I took on Kent County Council once over damage to a wheel and tyre on the wifes car. Dark country lane, 2 foot long, 14" wide and 6 " deep filled with water. Potential to throw a bike rider off. Took a year of wrangling to recover the cost of a new wheel and tyre. Found that they had received multiple reports of the situation over time and had done nothing. They tried every trick in the book, even telling me to dispose of the wheel and tyre after I suggested charging daily storage after 6 months, then trying to throw the claim out a few months later as I did not have the evidence to hand. As the car was 2 months old, they attempted to calculate the percentage of wear both the tyre and wheel had suffered in the 2 months of use from new to reduce the claim. Got there in the end, but took a solicitors letter to finally resolve. They manage to just run most people out of energy and get away with it.
My brother in law is an claims assessor for a London council which is handy as I hit a large pothole ( previous damage tar aced over on the cheap and it sagged leaving a mini crater in the road). The car in front of me passed over it and on a damp road the best I could do was try a lighten the front before I hit it. Result slightly bent front hoop. I took photos at the scene including standing a packet of fags in it ( it was deeper) and showing the whole was deeper and x2.5 wide. I reported it to the relevant authority by phone and email. My dealer confirmed the wheel was slightly out of true. I'm surprised it was nt worse and I was lucky to avoid injury. They tried the same shit-' no- one else has reported it'. According to my relative this is standard. According to him they have a rule of thumb on depth and anything over 45mms is properly dangerous and needs fixing and they cannot really avoid fault. This is to the best of my memory, I'm pretty sure it was 45 but the fags are nearly twice this. I submitted an repair bill and heard nothing for 2 months. They got back to say they were still processing my claim when I complained. Someone then contacted me to say they had mended the fault in the road and were processing my claim. I continued to ride on the damaged hoop. It was nt too bad but if you took hands off at speed it had developed a tendency to drift off true and shuddered in a narrow speed band on deceleration. I figured it was perfect before why should I let it go? They got back to say they accepted no responsibility but on receipt of a paid bill would reimburse 2/3 of the cost due to the depreciation from new. I asked my brother in law and he said it was standard but as Honda would nt give me 2/3 discount on a new wheel because the bike was nt new I should refuse and perhaps point out that a new wheel implies a crash that a potential buyer may feel was much worse. Legally he said they were not obligated to do more but I should buy the wheel submit and be insistent so I did and eventually at the 5 month mark they said, as if they were doing me a huge favour and unconcerned that it went on a credit card that charged interest, that in this one- off case as a gesture of good will they would meet the cost of the wheel. I had to submit a declaration that I had not claimed on the insurance which with £800 excess on my policy and a no claim to protect on TPFT was never going to happen, but I hold told them that months earlier by email. The fitting and messing about was my loss. He advised me to accept as that was a good result in the grand shitty scheme of things. Just at 6 months I got a cheque for the wheel part only. I rode past the scene about 4 months later and the 'repair' had collapsed again. I thought about stopping to try the packet of fags photo just to show them what a bunch of numpties they were but I had given up smoking. Is that a happy ending? Well I had the spare wheel sorted and started smoking again. I believe they have since filled up the hole with more of the same. Cheers GaryS
great info guys.. I tried a claim on my previous Audi that hit a pot hole in Aberdeen. damaged 2 passenger side tyres and both wheels (both 20" so cost a fortune to repair).. Council fobbed me off with letters stating the road had been inspected and any damage was due to unforeseen weather and not their fault etc.. in the end, I gave up.. wish I hadn't now as it cost about £800 to sort my side!
I'm in dispute with Leeds council at the minute over damage to my near side front wheel caused by a pothole three months ago. It had been reported to them on 17 occasions according to fillthathole.org.uk but they'd left it. They've tried to deny knowledge of it, as well as claiming to have repaired it; go figure. What they're spending on their defensiveness would have bought me a new wheel. Fortunately I am as stubborn as anything and enjoy nothing better than persecuting mealy mouthing petty officialdom, so I'll just keep buggering on at them.
Have had fun with that in the past and the advice I was given was to take photos at the time using a £1 coin for scale. The cycling community set up a website for you to report potholes which they then use to report to the council. The rule is something like Councils have to inspect the road once a year and as long as they do that they are basically covered, however if they are made aware of a pothole and do not fix it then they become liable. I have previously reported potholes and they have been fixed within a pretty short period. The website to report can be found here Fill That Hole | FillThatHole.org.uk
