Will the council pay for pothole damage??

[Maryaliceyoungx]

Just went into a large pothole on a 60mph b road - coming up to a bend so not only could I not see until last minute but also could not avoid due to oncoming traffic. Tire was burst.

i called the council to report the pothole and they have contacted me to say the pothole has been identified and they are ‘making it safe’ in the next 2 hours.

it seems like conflicting evidence if the council will pay our. Has anyone successfully received a pay out?

Nope.
Have had similar situations, never received any type of payment towards my mechanical repairs but, good luck!

Ughh it’s so annoying. I pay my council tax and I pay road tax and now I have to pay for car repairs!!

Experience in Scotland:

I put a compensation claim in with Glasgow City Council after I burst my tyre on a pot hole. It took 18 months before they made their decision (I was paid in full).

I backed up my claim with a Freedom of Information report that confirmed the area where I hit the pothole had received several pothole reports in the 4+ months prior to my incident. This was important as the council have a certain amount of time to fix all potholes reported. Any damage occurring within that 'repair window' would pretty much be tough luck, otherwise. They also aren't responsible for any damages incurred on ironwork faults; they are usually the responsibility of Scottish Water or the Scottish Gas.

I'd highly recommend making a FOI request to check if it's been reported before, as it will help your claim. Take photos of the pot hole, car damage and any receipts for repairs. Oh, and don't expect a quick resolution. Or, maybe other councils are just better than Glasgow!

We had a local road that had speed humps put on it. It damaged two exhaust pipes on my car - no sooner did I get it repaired than it was damaged again. LOADS of people complained but the council said that the humps were within the allowed height, despite the fact that they were taking people's exhausts off left right and centre. About six months later the council went and took six inches off the top of the humps, but still wouldn't acknowledge that they had been at fault.

Nope. My car spring broke going over a pot hole, they did naff all didnt even bother coming out to fix the pot hole.

If it had previously been reported and the council not acted on it you can claim. Suggest you look at the Report It option on council website or Fix My Street to check if it is marked up.

Experience inSE of England, often yes but only if they have already identified it. Go on your council website, ours had a list of potholes waiting for repairs, if it’s over 2 weeks then they should have fixed it already. Also go back to the pothole, take photos, does it have paint sprayed round it? If so, that means they have identified it as a problem to be fixed.

Thank you! Just found it was reported on to my street yesterday!

I’m in the south east. There was no paint and I cannot get photos as the road has no verge so cannot stop. The road goes between farmland so the side of the road is hedges. You cannot stop on the Road without risk of being hit as the section is in between two bends so any works requires temporary lights to be set up

do you have a template for the FOI request.

unfortunately I can’t get photos as A) my car is fucked b) it is impossible to stop on the road - there is no verge and is between two bends and is a 60mph road so stopping to take a photo would most likely result in untimely death….

Not in my experience, I submitted a claim with dashcam evidence and it was still declined.

Anyone else noticed road repairs only last a few months lately?
There’s a petition about making them last longer if anyone’s interested:
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/760798

Its also the hypocrisy You would be in the shit if your car was deemed unroadworthy but they are allowed to leave roads in this state. There has been a meme going round demonstrating this.

In Colchester two roundabouts before the new Travelodge there is a lengthy pothole right near the roundabout If you are in a very small car you can just about make it between this pothole and the roundabout. The only way to completely avoid it will be to go up on the roundabout

Please sign and repost

Worth a look: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/760798
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Depending on who is responsible for the roads upkeep, there may be a case for negligence.

It would hinge whether they should have been aware of the defect (was it reported, or when did they last inspect the road for damage ?) and - even if they were - did they respond within reasonable expectations.

If the answer either question is "no" then you may have a claim.

"May" because depending on the nature of the defect, there is an onus on you to drive safely and avoid damage where possible. Could you have safely driven around it ? And if not were you driving appropriately for the road conditions ?