Pothole question

dave28 said:
While i can sympathise, I doubt very much you can prove a pot hole did that damage.

But if you can claim from the council then let me know please, I live in a rural faming area with potholes much worse that that one and our cars are always getting damaged by them.
Click to expand...
The council did not dispute the damage my car suffered in the response to the claim,.only that the hole was not dangerous by their criteria. However by their own definition of dangerous the damage my car suffered would put it in the dangerous category. The councils definiton of "negligible" impact, the term they assigned to the pothole, is a "minor jarring" to passengers. The video shows it is quite severe.. There are potholes on every single bloody road in Essex and none have had this impact. It is also remarkable that this damage happened at this speed, which again you can see in the video.
 
SpellowHouse said:
Sounds to me that you are spending even more money (in hours) finding proof. If you lose, it will double your losses.
Click to expand...
I've got plenty of time lol. All I need to do now is wait for the final fois I sent off and drain this hole and measure it. Then I'll send a claim to the council . If they rejeft or ignore that I'll tell them I'll go to the smc and I'll star the process for it.

It's not just about the money they owe me the holes in Essex are chronically bad and if I get this overturned through undermining their own assessment system for potholes that will expose the entire system at Essex . Many could be entitled to compensation. Honestly most people probably won't bother ww you point out it's time consuming but it's worth it to me

Monetary wise y s that's my only concern but I plan on setting up a fundraiser for any costs that I could incur if I do lose. A lot of support locally as a lot of people have had bad experiences with the pothole. If the money is not needed it will either be returned or given to a road accident charity depending on the preference of the donor.
 
Last edited:
It's always a battle when you want ANYTHING from the council. They are the ultimate jobsworths.

The way they took down the report shows they know they are in the wrong TBH. Trying to cover it up won't look good for them in court
 
Last edited:
Nasher said:
It's always a battle when you want ANYTHING from the council. They are the ultimate jobsworths.

The way they took down the report shows they know they are in the wrong TBH. Trying to cover it up won't look good for them in court
Click to expand...
Yep. And I have screenshot evidence of its existence. They probably thought I wouldn't notice. I'm hoping once I put all this in an email to send , in the face of overwhelming evidence including the testimonies of at least two people who will produce witness statements for thr court, thst they'll quietly just pay me the money, whilst perhaps not admitting liability. This happened to someone I found online where he made a claim against a water company and Essex CC for pothole damage and they paid him whilst not admitting liability.
 
They never admit liability, even though paying out is pretty much admitting liability. It's their road and they paid for the damage..
 
Nasher said:
It's always a battle when you want ANYTHING from the council. They are the ultimate jobsworths.
Click to expand...


Indeed. I used to contract to local councils and I can honestly say they are the biggest bunch of "haven't a clue" people that I have ever known. These are people that would otherwise be unemployable.
 
See this is why I took my insurer's pothole cover extension. It's akin to windscreen cover and covers me up to £1800.

In the event of a claim, my car is fixed by them and then THEY chase the local council. Usually, because it's lawyers from the ins co asking for the payment the council folds immediately
 
Resident said:
See this is why I took my insurer's pothole cover extension. It's akin to windscreen cover and covers me up to £1800.

In the event of a claim, my car is fixed by them and then THEY chase the local council. Usually, because it's lawyers from the ins co asking for the payment the council folds immediately
Click to expand...
Did that pothole cover extension add much to your premium?
 
SpellowHouse said:
Indeed. I used to contract to local councils and I can honestly say they are the biggest bunch of "haven't a clue" people that I have ever known. These are people that would otherwise be unemployable.
Click to expand...

Cyber-Mav said:
Depends on car. Range rover wont feel a thing. Lowered beamer 3 series = total loss
Click to expand...
My car has a clearance of 170mm.
See this is why if the danger score is based on depth it's nonsensical. It isn't, at least not directly, it's based on the perceived consequence. But I'm guessing they estimate the consequence through the size of the hole.

Unless the council believe I am somehow fabricating the claim, it's unbelievable for them to not admit it's dangerous. I also have texts sent to my boss that day informing them I might be late the next shift owing to a pothole which seems to have damaged my car , also got texts I sent to family. Again , metadata will confirm the dates they were sent.


The only issue could be is two garages did the repairs the first one only picked up on broken suspension links. Because I continued to hear rattling and I couldn't narrow down the part of the car it was coming in for I booked my car in for a service at another garage which found broken front shock absorbers I invoiced the cost of that part of the service( just the replacement shock absorbers and labour) after I had sent the initial invoice for the suspension links. But the council raised no issue with this and to eliminate the car having existing defects, the car had an MOT three months to the exact day the accident occured and the car passed; no advisories were found relating to the suspension links and shock absorbers.
 
Last edited:
tacticalx86 said:
My car has a clearance of 170mm.
Click to expand...
Height from ground is just one part of the equation, suspension stiffness and travel is the main factor that will govern impact absorption.
German cars tend to suffer than jap counterparts.
Then if mods are done like lowering it makes bigger difference, 1 inch drop is gonna be something like 5 times as bad as stock height.
 
Cyber-Mav said:
Height from ground is just one part of the equation, suspension stiffness and travel is the main factor that will govern impact absorption.
German cars tend to suffer than jap counterparts.
Then if mods are done like lowering it makes bigger difference, 1 inch drop is gonna be something like 5 times as bad as stock height.
Click to expand...
It was a 2010 Honda Civic, built like a tank . No mods . Such a low speed.
 
Cyber-Mav said:
2010 civic, that would make it a fd2/fn2 type r. Those have hard suspension and low profile tyres so hitting that big a pothole will do some damage.
Click to expand...
The front tyres had literally been replaced a month or so before had they not been new I'm sure they would have burst. Wonder if there's anyway I can back what you've said up in court or whatever to amplify just how bad the pothole would have been to damage the car etc .

Like I said if you look at the video the front left of the car almost sinks into the hole basically
 
A good trick is to see if the pothole appears on Google Street View. If it does, you can show the pothole has been there a long time and not been fixed, irrespective of their inspection regime, which will completely defeat their defence.
 
tacticalx86 said:
It's not just about the money they owe me the holes in Essex are chronically bad and if I get this overturned through undermining their own assessment system for potholes that will expose the entire system at Essex .
Click to expand...

I suspect they wont give in easily because of this.

Unfortunately becuase of wider issues (eg our country is ******) council have no money, so they cant repair the roads. If people starting suing them left right and centre they will loose even more money, and still wont be able to repair the roads.

My father in law hit a pothole here at the very start of the year and had various legal teams funded by his insurer go after the council. It damaged the wheel on his lease electric car so was an expensive fix. Anyway, they eventually lost and now his insurance quote went up by about £300 this year.

Obviously I wish you the best of luck, and also agree with you from a moral standpoint, but I suspect it will not be easy and you'll need to be really clued up with the law in this area.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom