Suing a council for car damage caused by potholes

[caveman_nige]

Has anybody here or anybody you know every complained to a council and then issed a small claim against them for car damage caused by potholes..

I nailed a rear shock absorber (thought I had shreaded the tyre as well but hadn't) on a local pothole.. I want to pass the repair bill onto my council who have a duty to keep the roads in a safe and drivable standard.. They have obviously been out repairing potholes as there are a lot after the recent cold weather but they are not doing it fast enough and there are some that are just getting bigger and bigger every time they get hit...

[mickyboy]

sorry to hear that m8 ,your right the roads are a disgrace, round ma way ive had to change antiroll bar droplinks on front of ma car twice in the past year caused by pot holes ,ive been meaning to get in ta the local council but i was told i need to proove thier neglagence ,anyway have a look here m8

http://www.weeklygripe.co.uk/a89.asp

[yamar1]

Has anybody here or anybody you know every complained to a council and then issed a small claim against them for car damage caused by potholes..

I nailed a rear shock absorber (thought I had shreaded the tyre as well but hadn't) on a local pothole.. I want to pass the repair bill onto my council who have a duty to keep the roads in a safe and drivable standard.. They have obviously been out repairing potholes as there are a lot after the recent cold weather but they are not doing it fast enough and there are some that are just getting bigger and bigger every time they get hit...

could you be more specific, was it not a broken spring?. i think they would say wear and tear myself, unless maybee the car was new. but i would google it, im sure if it was possible to claim every man and his dog would be claiming for new suspension.

[hoggy952]

its worth claiming.
a freind of mine went down a pothole which was about four inches deep and he put a claim into the council for damaged springs on his car.
but first he had to get a ruler, and a camera, to take a picture of the hole with the ruler in the hole to show the council how deep it was.
at first they were not interested, but you have to persevere in the end he threatened to take them to court.
he asked them to give him five reasons why they would not pay him out after all it was their hole and they havent repaired it.
they gave in and paid him out in full.
my advice would be if a pothole damages your car claim for it.
in the end you will get your damage paid for,they will try and put you off but keep at it dont give up.

[mickarick]

Take pics then phone the council they will ask you to put your claim in writing detailing the damaged caused and if you have a estimate for a repair let them know, we hit one and i have to say they were very understanding .

[tomhick024]

Def worth a try!!

Friend of mine claimed new tyre from local town council here in ROI a couple of months back after driving in to a ~~~~ing crator in town, but I think they are trying to bring in changes nationally here though, cause they cant afford road repairs, things are gone that bad.
And to add, the average road tax here is approx 350euro.
340 on a 1.5l car here -robbing ba...rds!

[N311Y]

a friend of mine successfully claimed when he damaged his car in a large pothole, they paid for the repair of the damage pretty quickly!

[lincsat]

Shame you can't claim for damage caused by speed-humps, some of them are much more savage than potholes.

[caveman_nige]

have a had a nice arguement with some muppet at the council, i expected to really as i somewhat stereotype them... I went to take a pick but the road is way to busy an impossible to get there and take a focused pic in daylight without getting run over.. Will have another go tomorrow morning..

[krazylegz]

from what i gather nige, you can't claim if the council isn't aware of it. so if someone has rang up and complained about the pothole before you did your damage then you can but if no-ones complained then you can't.

not sure how true it is so dont hold me to it but i read it on a car forum a few weeks back...

[ruudvandan]

from what i gather nige, you can't claim if the council isn't aware of it. so if someone has rang up and complained about the pothole before you did your damage then you can but if no-ones complained then you can't.

not sure how true it is so dont hold me to it but i read it on a car forum a few weeks back...

that is completely true. The council will only pay out if they have been negligent. However it is not necessarily dependant on whether or not someone has reported it. Under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 the council has a statutory obligation to maintain the highway at the public expense. Under Section 58 of the same act it states councils can defend a claim if they have taken reasonable steps to maintain the highway.

These reasonable steps can be found in a document called "Well Maintained Highways" which is a nationally agreed code of practise approved by the DFT LGA and loads of other relevant bodies. What this states is that councils must inspect each road at lease once a year, for unclassifeid local access roads, quarterly for link roads, and monthly for main roads. If they haven't inspected it within the relevant timescale from the last inspection, or have inspected it, found the pot hole and not repaired it within a reasonable timescale (about a month) without a good reason (like the roads getting resurfaces in 3 months time so it would be a waste of money) then they can be proved to have been negligent.

If a council asks you to prove that they have been negligent then you can request a street history report from them, giving details of previous inspections and repairs. The council is legally obliged to give this to you under the Freedom of Information Act.

Essentially, if you do damage your tyre on a pot hole you need to find one on an A road that you know has been there for some time and tell them you did it there

[Steve L]

The onus with regards to councils looking after roads is on them. If a pothole develops, many councils either do not look for repair work, or will tell you that the legal standpoint is that they were not aware of the problem, so it is not their negligence.

However, as the law has often proven, ignorance is not a defence and they SHOULD be inspecting all their roads regularly to comply with their legal obligations.

Don't be fobbed off, try and download a legal letter from MS Office online to send to them, as a professionally drafted letter, which appears to have been sent from someone who knows law, or has been advised by a professional law person, usually *****s their ears up and gets the ball rolling a lot faster.

[CHRISTOF]

i claimed them years ago for a new tyre and alloy on the same day mine got ~~~~ed another three guys in my work don it aswell it was like a crater.first thing i done was get that days paper and put beside pothole and took a pic,phoned them got forms to fill in ect and about a month later got a cheque not for full amount tho coz i was claiming for brand new tyre and alloy???!