Has anyone suffered damage to an alloy wheel and successfully claimed repair/replacement costs back from the council ????

 

If so, how did you go about it and what was the time-frame involved ????

 

I hit a rather large pothole on a corner and damaged one of my vans 18" alloys :-( ..........

You need to go back and take photo's of the pothole, including measurements of depth and size.

 

I know a few people who have claimed, and the pothole has to be over a certain depth for them to admit liability.

You need to go back and take photo's of the pothole, including measurements of depth and size.

 

I know a few people who have claimed, and the pothole has to be over a certain depth for them to admit liability.

 

I have taken lots of photos of the hole and of the damage to the wheel ....... I also have approx. measurements of size and depth ........ it's not so much a pothole as a poor repair around a drain ....... depth was about 7 inches !!!!!

pic of pot and damage please, i have intrest in this cas i substaned damage to one of my new tyres and got home took photos and complaned ,i couldnt of been the first cas next day they cam and filled in but i have phtos of said hole so must of been enough to warrant damage

http://www.theaa.com/breakdown-cover/pothole-damage-how-to-claim.html

 

Alan.......

yeah their usually quick to repair them after a complaint too so photos there and then was a good idea the wonders of modern tech having a phone/camera in your pocket at all times :) let us know how you got on :)

You need to go back and take photo's of the pothole, including measurements of depth and size.

 

I know a few people who have claimed, and the pothole has to be over a certain depth for them to admit liability.

 

Photos are essential - although whilst I am not so sure on whether the dimensions of the offending 'hole count; I do know that there is a reasonable time frame in which the council must be permitted to have had the chance to inspect/repair the damage.

 

For example, if it happened yesterday afternoon; and the pot hole only appeared yesterday morning, then it would not have been reasonable for the council to have known about it. However if it has been there for weeks and nothing has happened; then you are within your rights to claim. Under the Freedom of Information Act, you are entitled to have access to the council's inspection records appertaining to the road in question. And if said records show they have inspected the road and duly knew about the 'hole before your vehicle incurred damage, then you will certainly win any claim against them.

 

All councils are as obstructive as possible in order to put you off claiming - but insist on seeing the inspection records; it's your legal right! And if you spot that they knew about the 'hole; forget following their "claims" procedure. Just write a letter enclosing photos - and when you get the usual "follow our procedure" bullshit, just whack in a small claims court summons. They will certainly pay out rather than incur the cost of defending a claim they will most likely lose - and you get to add the cost of issuing the summons to the claim. BUT only do this when you are certain they knew about the pot hole sufficiently before your vehicle was damaged, to have allowed them reasonable time to fix it. Otherwise they will most likely successfully defend your claim!!

 

Richard:cool:

Thanks for all your replies guys ............ the pothole in question is more of a botched repair around a drain as the edges are dead straight as are the hole walls .......... whatever they filled the space around the drain with (if they filled it at all) has been eroded, and not by rain as it has gone uphill !!!

 

Will let you know how I get on ...................

Sorry to hear about this Apache......

I had this years ago and got 2 wheel2 out of the 4 paid out for..... Unfortunately the wheels were no longer available to buy and they refused to pay for a set as only 2 were damaged......

so cost me 2 and the council 2 for me to get car back on the road.... manhole cover had collapsed hole next to it so metal cover popped tyre off rim as i dropped into the hole....

Took me ages to get them to acknowledge and pay out, they wanted insurance details, photo's, witnesses, etc....

Luckily the shop owner opposite had called them the week before and reported the hole, yet they had done nothing......

I was told to use a fag packet stood up on its edge to show perspective and height as that is about the size of a hole that they consider for damage claims..... That is why I carry fags and smoke still.....:whistling:

Don't give up..... you can check to see if anyone else reported the hole to the council under freedom of information request I believe...?

They take our taxes and don't repair the roads......

http://www.potholes.co.uk/