Claiming after pothole damage?

[Cab]

Something bizarre happened to my regular commuting bike on hitting a new, deep pothole last week; I haven't had time to take it apart yet to work out the extent of the damage, but the rear gears came loose and it felt like something snapped. I'm on the spare bike at present.

Just phoned the county council and they're sending me a 'claim form'.

Anyone done this before? Any advice?

Cheers,

Cab.

 

[redjedi]

They will probably just claim there weren't any witnesses so won't pay out, but good luck.

If the rear mech is loose it may just be the hanger, which will cost about £5 to replace and is very easy.

 

[Tharg2007]

to be fair if its a new hole and they havent had a chance to fill it should you be claiming at all?

 

[Origamist]

It depends, I guess, if anyone has reported it and when they reported it...

You might want to request info relating to the council's routine Highway maintenance schedule and the frequency of their safety inspections.

That said, I've no experience claiming for damage after hitting a pothole.

I reported 6 potholes last w/e...

 

[nigelb]

to be fair if its a new hole and they havent had a chance to fill it should you be claiming at all?

I think you should - they decide how quickly they'll repair holes, based on how
many claims and complaints they get.

These days, until you start talking money, most places will ignore you - they're too busy dealing with people who are talking money.

Nige

 

[Crankarm]

It will be a fight to get re-imbursement for costs of repair. They will do everything to frustrate your claim.

 

[BentMikey]

http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/ - if you and everyone else report all the potholes you find on here, you might help someone else's claim.

Zoom on yacf had a nasty pothole induced crash recently, perforated bowel, and it turns out "his" pothole was reported back in November. Apparently his lawyer was very happy it was already on fillthathole. Of course that's not to say his claim will be successful, but it's going to have a much greater chance of success as a result.

Fillthathole is one of the very excellent things CTC does - it keeps an independent record of pothole reports, and prevents councils from trying to conceal or hide from their responsibilities. What's more, it's searchable by others and is public.

 

[thomas]

Phone up the CTC legal support. A few guys in my club have had some pot hole damage (and personal injuries).

I know one guy got a few grand out of it and was pretty happy....he's (unfortunately) hit another pot hole and having to do it again. The same pot hole buckled a car's wheel moments after.

The CTC guys seemed to be great....I don't know if there was proof that the holes had been reported, but their should still be a tort of liability on the council.

Definitely phone them up!!!! Lemme know what they say

 

[beanzontoast]

I picked up from somewhere the impression that unless the pothole has already been reported to them (i.e. they've been made aware of it), they can't be held responsible for it - the logic seemingly being how can they be held responsible for something that, despite their best efforts at checking the condition of the road regularly, may have arisen in between checks).

Or is this an urban myth?

 

[Cab]

Never mind filling out a claim form Cab, I'd work on being able to move them handle bars to steer around said pot holes.

Much easier when the pothole is not obscured by snow

 

[Origamist]

A bit of info here:

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/damages-award-highlights-pothole-claims-21129

 

[Cab]

Regarding reporting said potholes, the whole stretch (which has many potholes) has been reported on Fill That Hole already:

http://www.fillthathole.org.uk/hazard/20883

So the County Council know its an issue, and since that report the road has deteriorated. What had, before the snow, been a bit of a problem was an alltogether nastier one the I hit it; some damage had been ignored and become a deep pothole.

 

[Cab]

Cheers for the advice guys; I'll keep you posted.

 

[Cab]

Hole now fixed. Wasn't this morning. Could it really be the case that a mid-morning call reporting damage last week got the hole fixed by this afternoon?

 

[Tharg2007]

they did it so you couldnt take any photos of it