Pothole blues...

[GardinerG]

I was having a pleasant blast down them country lanes in Surrey this morning, I go round a corner and wallop straight through a huge pothole. Even if I had spotted it in time I couldn't avoid it due to a car coming the other way. It's a nice small hole in the road nearly 1m x 50cm x 15cm deep at the centre, with a lovely lip to greet you on the way back out. Ouch.

My lovely MTMs are now sporting a fashionable oval shape. Whilst it's pretty and all it does kind of make them a bit useless for driving. D'oh! Needless to say I've been back and taken pictures and reported it to the council so they can see I've logged the damn thing. Next to get the work fixed and then send the Highways agency the bill.

This may sound like a silly question but if the rim isn't cracked can they be unbent?

If any of you have successfully claimed for such work I'd really appreciate you telling me how you did it.

It's down Hook Lane in Puttenham, southbound about 300 yards from the B3000 if you wish to avoid it...

Oh well, back to the OEM wheels for now. Grrrr.

CheeRS!

Grant

[MalcolmSu]

I heard one of those consumer programs on the radio the other morning where someone had asked a similar question about claiming for tyre and wheel damage from a pothole.

The 'legals' response was it was unreasonable for the council/highways agency to know about every hole in their road network and consequently it was unlikely for the first person to report it or to claim for damages to be successful. However if it had been reported and they hadn't repaired it and then subsequently damage occured then that person stood a greater chance of 'compensation'.

The more reports and the greater the length of time between report and damage also increased the chance of a succesful claim...

...but then how do we know when the hole appeared and if anyone reported it before?? They could say anything?!

[mbelle]

AFAIK you can have wheels straightened (I have a friend who is going to straighten 2x B5 RS4 wheels for me), but I'm unsure if I would use them afterwards (I sourced replacements for my bent ones when they were bent)

Problem I think you'll have is that after they've been straightened, surely, and by reasonable logic, that area of the alloy will be somewhat weaker, even weaker than initially bending it in the pothole, and I'm not sure I'd like to be driving around with those wheel(s) on my car knowing that...

[GardinerG]

One of them is dead, the other is bent on inside/inside rim. If I had it fixed I would only keep it as a spare, not as one of the roadwheels - if you know what I mean.

[bobbler]

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

I like the way the council has a get out clause of - it wasn't dangerous when we last looked at it within the bare minimum we can be arsed to do, so therefore its not dangerous when you bash in to it. However it then becomes dangerous again when you report it.
Jobsworth self serving female genitalia like most public funded services.

[tweek]

This was posted in the Telegraph Honest John Column, maybe of interest..

The skids

My car sustained a serious suspension collapse after hitting a number of potholes at the side of the road. It skidded to a halt and was then immovable, so had to be towed out by a breakdown outfit that caused further damage. I took pictures of the road condition and damage to the vehicle (which cost more than £1,000 to fix) and claimed against the council, which put the matter to its insurers. I am now told the council cannot be liable because the road is inspected on an annual basis, so it can't be held responsible for the condition of the road between inspections. Whom do I sue? Some road repairs have now taken place, but not in the exact spot where the incident occurred.
P.M., New Barnetby


Sue the council. There is negligence in public office if it only inspects the road annually. That you have as much in writing virtually wins your Small Claims Court case.

[GardinerG]

I've been in contact with the Highways agency in Kingston who are trying to pass the buck to their insurance co. They are asking for V5, MOT, insurance details etc, and I'm asking myself why is it any of their business? It's not like they are the police... Why do I have to deal with their insurance company, and furthermore why do they think I should go through my insurance company for the repairs?

[tweek]

Suggest you focus their attention by suing the council in the small claims as per Honest John's recommendation above. All the demands for information show they are wriggling hoping you've messed up and they can say you shouldn't have been driving on the road in the first place.

Why do we pay these people to be this dumb!

[PaulF]

Just to offer some light at the end of your tunnel, I had a similar claim against my council for damage caused by a pothole and got paid out. It was actually the county authority rather than local authority who dealt with it and whilst I had to provide some bona fidaes to show the car was legal there was no question of anyone's insurers getting involved. The pothole in question was actually in my road and I was waiting for the old "you should have known that it was there" but it didn't materialise. Good luck with it.