corradoboy

Last month the G/F hit a large pothole resulting in a buckled alloy and damaged tyre. We took photos of the hole, spoke to residents on the street whom confirmed the road had been in a poor state for many months (as is the whole of Leeds ) and submitted a claim.
We have just received a letter from their insurers, along with some dubious council work reports which state that the hole had been reported just prior to our incident and was repaired shortly afterwards, and therefore the claim was refused. Whilst I have no way to prove the validity of the worksheets, I do have a pledge from one resident whom is prepared to make a statement that he had reported the general bad condition of the road to the highways department and his local MP several times in the six months prior to our incident.

So, as in the title what is the timescale for repairs to reported defects ? I have no doubt that if the documents provided are as dubious as I suspect that they will cover their @r$e$, but given the possible testimony the resident mentioned, would I have a case in small claims court ?

Here's a couple of the pics taken.....




The small light coloured spec in the middle is a pound coin to illustrate size.


I used the plank of wood to illustrate depth.

Thanks in advance.

OllyK

How the **** did she manage to hit that, was the guide dog not looking at the time?

corradoboy

I knew someone would ask that She says the road width was restricted by parked cars and she was following another car quite closely. He jinked to avoid it, when she saw it she reacted in the same direction on impulse but hit it. If she'd not reacted she would have missed

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

So what you're saying is that she steered INTO it?

I think your claim is with her...........

Alcazar

OllyK

I assume the hole has actually been repaired now? When do the residents say it was repaired?

Having read other threads on here and now declaring myself a SN pot hole guru (in otherwords there is a good chance that everything that follows is complete horse manure), I understand that you will only get a valid claim if the hole had already been reported and it hadn't been repaired within a given period of time (not sure of the exact periods, but I think we are talking weeks). If you're the first to report it, then unless you can show that the hole has been there so long the council should have resonably picked up during periodic checks, then it's just tough. Please see earlier caveat Good luck!

ajm

I have had mixed feelings about potholes and claims, since I read somewhere that more of our local council road budget goes towards paying claims than it does towards road maintenance! There's a vicious cycle in there somewhere....

OllyK

Not quite what you were after but...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3186991.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/...00/1961096.stm

OllyK

I know it's Bourhemouth - but some useful background reading non the less
http://www.bournemouth.gov.uk/Reside...nal_Injury.asp

EvilKyote

That is NOT a pot hole!!!





















































Thats a friggin meateor crater!!!!

corradoboy

The cycle begins with the councils I'm afraid. A good friend of mine on Bradford Council confided in me that they only repair the most severe potholes where it is a real danger to public safety, as it is actually cheaper to simply pay out the few who can be @r$ed to claim.
The number of severe potholes in & around Leeds is disgusting and the council should be tried for theft of taxes. They have a duty of care to maintain the public highways and they simply aren't doing it. They waste plenty of our cash on tarting up roundabouts so they can win a poxy "Britain in Bloom" award and a load of lazy fat @r$es council embezlers can have a free lunch and a plaque to display in the Town Hall, but it's all a bit of a farce when the roundabout's surface looks like a typical Afghani backroad
I suppose the sensible idea is to buy an off-roader that can cope with 21st century bLIARs economically vibrant wealthy upwardly aspirational cash rich lunar landscape road network

ajm

I agree with what you are saying, councils do waste copious amounts of money, but I'm sure there are many claims that are bogus too!

Another council trait I cannot stand is their annual "spend what's left in the road repair coffers or we won't get the same amount next year" activity which comes at the end of the financial year and involves pouring tar all over the road and sprinkling loose chippings all over it.... usually on a very hot day.

Then, 2 months later, all our cars are stone chipped, covered in tar spots and the road surface has been worn back down on every turning by the differentials on trucks and buses!

corradoboy

So, apart from taking the p!$h out of my G/F and slating councils, can anyone shead any light on whether we would have a successful claim in SCC or should we just accept the made up work reports that cover the councils' @r$£

OllyK

As I said - do you have evidence that they are fraudulent - i.e. witnesses that can confirm that the hole was never repaired? If not, think you'll just have to bite the bullet. But it may be worth writing to your MP / councellor

gsm1

All I can add is that Trevor Brooking (of West Ham and owning his own plastics company fame) made a claim for his Mondeo wheel against Newham council and won.

mart360

If the pothole is still there,

get your girlfriend to fall in and suffer an injury..

wheres thers blame theres a claim!!!



Mart

DazKXF250

I hit a pothole whilst travelling along one of the back lanes near my home (Nowhere near as bad as that) I took photos and submitted a claim. The response from the Councils insurers said "the council could not ensure every road was in perfect condition all of the time and that the stretch was inspected 2 weeks earlier, nothing was reported and therefore they would not be held liable".

After this i was fuming as I had just put the new tyre on about a week before, I simply wrote back saying that I have witnesses that can confirm that it was there long before they said they had inspected, asked them for a copy of the report and simply said that I would take up the matter via the small claims court if they would not accept liability - two weeks later bobs your uncle a cheque for £109.

Insurers will try it on first time, but I'm sure if you threaten to take them to a small clims court, which will cost them a lot more than the price of your damaged wheel and tyre, they'll soon change there minds.

Daz.

lawson101

Local Authorities have a duty of care placed upon them by law to maintain the footpaths and carriageways that they are responsible for.
However, it is a reasonable duty of care in the eyes of the law. So as long as the Council can show that they have acted reasonably then they will be able to deny liability.
The Council will have a system of regular inspection (eg. yearly, 6 monthly, quarterly, monthly, depending on the classification of carriageway) to identify and repair defects.
If at the last inspection there were no 'actionable' defects present, eg something deeper than 40mm, and the Council were unaware that a defect had arisen then they can show that they have acted reasonably and liability will be repudiated.

But......if you raise the matter as an action in court then the Council will often just pay it as the legal costs outweigh the cost of the claim. Bear in mind though that this isn't always the case and they can quite as easily defend it. Then its down to the judge to decide who he favours.