Reimbursement from road damage?

[Bigsharn]

So last Thursday this happened:

(For those that can't see, I hit a raised manhole cover and nearly lost control of the bike)

Today I took my bike into the LBS to get my wheel re-trued (Had a quote of £10 so no biggie). Now I find out there's a great flat spot on my rim, and no mount of truing can fix it. I'm going to need a new rim.

Anyone had any success with claiming off the council or road owners for damages like this? Purely because I can't afford a new rim at the moment.

 

[sabian92]

You might be lucky but they normally want it to be more than this, that and the other before they'll pay out.

Get back out to where it happened and try and photograph it from a few angles before you report it and they flatten it - they do that with potholes sometimes just so they don't have to pay out.

 

[gambatte]

check "fill that hole" incase it's been reported and they've done nothing?

 

[fossyant]

Very unlikely I am afraid.

I've bent rims on pot holes. New rim time !

 

[mr_cellophane]

First thing to check is who is responsible for that tarmac. It looks like a retail park, so probably isn't the local council anyway.

 

[hennbell]

That is a hell of a lot of damage just for hitting a manhole cover.If you are running disk brakes you could keep using the rim nut I suspect rim brakes. How much pressure do you run in the tyres ?

 

[Bigsharn]

I've bent rims on pot holes. New rim time !

Problem is, there's no way in hell I can afford to replace my rim, hence the claim

check "fill that hole"

Nothing on there for Fill this hole

You might be lucky but they normally want it to be more than this, that and the other before they'll pay out.
Get back out to where it happened and try and photograph it from a few angles before you report it and they flatten it - they do that with potholes sometimes just so they don't have to pay out.

I'll head back tomorrow and get some better photos, cheers. Out of interest, what do you mean by "this, that and the other"? I'm guessing I'm in for some fun...

First thing to check is who is responsible for that tarmac. It looks like a retail park, so probably isn't the local council anyway.

It's retail park roads, but no single organisation owns the retail park (It's Clifton Moor Retail park, the only one that's not privately owned.)

That is a hell of a lot of damage just for hitting a manhole cover.If you are running disk brakes you could keep using the rim nut I suspect rim brakes. How much pressure do you run in the tyres ?

120psi. Not sure what that is in bar, but minimum recommended for my weight is 100 And rim brakes, as you said.

 

[Norm]

I'm amazed that there is much damage from that, although it was a very obvious cover.

It's retail park roads, but no single organisation owns the retail park (It's Clifton Moor Retail park, the only one that's not privately owned.)

Are you sure about that? Given the number of listings on Companies House (THE CLIFTON MOOR RETAIL PARK LIMITED PARTNERSHIP Company No. LP011154, CLIFTON MOOR RETAIL PARK GENERAL PARTNER LIMITED Company No. 05701867, CLIFTON MOOR RETAIL PARK NOMINEE NO. 1 LIMITED Company No. 05701872, CLIFTON MOOR RETAIL PARK NOMINEE NO. 2 LIMITED Company No. 05701875, all registered at 2ND FLOOR CAMOMILE COURT, 23 CAMOMILE STREET, LONDON EC3A 7LL and CLIFTON MOOR BUSINESS VILLAGE (YORK) LIMITED Company No. 02262222 whose registered address is 8 CLIFTON MOOR BUSINESS VILLAGE, JAMES NICOLSON LINK, YORK YO30 4XG), it looks like a private park.

When I damaged the car on a pothole (about 8" deep and 2' long, which appeared overnight and was hidden by a puddle), I figured that the council had better things to spend their money on than checking and paying claims from motorists.

 

[Cyclist33]

You hit a blindingly obvious bumpety bump that you couldve anticipated easily.

 

[mr_hippo]

You hit a blindingly obvious bumpety bump that you couldve anticipated easily.

+1
Also FYI:-
Specsavers
15 Low Ousegate
York
YO1 9QX
Telephone: 01904 655611

 

[fatblokish]

You hit a blindingly obvious bumpety bump that those responsible for the highway maintenance couldve anticipated easily would cause damage.​

 

[gambatte]

Problem is, there's no way in hell I can afford to replace my rim, hence the claim

So whats the option?
Walk?
Bus?
Car?
Even if you were successful with a claim. It's not going to be settled in a day or a week.

 

[screenman]

I would have seen that as my fault entirely, I do not expect the roads to be as smooth as silk and ride accordingly. This damned litigation society is costing us all money, what next the bump hurt your back and you need time off work.

That little lump would tap back in as simple as anything, to keep you mobile.

No sympathy at all from here.

 

[fatblokish]

Can you just imagine what state the roads would be in if those responsible for their upkeep were not held to account?

I hit a raised manhole cover a few years ago that unseated me and my arm broke on impact. I had time off work. I claimed. I was awarded damages. Should I have just suffered in silence, pemitting those responsible for the injury to ignore roads in a dangerous condition, perpetuating more accidents. Now that would really cost society.

 

[Norm]

Or.... can you imagine how much more money would be available to spend on road maintenance if there were fewer people who ran into very obvious surface imperfections and wanted to claim from their local highways department, even if it is a private road?

Highways only have a certain amount to spend. If they are spending it on (in my case) wheel re-alignments, then they don't have it available to carry out long term repairs to the surface.