Pot Holes! Aargh!

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ProfCJJ

Member
What is the general wisdom on reporting pot holes to the council and then claiming any damages??

This PM I drove over (or into!) a pothole in the road about a mile from home. After a tremendous crash wallop as soon as o got home and parked up the driver’s side front tyre is essentially flat - so a puncture at a minimum. (I put non run flats all around about 3,000 miles ago) Couldn’t see much in the dark, no obvious dents to the rim (326s) - I’m fearing a crack now. I’ll be able to look closer tomorrow.

I want to contact the council tomorrow and want them to take responsibility- is there a “proper” way to do this (perhaps someone here has been through this before?)

As a side note - my TPMS does not seem to have indicated a puncture - even though the tyre is obviously flat!?

Thanks for any pointers.
 
Sorry to hear of your misfortune. Unless you have already I would photograph the pothole, the damage to your car and roughly measure the depth of the pothole if safe. At least then you have all the evidence possible and can email it to your local council.

I could be completely wrong but I’d imagine they will wash their hands of it pretty quickly :( worth a go though!
 
Go back and stick a ruler in it if it"s safe and take some photos. Then send the complaint and pictures of the pot hole and damage to your vehicle into them. Good luck. :thumbsup:

I wrecked two nearside tyres on my daily not so long ago. :roll: Did not realize for a day, as both were slow punctures in the side wall. No chance of a claim for me, but only £60 a tyre on the little Mazda2.
 
You can normally find a form online from the local authority for reporting.

If it’s anything like the one I went to fill in it was so bloody long I couldn’t be bothered. Which is I’m guessing what they hope you’ll do.
 
It won't help with compensation for you, but you can report pot holes etc here:
https://www.fillthathole.org.uk
Not a dodgy site, honest :lol:

It has been initiated by a cycling group but motorists use it as well

I've reported a few and the hole has always been repaired within a few days. Maybe coincidence or the council protecting itself, as they can't deny they knew about the pot hole
 
Like has been said, take a pic of the pothole and location, measure the depth and take a pic of the measurement, a few years ago this happened to me I complained filled out a form, then retrospectively a couple of days later, thought I should take some pics, and they had filled the hole in!!!! claim rejected :x
 
Also see if it is a pothole, as it could be a bad reinstatement from a utility company, then you can after them
 
Thanks for all the comments.

This morning I took the wheel off, after a good clean I cannot see any cracks and it doesn’t look buckled - which is good news. On trying to pump it up again it was obvious there was a leak almost on the sidewall - not good. Took it to Costco (where I got the new tyres fitted in June) and they confirmed it was a puncture and not repairable 🤬

So I have another tyre ordered to be fitted tomorrow - £180!

Southampton City council have a weblink to report pot holes as well as a separate link to claim compensation- I am guessing they will make it a long and painful process. Tomorrow I will try and photograph the pothole - the problem is it’s at a very busy junction and it’s in the middle of three lanes so quite dangerous I think. I’ll see what I can do tomorrow. Then I will submit to Southampton City council and hope for the best.

With the wheel off I looked for potential damage to suspension components etc but all appears well.

I’m not sure why the TPMS did not indicate a puncture - I assume it’s because it was not set properly? Once the new tyre is fitted I’ll try to make sure that is working.

All in all a shitty day changing the wheel in the pouring rain and having to fork out £180 that could have gone elsewhere.

Cheers
 
So I have my new tyre and will fit wheel when the rain stops!

In a break in the rain I went back to the place where the pothole is - its to busy to stop and stick a ruler in but between the lights changing I managed to extract the following. I'm not surprised I got the puncture - I'm more surprised the wheel didn't crack!!

I am now filling in the Southampton City Council webforms to notify pothole + claim ... lets see where this gets me.

Thanks for all the help once again.

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If you haven't completed your form yet it might be worth checking the pot hole reporting part of the council web site to see if it has already been listed - if it has/had at the time you hit it - then you should point out to the council that they were already aware of it and ask "what had they done?"
 
Crazy Harry said:
If you haven't completed your form yet it might be worth checking the pot hole reporting part of the council web site to see if it has already been listed - if it has/had at the time you hit it - then you should point out to the council that they were already aware of it and ask "what had they done?"
Click to expand...

Thanks, I did do just that and it turns out someone has already reported it around 23 September this year! Now the council say they will repair a pot hole deeper than 7.5cms within 24 hours ... I could not stop to measure but that hole looks deeper to me ...

Either way, after reporting the pot hole I called the council, went through the whole explanation again (they could not offer me a reason why it had not been repaired after it was reported almost a month ago) and they are sending me a claim form to fill in by post.

The story will continue! :D
 
So over a week has gone by - the council certainly have not filled in ANY potholes that I indicated and the claim form that they said they were sending me 10 days ago has yet to appear.) Tomorrow I will be on the blower reminding me that I am waiting for said form that they promised me. Not giving up yet :)

Cheers
 
I live in Lincolnshire. The County Council has adopted a policy of challenging every claim, even if it means going to court. So the response for pot hole claims varies depending on where you live. The Senior Officer responsible for Highways here seems to have little sympathy with road users and appears intent on saving the Council as much money as possible. No doubt he will have targets which will be linked to bonuses. However, from what I understand if you can provide evidence that the pot hole fulfils the appropriate criteria and has already been reported with no action taken within a reasonable time you are in a reasonably strong position. Good luck with your claim and let us all know what the outcome is.
 
I believe that there are stages they go through. once reported, it is inspected and if they deem it needs repairing they will mark it with white or yellow paint. Once that's done, any further claims are rejected, because they know of it and have checked it. SO the poor sod that passes by 2 mins later and damages their car is out of luck. Where is the logic in that!? So, hopefully, if I'm right you should get compensation. I'd swing by a BMW garage to get the strut towers inspected and the shocks. You'll be pleased you did if there is any more damage incurred, as you only get one chance to claim. Good luck!
 
MartinP said:
I believe that there are stages they go through. once reported, it is inspected and if they deem it needs repairing they will mark it with white or yellow paint. Once that's done, any further claims are rejected, because they know of it and have checked it. SO the poor sod that passes by 2 mins later and damages their car is out of luck. Where is the logic in that!? So, hopefully, if I'm right you should get compensation. I'd swing by a BMW garage to get the strut towers inspected and the shocks. You'll be pleased you did if there is any more damage incurred, as you only get one chance to claim. Good luck!
Click to expand...

Good points - I might do that. Today driving down the A34 started hearing a rattling sound from the front right (same corner), when I stopped to look I found the indicator repeater on the wing hanging from its wire with the clear lens gone!?! As it happens I have a spare pair as I was going to change my old ones As they were a mouldy inside. Coincidence that that indicator popped out now?? Tomorrow I’m checking the wing to see if there is any scratching due to the dangling indicator!

Incidentally yesterday the road contractor used by Soton Council called me to say they were emailing me a claim form to fill in, and that the process could take 3 months whilst decide if there is a claim or not. I sent the form filled in 1 hour later with loads of photos ... let’s see!
 
" and that the process could take 3 months whilst decide if there is a claim or not."
i think they mean.. see if we can get away with it...
 
road warrior said:
" and that the process could take 3 months whilst decide if there is a claim or not."
i think they mean.. see if we can get away with it...
Click to expand...

Oh I’m sure of it! They mentioned contacting all the services companies and whatnot - I’m sure they are going to wiggle!
 
Hi,

Have you had any movement with this?

I hit a crater on Monday causing a fecked tyre and am starting a claim. The online form asks for everything, proof of tax, mot, insurance etc etc. Took pictures of the hole and reported it. Then checked dashcam and found I'd hit a different hole ! Duh! So going back tomorrow in daylight to see if it is still there, or been filled in.

Can send them dashcam footage showing the hole, the colision and then minutes later you hear the "bong" of the tyre pressure warning come on. Trouble is, all the way through is a soundtrack of me swearing like buggery....I was on my own in the car, but it sounds like I'm having a full blown conversation with someone, and not nice language either!
 
ihadablackdog said:
The online form asks for everything, proof of tax, mot, insurance etc etc.
Click to expand...
I'd have been tempted to fill those fields in with comments/pictures saying "none of your feckin' business" :P
 
So a few days ago I noticed said pot hole had been filled in - none of the other smaller holes around it, just that one. Too much of a coincidence I thought.

Sure enough yesterday I received a letter from the council basically telling me that at they are not liable! What a surprise! Their argument is this:

They say that they do monthly inspections and that this pothole had been picked up in their inspection (indeed when I went online to report the pothole location I had seen a note about this location from about a month earlier). They say the pothole is “actionable” as at 64mm it’s greater than the minimum of 40mm but it’s a “grade 2” meaning that they have given themselves 6 months to fix it since when they reported it. My incident happened about 6 weeks after it was noted and hence it’s within the 6 months window. They then quoted the law to say that in court the council would be expected to mount a legitimate “defence” and their 6 months argument is a legitimate defence - I.e. they have a system in place that they are abiding by and therefore are not liable.

They then invited me to get legal council if I wanted but they are not paying me a penny.

So in essence they are saying “we knew the hole was there, we knew it was deep but not deep “enough”, we gave ourselves 6 months to fix it and it’s unfortunate you drove through it in that 6 months window - that’s your problem”!

What’s curious is how they then quickly filled in just that hole as though it was never there (even though they have another 4 months “grace period” to fill it in properly!)

Getting any legal advice will cost more than the tyre is worth so it looks like they “win” 🤷‍♂️

Ho hum!
 
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