Claiming compensation from Highways — Drain Cover (gully grate) damage

[cool_hand]

Does anyone have any insight into claiming compensation from Highways for damage to ones bike?

Earlier in the year whilst cycling in the same road where I live my front wheel fell into the grate of a large drain cover AKA a gully grate, it jammed in the grate and then a combination of gravity and my weight destroyed the rim beyond repair. Before you say take more care this was an accident that would not of happened if the cover had a safety split in it. Most covers have a split or splits in the grate to prevent bicycle wheels being damaged. I made a claim with Hampshire Highways as I felt the grate used was a inherently dangerous and not suitable for a residential road but they responded saying that they inspected the cover and as it was not defective there was no negligence – my claim was declined. The damaged front wheel is a Mavic Aksium Rim brake. I can't be the first cyclist to have their wheels damaged by a gully grate. I'm wondering if there are directives regarding the type of grate that should be used in a residential road?

 

[Dag Hammar]

This is an interesting post, one that I shall follow just in case something similar happens to me in the future.
Maybe another member with an insight into the legalities of liability can add something ?

Not advice but just a thought….you could send the authority a “letter before action” and then make a claim in the small claims court if they still won’t pay up.
Two possible outcomes.
One is that they will pay rather than have a claim submitted against them.
Or, the danger here is that if you submit a claim and lose then you could be at risk of paying their costs.

 

[Psamathe]

I suspect it might depend on which Highways.

Some years back I made a claim against my local Highways for cycling shoes ruined due to road works (long story) but they were unquestionably in the wrong. They didn't dispute that they were in the wrong, just said "no". So eventually I said we were going to court (small claims track) to which they replied they'd be sending lawyers to agrue the case - which is daft as even if they won they'd have lost money 'cos small claims track didn't award costs.

Highways then started to blame the contractor. It wasn't contractors fault as they had complied with Highways contract - it was Highways contract that allowed the fault to happen.

In the end the contractor just sent me a cheque saying they wanted the whole thing to "go away" (clearly Highways had been putting pressure on them.

My recollection is that Highways had a general principle to refuse and defend every claim on the basis that most people claiming wouldn't persist and very few would bother to go to court and most give-up so they'd lose a few in court but get away with the vast majority.

But the above might be just my local area Highways and might have since changed as my experience was maybe 8 years ago.

 

[Psamathe]

nb. I habitually report potholes. Not so much to get them repaired as my local Highways are very very slow at acting on reports, more so that is somebody makes a claim for injury or damage caused by the fault then it is of record as having been reported and likely report not acted on.

 

[ColinJ]

nb. I habitually report potholes. Not so much to get them repaired as my local Highways are very very slow at acting on reports, more so that is somebody makes a claim for injury or damage caused by the fault then it is of record as having been reported and likely report not acted on.

I found it extremely effective to point out that I had sent a copy of my pothole report to solicitors who represent cyclists injured in accidents caused by potholes, and would make sure that they would be told about any such accidents at that location. This is what happened...

Don't forget to register the pothole at fillthathole and make a point of mentioning that fact to the council, emphasing their legal responsibility to fill the hole now that they are aware of it.

I did that for a really dangerous pothole near here. It was on a very fast downhill, on the racing line and the slope of the road was such that you couldn't see it until you were right upon it. I reported it after my mate hit it on his MTB. Its big knobbly tyres made the bike tough enough to survive the impact but it would have destroyed a roadbike wheel with catastrophic consequences for the rider...

I soon got a reply email from the council. Tellingly - they had forgotten to delete the messages from within the various council departments so I could see exactly what the reactions were as my message was forwarded from one person to another up the food chain! It went something like this: "Fred - here's another bloody pothole complaint" to "John - get someone to have a look at this when you can" to "Pete - this pothole sounds like a bad one and the guy has sent a copy to a third party so we will be up s**t creek if someone gets hurt now" to "Mick - go and fix this pothole - NOW!!!"

Within 24 hours I had an email from 'Mick'. He gave me an OS grid reference for the pothole and forwarded a photograph of his repair. He asked me to confirm that this was the one that I'd reported. Result! The repair job was done properly. I've checked it a couple of times, and it is still sound, unlike a lot of botched repairs that fail again once a few HGVs have driven over them.

It is now 17 years later. The repair was done so well that, for a change, the hole never reappeared.