Pot holes

Author
Discussion

mash

Original Poster:

117 posts

267 months

Tuesday 23rd January 2007
quotequote all
Anyone out there had any luck getting compensation from their local council for two burst tyres and a f@?cked alloy?

trickywoo

12,942 posts

245 months

Wednesday 24th January 2007
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They are bastwerts to get compensation out of.

You will need pictures of the hole that caused the damage pictures of the damgage and quotes to put right.

The more effort you take making your claim the more likely you are to get some money back.

mash

Original Poster:

117 posts

267 months

Wednesday 24th January 2007
quotequote all
Thanks, I assumed I may be in for the long haul. Of course if we fail to pay our council tax........

MeLLoN Stu

21,410 posts

230 months

Saturday 17th February 2007
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I had a rather painless experience with a claim.
Basically i had just put a brand new set of wheels on one of the Skylines, and was heading down a local countrylane.
Knew what was coming as soon as i saw it, and due to a combination of a narrow, barrier lined country lane, and oncoming traffic i was unable to avoid it, rendering one of my wheels damaged.
Reported it, and a few weeks later i was reimbursed for the cost of a new wheel and tyre.

Some tips which i was told, and might help you:

Take a photo of the offending pothole.
Make sure it's not a digital photo, and put something in the hole to give and idea of scale. Cigarette packet or a ruler is ideal. Do this before you report it or very soon after.

Report it, different councils employ different means of reporting it, but basically you should make them aware of the estimated value of the damage, if it's say an alloy wheel, supply the price of a new wheel or a reciept if they're aftermarket, or a quote from the dealer of said wheel.

If the pothole is fixed within 48 hours i think it is, the council or authority responsible is not liable to pay out, but they still may in very very fortunate circumstances.

My claim was simply a case of going to the civic centre council offices, filling a form out, sending the evidence to them and i recieved a cheque a couple of weeks later. I'm told not all councils are this efficient and it could take months.

Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Stu

CombeMarshal

2,030 posts

241 months

Saturday 17th February 2007
quotequote all
Yeah, piece of cake, they have even now resurfaced the whole road, about 1 miles, and I like to think it's because of me, so smooth it is now!!!!

theCreeper

1,062 posts

226 months

Saturday 17th February 2007
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Get on to your local authority about the pot holes on your route. I reported one recently - a particularly bad one - and within a week it was sorted!

There is usually a specific link on their website to register the 'complaint'.

Might just prevent a few buckled wheels......

amandaa

1 posts

256 months

Thursday 22nd February 2007
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There's a really good site called http://potholes.co.uk they show you the cost of damage and how to claim.

Mrs Big Bird

24 posts

221 months

Monday 12th March 2007
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Just seen this.

Yep not council tho - two bent steering arms and an hour waiting on the tow truck coz the auto-shutoff had activated (well I didn't know!) - on my Mini Cooper courtesy of Southern Water. Phoned council and they told me who had been working on the road so then fired off letter to SW who paid up (eventually).

Good luck!

Racingdude009

5,303 posts

262 months

Monday 12th March 2007
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I noticed they seem to be rather a lot of them at the moment.

Ended up in one yesterday car does not feel quite the same have a feeling I have either unbalanced a wheel or knocked out my tracking.

00161wj

566 posts

223 months

Sunday 15th April 2007
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A mate from work bent a 19 inch chrome on his mitso gto. didnt send pictures etc i dont think, just a nasty letter and got a cheque back from them no hassle.

Flat in Fifth

46,811 posts

266 months

Saturday 21st April 2007
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our lot have this

http://worcestershire.whub.org.uk/hom

Mind you they define a reportable pothole as:-

If a pothole meets the criteria specified below, then it can be reported:

Carriageways

Potholes or edge failure 200mm diameter x 40 mm deep
(roughly the width of a dinner plate, and the depth of a fist).
Ironwork either low or upstanding 20mm

Footways & Cycle ways

Potholes or edge failure 200mm diameter x 20 mm deep
Ironwork and projections (i.e. back of kerb) 20mm deep

alextgreen

15,587 posts

257 months

Monday 30th April 2007
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Not a bad area to get lost on purpose in - I would make some suggestions but I generally just drive without really noticing where I am :blush:

monty quick

230 posts

251 months

Thursday 10th May 2007
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I know the whole topic of roads has been done to death but I want to start a new rant. We pay one of the highest fuel taxes in the world, we are one of the few countries that apply a road tax, these taxes are increased regularly and at levels massively above the rate of inflation yet we have the worst road system in the whole of Western Europe. The UK has insufficient road capacity plus the conditions of many roads are now really dangerous. We have all witnessed damaged wheels and tyres but I witnessed a horrific bike crash where the poor sod was thrown from his bike at high speed by a pot hole in the middle of the lane easily 200mm deep. Last night the Blackwall Tunnel was closed north bound. This single problem caused complete gridlock across north and south East London, much of West Kent and all of the M25. My commute normally takes about 2 hours (would be 1hour with decent roads and less congestion) but last night it took almost 4hours. I am already using my limited political power and certainly will note vote labour under any circumstances. If a party ever comes up with a motoring friendly mandate they can be assured of my support!

ol' dirty

9,074 posts

230 months

Wednesday 23rd May 2007
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deffinately take a picture of it as said above.



I had a run in with the Swindon Council, went over a pot hole in my clio sport,



bent my suspension strut, ripped a panel clean off in the engine bay & put a dent in the roof next to the sunroof.yikes



Council looked into it & said they were not liable as they had carried out their 6 monthly surveys as agreed.

Still I was told to pursue them for compensation, but could not be without a car waiting to get it repaired so it was sold

TOENHEEL

4,501 posts

242 months

Friday 22nd June 2007
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This has just happened to me on the A19 in Sunderland. The highways people are re-surfacing the road and left all the drain covers exposed at least 4 inches with no cones in front of them. Speed limit of 50mph. I am now in the process of getting new wheels and tyres and front splitter through my insurance but i intend to claim back my excess and any other costs. I have some paperwork coming from the council. We went back to the road to get some photographs of the exposed covers and another car while we were present hit the same drain and blew his front wheel up on his Audi. I have his name and contact details so im hoping we have a strong enough case.

fatboy18

19,352 posts

226 months

Monday 9th July 2007
quotequote all
If a party ever comes up with a motoring friendly mandate they can be assured of my support!
IVE JUST SEEN THAT FLYING PIG AGAIN hehe

Edited by fatboy18 on Monday 9th July 23:56