[Closed] Pot hole damage! 4 wheel content - advice?

You'll need to prove that the council were aware of the hole and had failed to take action

Is it an unmade/unadopted road? (If you hit a pothole that big its likely) If so, the council arn't responsible anyway.

Pike post this on www.pistonheads.com forum

No, it's a proper b road. There are white lines sprayed round it, so it looks like someone is aware!!

The roads have a taken a fair hammering in the sunny south, where I am, this year, the worst I've seen in my 40 years!!

Cheers Hora, I'll give it a go....

What's the point in having a 4WD if it get's buggered by a pothole?

Sell it and buy a 40yr old Opel Kadett

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Er, I have. I claimed a new (2nd hand) set of wheels from Lancs County Council after hitting a pothole and bending two of them. It was cheaper for a set 2nd hand than for two new before anyone shouts at me.

I rang the highways department, they supplied me with a claim form (so they're obviously used to having to pay out for damage caused by shoddy roads) which I returned with pictures of the wheels, the pothole and the road around it showing the location.

You'll need to prove that the council were aware of the hole and had failed to take action

I don't think I did, I just sent them the form and threw myself on their mercy.

To be fair to them there was no problem after I proved the car was mine, insured, roadworthy and I explained why I was claiming for four wheels rather than just the two that were damaged

I got payed out for a bent alloy on my clio; payed the full ammount out.

He didn't say its a 4x4, just that it has 4 wheels 🙂

You'll need to prove that the council were aware of the hole and had failed to take action

I don't think I did, I just sent them the form and threw myself on their mercy.

You will have to prove they were aware first, I've had it twice now. I have two flatspotted alloys and no cash - "we cant be aware of all potholes, you can only claim if we have been warned but not repaired it, oh and if it belongs to the gas/elec/phone company you have to claim from them..."

I give in.

you only need to prove it if they dispute your claim on the basis they didn't know about it and hadn't done something about it in a 'reasonable time'.
it'll be the council's highway's dept unless it's a motorway. the fact that it has paint sprayed around it suggests they do know about it. take pics as soon as you can, get a quote to repair from a main dealer, and get the forms to fill.

you only need to prove it if they dispute your claim on the basis they didn't know about it and hadn't done something about it in a 'reasonable time'.

Which is every time in my experience.

Yup, white lines around it suggest you'll get full payment without question.

It is not hard to damage tyres / rims but how big a hole is it to cause (I expect) the sump to make ground contact?

Get some photo's of it ASAP.

I have read some time ago that local councils do budget for this kind of occurrence as it cheaper than having a reactionary repair team. That's ok financially but doesn't help when the poor ****er that hit the hole is riding a motorbike...

Ripped the sump off the wifes Alfa at a cost of circa £400.

Inspite of good photos/local testimonies, didn't get anywhere.

My time is precious - I perhaps could have pursued it harder, but seemed to be all sewn up.

Actually I recently hit a ****-off huge pothole that was like driving up a kerb, now I have wheel bearing damage. Try proving that to the council 🙁

Yes - as above, take pictures (with proof of size of hole ie take a ruler with you) and then send a nice letter with pictures and evidence of repair costs (with an engineer's report confirming how the damage was done) and you might get paid out. Ihad similar - bent an alooy, damaged a tyre and threw out the tracking - I was paid in full by Leeds Council.

if you go onto the golfgti forum and search there is a guy that mashed up a brand new R32 Golf, he sued the local council and get a full pay out.

as mr fanylion said, this guys took photos, measurements etc

so it can be done

I hit a large pothole on a narrow 2 lane road a few years ago, car beside me so no way to avoid. Ended up with a big bulge on the sidewall of the front tyre. Called the council (Glasgow) and the guy was very helpful. E-mailed me claim form and told me to take lots of pics. Council settled very quickly for new tyre, fitting and tracking.

Cheers everybody, I'm mildly hopefull being a glass half full kind of guy!

Brant - Guess what - It's an Alfa!!!

I'll check the wheel to then, it's an 18" alloy, so dont want to miss any problems with that as it sounds fairly common!

I've reported to the Highways Agency, raised one report for the pothole and one for the oli slick outside my house 🙄 Can't be done under the same incident!

I'll be photographing this afternoon while trying not to make matters worse by getting run over!!

You reported the oil slick outside your house? Most people would just clean it up?

i did the same, told council who were ace. Then the bastards filled it in and said they "knew" about it!!

Lane near us about a mile long. It's dodgy at the best of times. I came home last week to find a sign warning of a pothole at each end but no indication where the pothole is.

Turned out to be under a puddle. Nearly lost the car down it but instead rewarded with a scraping noise from something that sounded both important and expensive.

Thanks speedy_b329

I must remember to read thread titles properly

Here's the sod that got my front left wheel the other day, photo taken today, I find out the hole has been reported twice already....
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