Pothole!! this is what has caused my problems!!

[JINGLE]

u might have seen my posts over the past week about hitting a pot hole and causing an instant rattle in the boot which turned out to be a broken top mount/rear shock. today i decided to go home the way home i went when i hit the pothole (submerged in a puddle so didn't see it) because i have since learnt (from the garage i got to inspect it) that i can claim for pothole damage.

has anybody had any luck claiming for damages? basically i hit the submeged pot hole and my rear shock broke, ive now got photos and going to report the pothole online and go from there.... any advice/tips welcome.

sorry for the poor photos i only had time for a quick couple, i will take a tape measure tomorrow to get "proper" pictures with scale etc...

 

[Scooba_Steve]

And it's not a wishing well, filling it up with coins probably won't help the next victim!

 

[andysat]

That's not a pothole-its a fookin CRATER!!!

 

[JINGLE]

i had nothing to show scale and i read online if its as deep as 2 x 20p on top of each other then its worth claiming.... after getting out with my 20p in hand i realized the scale of the situation

 

[silverdevill]

Thats not a pothole.... its a small continent!.. :-o

 

[Carol M]

Don't get me started about pothole's
Good luck in getting anything out of your local council.

 

[andysat]

Don't get me started about pothole's
Good luck in getting anything out of your local council.

Have you had bother in the past Carol?

 

[Carol M]

Don't get me started about pothole's
Good luck in getting anything out of your local council.

Have you had bother in the past Carol?

Luckily not me Andy but my bro in law wrecked both his nearside wheels last year on his jag and they wouldn't have any of it.
Mr M trashed a wheel a couple of tears ago and the council would accept no liability.

There's plenty of them on the road we have to use regularly and people drive in the middle of the road to avoid them. There'll be a head-on before long.

 

[andysat]

Don't get me started about pothole's
Good luck in getting anything out of your local council.

Have you had bother in the past Carol?

Luckily not me Andy but my bro in law wrecked both his nearside wheels last year on his jag and they wouldn't have any of it.
Mr M trashed a wheel a couple of tears ago and the council would accept no liability.

There's plenty of them on the road we have to use regularly and people drive in the middle of the road to avoid them. There'll be a head-on before long.

Bloody ell!-yeah you are right myself and SWMBO said as much yesterday-seem to spend more time dodging the fookers than watching speedo etc...

 

[JINGLE]

this doesnt sound good

im currently spending hours looking online for a "how to" kind of solution, just want the damage thats been done paid for, it looks like its a long drawn out process with a 50/50 chance

 

[DPG]

Are you following a guide like this?

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

 

[AndyZ]

this doesnt sound good

im currently spending hours looking online for a "how to" kind of solution, just want the damage thats been done paid for, it looks like its a long drawn out process with a 50/50 chance

Been there with West Sussex county council. 50/50!? You must be joking. It's a white wash trying to take a council to court for pot holes and I tried it in the early day before it got trendy!

A total waste of time and money trying to make your local council take responsibilty for their incompetences. My advice would be walk away, be cross for a day or two and move on as you will get nowhere with a claim.

 

[Terryvision]

Thats a big hole...... :thumbsdown:

 

[JINGLE]

Are you following a guide like this?

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

yea pretty much, have reported pothole to local council.

i had new front poly bushed put on last week and new rear brake pads fitted so i have receipts to say it was working fine the week before and was all checked while the mechanic was in there so thats a plus point i suppose, im gonna just pay for the new shocks etc anyway, and try my luck and see how it goes, just gotta keep as much evidence as possible according to online, monitor how long it takes to get repaired etc and i have photos, receipts for work before and after damage was caused so fingers crossed

 

[AZ4MW]

We won our case with the council, my son was driving down a country lane and hit a large pot hole, both near side tyres ended up with large bulges to the side walls, both MOT failures, took pics of pot hole with a map showing where it happened and pics of the tyres, next day said pot hole was filled in totally and after several phone calls saying we had seen it had been filled a cheque arrived for the cost of 2 new tyres plus fitting (via our quote from the garage) don't give in and keep the pressure on them, good luck

 

[Midhurstman]

Not sure if is within the above ref code, as I flicked through but did not read extensively but I know that some local councils operate the policy that unless they have been previously made aware of the pothole they will not pay any compensation. This happened to my son James in Kent 3 or 4 years ago when he hit a huge pothole one night, on an unlit country lane, that broke both nearside alloys. He telephoned the council first thing next morning to report it, to be told by the dept concerned "We have not had any previous reports of a pothole in that exact location so we will not compensate". He went to the scene later in the day to measure up and gather evidence and as he did this a car came around the corner causing him to step back and, before he could give a warning, the driver hit the pothole also breaking an alloy. My son and the driver had a conversation where James told him the council had refused his claim but now that he had reported the pothole they should have no excuse. After exchanging mobile numbers the other driver told James he would let him know how his claim went. Guess what! My son got a call from him the next day to say his claim had been refused BECAUSE THE COUNCIL WERE UNAWARE OF THE POTHOLE. How many times do they try that one then!Lucky that James had followed up his telephone call to the council the day before with an email giving full details of the location of the pothole and the damage to his car, which he copied to the other driver. The outcome after a week or two was compensation for the other driver but James received nothing as the council maintained his was the first notification! Government and local councils are just B'stards who spend our road tax on anything other than maintaining the roads to a standard that is relevant to the amount we pay.

Make sure you put everything in writing to the council, do not take no for an answer and if they pull the 'not aware of it stunt' ask for evidence under the freedom of information act-you must be entitled to compensation.

 

[buzyg]

Handy thread, We have the odd one like that around here too. You need to check there are no dead sheep at the bottom before drawing water from them.

Some handy links, should the inevitable happen, I know where to come.

 

[gannet]

we had no trouble when we claimed against our council, paid up no questions asked...

few years ago no though

 

[skelters]

Get onto twitter with pics and info on costs etc.

Tweet your councillors, MP (if they're not too busy taking cash for bribes), MEP, local paper, local news websites, national papers etc.

Also put the same info out on Facebook.

Write for FOI requests on the pothole payouts from the local council.

Shame them into doing something and continue tweeting / Facebooking until they pay out.

 

[JINGLE]

some great answers here guys thanks!

glad to see some people have had some luck at least, maybe its just luck of the draw.... im taking a tape measure after work today to get exact measurements etc.

i think my only downside is that i hit it Friday, but didnt report it until Monday (wasnt aware that it caused the damage until Sat afternoon tho, when garage looked at it)

will keep you guys updated and if anybody else has any more info or needs help feel free to comment and hopefully we can get some money back for these crap roads