Damage caused by road surface

[TimD]

Has anyone here ever managed to extract any money from a council when their car was damaged by a faulty road surface?

You can guess why I want to know - this morning, half-light of dawn, rainy conditions, I clipped a puddle on a main A-road. Except that it wasn't just a puddle - it was actually a six-inch deep pothole full of water with a sharp edge to it. As well as the almighty crash through the structure of the car, it was immediately apparent that I had a flat tyre so I pulled up to investigate.

No, not a flat tyre. TWO flat tyres. The car was hauled back to my garage where they quickly ascertained that one of my alloy wheels had a four-inch buckle to the inner rim. The bead of the tyre was clearly visible in the gap where the air had got out. Rear tyre was flat too, but in that case it was a sidewall failure rather than a wheel - although I'm not convinced I want to trust that wheel for many more miles.

The car's going to be checked over for suspension damage. I dread to think what they'll find under there.

So my question is - how do I go about sueing their little bottoms off? I'm not prepared to take this lying down, so I'd be delighted to hear if anyone else has taken on a council or the Highways Agency, and whether there are any tips to be had. The first one, of course, is to get photographic evidence of the pothole before the blighters get a chance to fill it in and deny all knowledge...

All help greatly appreciated.

And anyone got any seven-spoke 16-inch Rover 800 alloys going begging?

[Bluebottle]

I remember a while ago one of the Quantum owners squashed his exhaust on an unmarked speed bump and, although it took 2 years, got a payment from the local authority.
First thing I would suggest is get a photograph of the hole before they sneakily fill it in!

[johnh875]

Whether they were aware of the hole may have some bearing

[Suze]

But proving that may be more difficult if its on a "needs to be done" list but only internally.

Best of luck Tim!

[JimW]

Yes but many years ago so the legislative framework may have changed.

Car in front drove over a valve cover. It flipped up because the cover was not seated as it should have been. It was resting on the stem of the valve.

Took out two tyres and a rim. Claimed the wheel and two tyres at 50% cost. Told them that tyres and wheel would be available for inspection and that I had a photo of the cover. Cheque arrived within two weeks plus a note which was nearly an apology!

As others have said, take photos and keep the damaged items for inspection.

Regards

Jim

[bella]

the same as everyone else to be honest.

there's a bit on the a10 between harston and the m11 where there's been a water leak and they had to botch it up. the repair tarmac is now sinking , leaving a sharp incline of a few inches. i keep trying to drive around it, but it doesn't work. having broken the cords in my tyres (failed the mot for uneven wear) from driving up similar sharp inclines, i'm thinking about reporting it to the council.

does this process of shouting at the council vary then?

[TimD]

Thanks for all the messages of support, folks. I have good news and bad news today.

The bad news is that I went out to photograph the offending hole this morning, and they'd already managed to drop some tarmac into it - so they must have managed to do it the same working day that I hit it. On examination of the local area I found a Vauxhall hubcap and a Peugeot alloy centre cap in the ditch, so I guess I wasn't the only one with a grievance.

Good news is that the engineers at my favourite garage have told me that there's no suspension damage - just the tracking knocked out of true. And there's a set of the wheels I need on eBay - although I'm obviously not telling the council that!

So I now know that the council knew about the hole on the day it did damage, that there are other people who are likely claiming against them and that my car is safe to drive. This is going to be entertaining, I think.

If you're ever driving through Padbury on the A413 between Buckingham and Aylesbury, look for the new road surface near the bus-stop, and think of me, won't you?

[touringlegend]

Good luck with it Tim. I'm not sure on what the procedure will be now as you can't prove it was a hole on the day it caused damage.

I am sure though that if you do get compensation it will take a good few letters. You'll get the first letter trying their luck to fob you off, but keep in there as in the end they just want an easy life without doing things through legal channels.

[daz90]

A few years ago now a mate of mine drove over a roadside drain cover, it was lashing it down with rain and the drain couldn't take the water rushing underneath it, thus it was lifted up and took out three cars, all having multiple punctures, my mate was unlucky enough to have two punctures and a broken front alloy, the police were also present after this because the third car got stuck in the drain hole with a broken wheel and puncture, i did the good samaritin bit and rescued him, (gave him a lift home), anyway cut a long story short the police suggested taking the odd picture and to contact the local authority, which my mate did. But to no avail, they bluffed it and that was that, no claim and no grounds.

It could well be a case of bad luck, but if you can be bothered to take the fight on then by all means have a go.

Good luck.

[Dan Friel]

You need to have an understanding of the statutory requirements of the Highways Act. If you can determine that the highway authority have been negligent or haven't carried out their responsibilities fully, then you may have a case.

In the case of an A class county road I believe that it's normal practice for it to be inspected once a month (this is deemed "reasonable" in law). Can you prove that the authority missed the defect on their inspection or did nothing about it? Or can you prove that the defect was reported by a member of public (like you would have done straight after hitting it) and then the council delayed their response to solve the problem - this causing your damage.

With regards to the drain cover example, does this happen everytime it rains or was this a one off type event that the council couldn't "reasonably" foreseee?

[JHamilton]

I'm not sure how it works in other parts of the world, so please excuse my ignorance....Wouldn't your insurance cover this? My comprehisive coverage would take care of this without an increase in my rate. Obviously, you would want the authorities to pay your deductable, etc....just a thought.

[daz90]

Originally Posted by Dan Friel

With regards to the drain cover example, does this happen everytime it rains or was this a one off type event that the council couldn't "reasonably" foreseee?

It happened a couple of times in the past, but its now been sorted because the road and the area have recently been redeveloped.