Can I calim from the council if I hit a pothole and damage my tyre/wheel?

[SoupDragon]

Because I'm sure it's not coincidence that tyre I hit the horrendous pothole with has gone flat . The 6 month old tyre which cost £140.

Yes - I live in one of the worst areas of the country for potholes and our County Council is constantly paying out for damage.

we have loads down our road, they are getting bigger to

Yeap go take photo of pothole

I can't go and take photos until the nice RAC man has come to put my spare wheel on. Meanwhile I am drinking tea and eating cake and reporting the pothole on the council website.

the condition of the roads is utterly appalling here. They aren't usually bad at all but the snow has completely trashed them!

Thanks.

Do you live in Renfrewshire, by any chance? We've got the worst potholes here that I've ever seen. In fact, I saw some people in waterproofs and helmets, with lights on their heads, climbing up out of one the other day!

Oops sorry soupdragon it is hard to drive with 3 wheels, unless your delboy

LOL! This wasn't quite big enough for potholing in Unless you are a hamster.

If it hadn't been the driver's side front wheel, Plum,I probably would have driven it

Ar$e! It's dented the sodding wheel! bum bum bum. That's even more expensive than a tyre.

Take photos of wheel as well!

I believe so. A friend damaged 3 tyres and one wheel in a large ditch pothole near us the other week - I will check when I see her next but when I last spoke to her the plan was to claim on insurance and get them to claim against the county council.

But seriously, don't delay in taking photos, or you may find they have been filled in by a man with a bucket of asphalt overnight. This is the MO of the worst offending councils.

We ended up having to have a new wheel when dh did this and drove on it . Was told we couldn't claim.

this might be of use?

If it was previously reported and not fixed they are negligent. If its a new pothole or never been reported then they are not negligent.
Phone and ask.

How can you ever prove they knew about the pothole before you hit it though? I've taken photos of the pot hole although I may have to go back and take photos of another one too. There's no way I could really have done this to the wheel other than hitting a pothole as it is the inside rim which has the dent

I may speak to my insurance company (I have protected NCD which is a bonus).

Thanks.

Quite a few potholes around here have been circled with white paint to show they're to be filled soon - worth checking yours just to be sure cos if it has been, they must know about it iyswim.

They're not marked.

I'm annoyed at the inconvenience more than anything. It's a PITA getting the wheel replaced. Luckily, my spare is a full spare so it's not a huge rush.

You can only make a recovery if you can prove they were negligent, ie the pothole had been reported or was already on the list for repair etc.

If not reported and they were unaware of it, then they cannot be held resposible.

Your local council website may have an online facility to email which may give you a quick response as to whether you would be succesful in claiming.

Yeah lol of course you can

I shouldn't say anything cos i work for a company that does the TM FOR one of the worst offending councils to fill these potholes in, yes with a bucket of asphalt

I always shake my head at why they don't just do it properly especially if there are lots of holes in the same road

I've got the address to write to with my claim, I've got photos of one of the pothole and have sent a friend off to photograph another. I now need to photograph my wheel and get a new one sorted (which is a PITA). I assume I'll have to pay for it and then claim back the amount.

The potholes in my road which are the worst are the ones they botch repaired a little while ago Probably with a bucket of left over asphalt from doing something else.

The council may well pass you onto a sub-contractor or other company that has previously worked in the road, so don't get your hopes up. I used to work for a telecoms company who dug up roads to put cables underground. Once the road has been dug, it becomes the responsiblilty of the company that dug to maintain it, not the council.
Local councils would pass on such claims to us, and we would pass them onto the sub-contractors who actually physically carried out the work. It's hard to prove, and by the time it gets to the right place the hole may well have been filled.
If you can, go and take a photo of the hole, showing it's location, such as by a perticular numbered lamp-post.

Yes, we are going through this process at the mo. DH had to take photos of pothole as evidence - the road was an absolute mess. The council passed it on to their insurers (i think - might be solicitors) to deal with and they have offered us an amount but it is not enough (does not cover the costs of the damage) so we are still pursuing. It is a long process but I would say worth it and I think probably quite common practice. The roads where I live are terrible and have not been resurfaced for years... grrr!