Nope, you moralise a fair bit.

Friend had the same issue recently after trashing what she thought was 2 tyres after hitting a pothole filled with water. She obviously had to stop and had whilst waiting to be rescued took some photos. The tyre fitter then told her the 2 wheels were cracked beyond repair! 2 wheels + tyres = £400, ins excess of £500. Tried claiming from council who passed it on to their insurers who then ask for proof but will not accept photos alone. They want witnesses? She was on her own!

That's bollocks trekster - I'd contest that. I have now successfully claimed for one wheel and set of front suspension and subsequently could have claimed for a second set (was told I had a valid claim and should claim by the council) but didn't. Both times I was alone. I'd argue that one all the way to the bank, or just find a passing stranger who wants to earn a few quid if they're insisting on playing silly buggers.

I don't like claim culture but putting up with my local council's shockingly maintained roads has led me firmly down the route of "if you don't claim they don't care". I phoned to complain about shockingly bad (some might say negligent) signage on a number of roadworks that offered a lethal surprise on an NSL road. I had the "engineer" in charge argue that it was all fine and up to scratch, until I dug out the regulations and quoted them to them word for word, with photos showing how they were wrong, the signage was not just inadequate but wrong and dangerous for the location and eventually they just said "just put in a claim". I came back to them asking if they were not bothered that their contractors were dangerous and incapable of doing the job properly and they ignored me. It'll be their elses loss when someone dies because they're paying peanuts, employing monkeys and not checking the roads are up to standard.

Totally agree coffee king but it is a vicious circle in that council pass the buck to insurers and round and round we go. Recent report in local rag says we have a £100m backlog in road repairs in the area with something like £5m being spent this year! We have some of the biggest sawmills in Europe in this area and the Stranraer euroroute so you can imagine the state some roads are in ❗
My friends case is not an isolated on I have heard of others and it comes up regularly in the local rag....

😯 @ CK

druidh - Member
Report the pothole tomorrow.

Report the broken wheel next week.

[quote=poly ]druidh - Member
Report the pothole tomorrow.
Report the broken wheel next week. great so we all get to pay for Al's new wheel, because he chose to run on fancy delicate rims and / or at excess speed for the road conditions.
Tsk - read the OP - it was a path, not a road 🙄

Still - I bet you've never ridden through a puddle.

Tsk - read the OP - it was a path, not a road

Still - I bet you've never ridden through a puddle.

I ride through all puddles, I distinctly lack any skill at all. However I know this and so:

(i) realise that puddles hide an unknown beneath them and so (especially on the road bike) tend to slow down.
(ii) am not kidding myself on that I am an elite cyclist, so don't need £90 rims; if I had expensive rims I would presumably have a 'commuter'/'tourer' that might be more suited to riding the meadows in the pissing rain.

If Favilli can bunnyhop Cav in the middle of a race then clearly Al's just needing some better skills.

[quote=poly ]If Favilli can bunnyhop Cav in the middle of a race then clearly Al's just needing some better skills.
Aye - and he'll be buying the bits at trade and re-building it himself no doubt 🙄 What a con-man.

Different councils have different policies, all of which are their interpretation of the rules. I know of councils that will just pay up no question because its easier then arguing/paying for highways inspectors/paying for endless repairs. Others will argue it until the cows come home because they have set inspection routines with repair schedules and timescales (24hrs, 28 days, 90days, as and when etc.).
Its got to be worth a try but I wouldn't hold your breath.

you were there poly?

...oh dear...it appears not...just desperate for a dig 🙄

Well, without asking, the council came and filled all the potholes down the mile long road to our yard and it's not even theirs, it's a private track. Thank-you Powys.
Unfortunately the National Park don't cut any of the rights of way around here, so I can't check for pot holes as my bars won't fit past the vegetation.

I'm pretty certain you have to prove the Council was negligent, which means either proving that the Council was made aware of the defect and failed to repair/make it safe or that it has been there for so long that it should've been identified as part of their routine highway inspections.

I reckon they successfully defend a lot of claims, simply because of the amount of people who try it on these days.

Seems to me the cooncil has to prove it has a reasonable inspection regime - I can't be expected to prove the age of a pothole.

It's legit so I don't see why I shouldn't claim.

Definitely worth a shot.

Well I claimed and ****ers are rebutting liability - there's a 3" exposed kerbstone FFS!

Small claim may be worth it.