Potholes

[Niraj]

How do I contact the council with regards to this situation.... pics below (excuse the quality of the photo's they're taken from a cameraphone) > :(

all help appreciated... thank you.

[RayKhan]

Phone the local council and ask for the highways agency, make sure you keep the photographs, they help your claim.

Where did it happen?

[Niraj]

I just rang Brent Council, they informed me it was Barnet Council who take care of the particular road.

I phoned Barnet and they have given me a reference number to contact their claims department.

here's where it happened clickety click you can see a large section of the road just after it that was patched up not more than 2 months ago. Also visible in my pics.

[GWilso]

Yep phone the local council they can put you through quite dangerous really that looks like a fast road if it was wet that could have easily put you in the barrier

Let us know how you get on with the claim

[simon k]

Yep phone the local council they can put you through quite dangerous really that looks like a fast road if it was wet that could have easily put you in the barrier

Let us know how you get on with the claim

i have had this happen twice in my old is 200, it didnt damage the rim as bad as yours but it knocked the tyre off the rim,

sheffield city council were not bothered they said that the roads are inspected every 2 months for repairs that are needed,and that no repairs were required the last time they inspected the road so they were not liable as they were not aware of the pothole and i should claim on my own insurance.

i hope your council dont have the same policy as mine?

[Niraj]

i'm not sure what my local council policy is, but by the looks of the picture, a repair was carried out on the pictured pothole, but obviously the repair was not good enough as some of the tarmac has come away from the original filling of the ditch.

it'll be a case of wait and see :(

current news:

cost of new rim £195.23+VAT.

cost of new tyre = still searching (£est 90)

yet another month of no savings for me... lol

[Scarlet Pimpernell]

Niraj, as Simon says speak first to your Insurance company. They will have a process. I would say that you have all the evidence you need...and the damage will no doubt have knocked the geometry etc for 6 too...

[Niraj]

Yeh i'm certain the geometry took a massive wollop, will have to get Tony to check it out for me.

I think the insurance company is fed up of me calling them every month.

I was reading this site : http://www.zen35747.zen.co.uk/htm/pothole_claim2.htm which helps explain the things i need to do. Though with these things, the council will always try and defend themselves finding loopholes out of compensating for the damage in any way possible.

I'll follow things by the book, and see what justice prevails.

[Infinity]

Hello everybody, just back from a long Christmas working break

in Dubai. Sympathy please i have a cold.

I work in traffic management and have much experience with this type of incident.

And i agree with Simon K the council will deny liability, its VERY difficult to process a claim against a council for pothole damage. Along with the highway inspection records they will sight highway code and drivers responsibility to avoid obstructions or highway debris.

If it was a person would you have still driven over it, has been used before as a response.

Or you cant prove you did it on our road, it could have happened in an accident and your using the pothole to claim for your own damage. The burden of proof falls to you unfortunatly. Its easy for them to argue against it.

A council dustbin wagon damaged my Astra a couple of years ago, their insurance company refused to pay even though my next door neighbour witnessed the bin wagon go past and the men looking at the car, she did not actually see it happen. NO CLAIM cost me £350.00 for a new wing and bumper painted.

Good luck with the claim, but i think its an uphill struggle.

Infinity........

Yep phone the local council they can put you through quite dangerous really that looks like a fast road if it was wet that could have easily put you in the barrier

Let us know how you get on with the claim

i have had this happen twice in my old is 200, it didnt damage the rim as bad as yours but it knocked the tyre off the rim,

sheffield city council were not bothered they said that the roads are inspected every 2 months for repairs that are needed,and that no repairs were required the last time they inspected the road so they were not liable as they were not aware of the pothole and i should claim on my own insurance.

i hope your council dont have the same policy as mine?

[derekyau]

I'd suggest taking the photo of the hole again with a newspaper in the same shot showing the date as well - just so that they can't accuse you of having an old photo, or them running over and fixing it before any investigations/claims get processed...

[Niraj]

How can I ensure that I win my claim?

It seems like i've already lost before i've begun... :(

I couldn't avoid the pothole, it was morning traffic, and cars were infront, behind and at the side of me for a reasonable safe maneouvre without endangering other road users.

Why would I (a car enthusiast) want to damage my own wheels by purposely driving through a pothole?

Anyway, i've got a few video's of the offending crater...

Video2 shows other road users attempting to avoid the hole, and the road speed.

Video3 shows the road leading upto the pothole but no signs of any warning of it and can be seen 61 seconds into the video.

Video4 again shows the road leading upto the pothole, and can be seen in it's entirety at 81 seconds.

:(

[Steve ( West Mids )]

Might be worth takinf a few more pics with a ruler across the hole and also into the deepest part.

[Parthiban]

I don't think it will be easy but it is possible especially as it is Barnet council - I've read loads of articles in the local newspapers about the council complaining about how much they pay out in compensation over damaged vehicles (why not just fix the roads then? )

If they're unresponsive, then make an appointment to see your local MP when he's doing one of his local surgeries, that really gets things moving (got me off a parking ticket with so little hassle)

If that doesn't work (even though I think it should), then approach the local papers, as they seem to like those stories.

Hard luck on the damage though, was thinking you must have been all out of bad luck after the last lot of trouble.......

[ROYT]

The council should not be allowed to crawl out of liability......what about the small claims court?

might be worth a try, it's pretty straightforward....

[simon k]

after replying to this post on friday i drove home and caught my tyre on the edging stones on my drive, i thought nothing of it until sunday when i was washing the car when i found a gash in the side of the tyre,after driving around all the tyre companys i finally found one at quick fit which cost £105 just my luck.

i have noticed that the tyres on the car are bridgestone polenza and the new one is a bridgestone turenza whats the difference?

[Parthiban]

after replying to this post on friday i drove home and caught my tyre on the edging stones on my drive, i thought nothing of it until sunday when i was washing the car when i found a gash in the side of the tyre,after driving around all the tyre companys i finally found one at quick fit which cost £105 just my luck.

i have noticed that the tyres on the car are bridgestone polenza and the new one is a bridgestone turenza whats the difference?

The Potenza's are the high performance tyre, while the Turanza's have more of a comfort orientation compared to the Potenza's.

Would be worth checking whether it's ok having different tyres on the car, I've never been comfortable doing that because I wouldn't want different levels of grip on either side of the car but as they're the same brand not sure how much of a problem it would be.

[simon k]

anybody else no anything about the different tyres? i dont want to ring kwick fit to complain to be told theres nothing to worry about

[Steve ( West Mids )]

I'd phone / email Bridgestone and ask if I was you, think it's importany on the rating and such as well due to wieght of car. Try a search to find previous post.

here you go found it:

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/ind...535&hl=tyre

[simon k]

thanks

i have e-mailed bridgestone waiting for a reply, also spoke to lexus who said it shouldnt be a problem

[SHAHZ]

Nij hope you manage to get some money out of these :tsktsk: ......happened to me ages ago, tight wads didnt want to know, and said it was thames water that had dug up the road and to contact them.....just bought a new one myself....couldnt be bothered

[Hando]

Niraj - how did this end? (If it has?)

This has just happened to me today - A303 near Warminster - massive pothole and has totalled my rim (TTE Chicane too).

Wasn't able to get a photo of the hole (it's a fast A road with no verges) - so I'm thinking my chance of claiming back cash are close to zilch (won't stop me trying though).

Had to get a new one this afternoon - dealer didn't have any in stock apart from one stuck to the wall of the showroom - but got them to fit that one.

I seem to remember Scarface (Surgical V) mashing up his chicane but getting it fixed so I might see if my mangled one can be put right as an emergency spare.

ho hum - good luck with your claim and let us know the outcome...

[trevman]

This is a big issue nowadays as our roads have now declined to such a poor standard.

For help & advice see: http://www.potholes.co.uk

[jason325i]

i actually tripped and broke fibia and tibia on a pavement that had cobble stones missing out of it ...

(before you say if i was drunk i problebly wouldnt have done any damage at all !!! :P )

i took pics and the council got out of it by having a statatory deffence by checking pathways every 6 month's

hope you can do beeter though m8