#1: Pothole prang - advice on alloy wheel and further action? Author: Resolutionary, Location: South West LondonPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 6:58 am ---- Hello all,
This morning I was coming home from a friends and I managed to misjudge the size/depth of a pothole on the right side of the lane. Being near a bump I was already slow enough, doing no more than 15mph on the approach. Trying to avoid potholes on the left I didn't judge the right one and as I drove over it heard a loud click and a subsequent bang. It turns out that I horribly chipped my front drivers alloy, and possibly damaged the tyre, and also burst the rear tyre from impact. Being low profiles I can only assume they were never designed to be subjected to depth and hard edges. Here are photos of the pothole and wheels:
Front wheel:
Rear wheel:
I drove home with the wheels as they were because the rear tyre hadn't lost all its air and it was literally 5 minutes down the road. In that time I felt no bumps or pulls from the steering wheel, and it drove fairly flat as per usual.
Now I know there is a way to claim compensation from the council so I am going to go back to the site and take measurments and more photos.
What I want to know is whether, judging from the photos, the front alloy is at all repairable? Looking at it it appears to be a long, but not deep, scuff which has removed the 'lip'.
Many thanks in advance, and if you have any similar experience please feel free to share!
#2: Re: Pothole prang - advice on alloy wheel and further action Author: Steve206, Location: UKPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 7:04 am ---- Is that the pothole you went into? From the looks of it, it has been there a while and has sloped sides, rather than a sudden hole. Although it probably looks worse than the picture shows.
#3: Re: Pothole prang - advice on alloy wheel and further action? Author: tomd0801754, Location: MoscowPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 7:06 am ---- PM SillyHilly
#4: Re: Pothole prang - advice on alloy wheel and further action? Author: sillyhilly, Location: The Mean Streets of CoventryPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 12:25 pm ---- Report the pothole to your local council to set the wheels in motion and be a good citizen.
Take measurements of the pothole and also the one you avoided / any others around that area.
Be ready for at least a 6 month fight before any compensation is paid
#5: Re: Pothole prang - advice on alloy wheel and further action Author: Werdnal, Location: Cornwall, UKPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 12:39 pm ---- Phone in on our local radio recently with a legal eagle and someone asked about pothole compensation. Apparently the council's are only liable if they have had a pothole reported and not repaired or coned it off safely within 24 hours. Their "get out clause" is if its not been reported, then they no longer have the manpower and finances to be inspecting roads 24/7, so are only deemed negligent if they fail to respond when a problem is reported. You may want to check whether anyone has reported this pothole prior to your incident, but if they didn't have it logged to repair, then I doubt you will get anywhere with a claim.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained, so by all means try, but I wouldn't hold my breath!
#6: Re: Pothole prang - advice on alloy wheel and further action Author: Ali_H, Location: Chichester, SussexPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 12:41 pm ----
Werdnal wrote:
Phone in on our local radio recently with a legal eagle and someone asked about pothole compensation. Apparently the council's are only liable if they have had a pothole reported and not repaired or coned it off safely within 24 hours. Their "get out clause" is if its not been reported, then they no longer have the manpower and finances to be inspecting roads 24/7, so are only deemed negligent if they fail to respond when a problem is reported. You may want to check whether anyone has reported this pothole prior to your incident, but if they didn't have it logged to repair, then I doubt you will get anywhere with a claim.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained, so by all means try, but I wouldn't hold my breath!
That's bullcrap mate
#7: Re: Pothole prang - advice on alloy wheel and further action Author: Werdnal, Location: Cornwall, UKPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 12:43 pm ----
Ali_H wrote:
Werdnal wrote:
Phone in on our local radio recently with a legal eagle and someone asked about pothole compensation. Apparently the council's are only liable if they have had a pothole reported and not repaired or coned it off safely within 24 hours. Their "get out clause" is if its not been reported, then they no longer have the manpower and finances to be inspecting roads 24/7, so are only deemed negligent if they fail to respond when a problem is reported. You may want to check whether anyone has reported this pothole prior to your incident, but if they didn't have it logged to repair, then I doubt you will get anywhere with a claim.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained, so by all means try, but I wouldn't hold my breath!
That's bullcrap mate
Only repeating what the solicitor on the radio said. I'm not saying I agree with it!
#8: Re: Pothole prang - advice on alloy wheel and further action Author: sillyhilly, Location: The Mean Streets of CoventryPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 1:00 pm ----
Werdnal wrote:
Phone in on our local radio recently with a legal eagle and someone asked about pothole compensation. Apparently the council's are only liable if they have had a pothole reported and not repaired or coned it off safely within 24 hours. Their "get out clause" is if its not been reported, then they no longer have the manpower and finances to be inspecting roads 24/7, so are only deemed negligent if they fail to respond when a problem is reported. You may want to check whether anyone has reported this pothole prior to your incident, but if they didn't have it logged to repair, then I doubt you will get anywhere with a claim.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained, so by all means try, but I wouldn't hold my breath!
Rubbish...
Their 'get out clause' is Section 58 of the Highways Act 1980. If you can destroy that defense, you win. Simple.
And it also depends on the type of road. Country, town, city, A-Road, B-Road, Side Road etc etc.
#9: Re: Pothole prang - advice on alloy wheel and further action? Author: Jammo, Location: BrightonPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 1:24 pm ---- I dont know.
#10: Re: Pothole prang - advice on alloy wheel and further action Author: Ali_H, Location: Chichester, SussexPosted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 2:05 pm ----
Werdnal wrote:
Ali_H wrote:
Werdnal wrote:
Phone in on our local radio recently with a legal eagle and someone asked about pothole compensation. Apparently the council's are only liable if they have had a pothole reported and not repaired or coned it off safely within 24 hours. Their "get out clause" is if its not been reported, then they no longer have the manpower and finances to be inspecting roads 24/7, so are only deemed negligent if they fail to respond when a problem is reported. You may want to check whether anyone has reported this pothole prior to your incident, but if they didn't have it logged to repair, then I doubt you will get anywhere with a claim.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained, so by all means try, but I wouldn't hold my breath!
That's bullcrap mate
Only repeating what the solicitor on the radio said. I'm not saying I agree with it!
In that case, don't hire that solicitor
#11: Re: Pothole prang - advice on alloy wheel and further action? Author: davek, Location: SouthamptonPosted: Wed Jan 05, 2011 7:59 am ---- www.fixmystreet.com
Report any hole on here and it'll help others/yourself and it also informs the council what there is a problem. I reported one locally and it got repaired pretty quickly, mind you that was before the cold weather set in and caused problems with the road surfaces.
#12: Re: Pothole prang - advice on alloy wheel and further action? Author: Resolutionary, Location: South West LondonPosted: Sun Jan 09, 2011 12:17 pm ---- Thank you all kindly!!
Went to the council who gave me a form and am sending it all off with the details tomorrow. Turns out that Kingston council pay out pothole claims through insurance (the lady told me they'd had a lot of claims for cars damaged by shoddy road surfaces) so hopefully I'll hear back with the outcome soon, and they'll reinburse my lost dosh.
As for the costs I incurred, I decided to chuck a budget tyre on the back for the time being and it came to £53 fitted and all for a 195/45/r16. Luckily the alloy was fine.
And the damaged front alloy was photographed, and the images sent to a company near me who repair scuffs, damage, and also refurbish wheels. They quoted me £125 for a metal weld and refurb! I subsequently went to a scrap yard and found a mint condition Nimrod for £40!
This whole things been really poo. But now I've got a mismatching set of alloys, so decided that I'll eventually refurb the wheels in gloss red like I planned to ages ago!
#13: Re: Pothole prang - advice on alloy wheel and further action? Author: sillyhilly, Location: The Mean Streets of CoventryPosted: Sun Jan 09, 2011 12:22 pm ---- That form is useless - you can't put all the relevant points in, conveniently enough, and then they come back renouncing liability.
Just write a letter saying you're seeking compensation.
#14: Re: Pothole prang - advice on alloy wheel and further action? Author: Resolutionary, Location: South West LondonPosted: Sun Jan 09, 2011 12:25 pm ---- I've done both, I already had a letter with me which I'd gone in to hand deliver. When issued with the form I decided to use it as best I could and attach/include my original letter, several receipts and documents, as well as a bunch of photos of the site and the damage. They'll have more than enough info, and apparently the site where I had my prang has already been reported with no action taken.
Fingers crossed and thanks for your input dude
#15: Re: Pothole prang - advice on alloy wheel and further action? Author: sillyhilly, Location: The Mean Streets of CoventryPosted: Sun Jan 09, 2011 12:30 pm ----
Resolutionary wrote:
I've done both, I already had a letter with me which I'd gone in to hand deliver. When issued with the form I decided to use it as best I could and attach/include my original letter, several receipts and documents, as well as a bunch of photos of the site and the damage. They'll have more than enough info, and apparently the site where I had my prang has already been reported with no action taken.
Fingers crossed and thanks for your input dude
Good lad sounds like you're onto a winner!
I hope you've included other expenses? Travel to and from repair centres, petrol costs, inconvenience costs etc etc
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