Pothole caused damage to car.

[FlapR]

Just wondering if anyone has any experience with claiming for damage done to a vehicle, specifically the highways agency?

There's long term roadworks between Junction 16 and 19 on the M6 at the moment and potholes everywhere. I was joining the motorway at junction 18 heading north and hit a pothole on the slip road which destroyed my NSF tyre(sidewall blew out). I managed to pull up somewhere relatively safe and got towed to the services a few miles up the road. According to the recovery driver it happens every day at the moment and the potholes are supposed to be fixed soon as they've done them on the southbound carriageway but not the northbound side.

I've got a dashcam so that captured it happening, just wondering if anyone has had any luck every claiming anything back?

This is the pothole I hit:



Cheers.

 

[VincentHanna]

I was going to say you would have no chance, but the dashcam footage may change things...

 

[andicole0]

All you can do is make a claim. The answer is probably that they weren't aware and therefore can't do anything.
Check if it was reported by someone else first as if if it was reported you may have a case.
Check web sites like repair my road (and others).
Andi.

 

[Diagro]

Zero chance they were not really aware considering that there a bloody cones next to it.

 

[kindai]

Section 58 defense wouldnt apply as there is active roadworks so no1) they have staff patrolling up and down as required and no2) they have people working on the road who would be aware.

Just stick the claim in, expect a minor bit of obligatory push back but otherwise they'll cave in quick.

 

[jpaul]

not helpful - but If the roadworks are long term and those specific cones have been there several weeks, then they may not have seen it ... but you can try.

Folks may not have reported it since it looks avoidable ? .. on commute route I have reported holes that are in unavoidable/dangerous locations.

 

[Sone]

There was an absolute beast of a pot hole in the middle lane just after Sandbatch services for a few weeks

 

[Diagro]

I wish I had put a claiming for the one that wrecked steering rack when I had the Clio.

Regret it as two days later it was filled in, which means they were aware

 

[Semple]

So many potholes between j16 and j19, every week when I drive upto Manchester I feel like I'm constantly trying to dodge them.

 

[MooMoo444]

It’s well lit and easy to see, could you not have avoided it?

Since it’s single lane and coned, you shouldn’t have been going quickly.

 

[NewGamer11]

The roads near me are like the surface of the moon at the moment after the recent cold spells. I may need the advice in this thread soon. Actually, just went and reported two bad ones via local council websites.

 

[Orionaut]

It’s well lit and easy to see, could you not have avoided it?

Since it’s single lane and coned, you shouldn’t have been going quickly.

That was my thought too,

Its not exactly invisible,nor is it in the middle of the tram line zone for the wheels )IYSWIM) I feel much the same when I read of storys about people who have trashed their engines by flying through puddles instead of either slowing down or avoiding them.

 

[EvilRob]

So many potholes between j16 and j19, every week when I drive upto Manchester I feel like I'm constantly trying to dodge them.

Northbound from J16-J19 the outside lane surface is far better quality than the inner two.
I usually just set cruise control at 55mph and stick to that lane. When dark it's almost impossible to avoid all the potholes in the inner two lanes.

 

[mjt]

It’s well lit and easy to see, could you not have avoided it?

Since it’s single lane and coned, you shouldn’t have been going quickly.

All it takes is a quick glance to fiddle with the radio or the HVAC and it's easily missed.

That, or your phone/sandwich/drink/cigarette/coat pocket on the back seat

 

[jpaul]

.. some 70% of new cars are on PCP's so don't belong to driver.
so, I've concluded many people do not care about paying attention to avoid potholes and premature suspension degradation;

I have a mental map of pot-hole locations on routes I use regularly, you learn the new ones by watching the guy in fronts suspension.

 

[Adam]

I claimed against the council last year for a new tyre after I hit a gigantic pot hole. It was a long drawn out process but I eventually won.

Where this case might be difficult is that you may be unable to return to the scene and take pictures. Mine was on a small roundabout just out of town. I took a tape measure and measured the width and depth then took pictures of it. I'm not sure how you would be able to on a busy A road like that.

 

[Nasher]

.. some 70% of new cars are on PCP's so don't belong to driver.
so, I've concluded many people do not care about paying attention to avoid potholes and premature suspension degradation;

I have a mental map of pot-hole locations on routes I use regularly, you learn the new ones by watching the guy in fronts suspension.

Yea I know all of the ones on my route to work, but some are unavoidable as they have got quite wide and on corners (probably quite dangerous too)

They fill them in but a few weeks later they are back again. I don't know what clowns they are employing to lay roads now.

 

[4K8KW10]

These potholes are as the plague. How is it even possible?

 

[ci_newman]

It’s well lit and easy to see, could you not have avoided it?

Since it’s single lane and coned, you shouldn’t have been going quickly.

That was my thought too,

Its not exactly invisible,nor is it in the middle of the tram line zone for the wheels )IYSWIM) I feel much the same when I read of storys about people who have trashed their engines by flying through puddles instead of either slowing down or avoiding them.

If you notice in the screenshot / video, the cones are leading him from the inside lane into the hard shoulder. That pot hole is exactly in the middle of his tram lines for changing lanes.

OP, I have known people to successfully claim compensation from the council. It's a long and drawn out process though.

 

[GravyMonster]

Slightly OT, but the size and amount of potholes are ridiculous right now. There's a single-lane stretch of the A421 going to J13 of the M1 which I commute down every day. On a stretch of about 1/4 mile there's just pothole after pothole, after collapsed tarmac. You pretty much have to straddle the cat's eyes to avoid them all.

If you breakdown on it there's nowhere to go as the grass verges are a yard or so wide at best, which is why every day for the last week the road has been blocked at some point of the day because someone's gotten a puncture and has had to pull over as far as they can while taking their life in their hands changing a wheel. Either them or their AA guy, anyway.

They did try to 'fix' one of the largest holes about 3 months ago, simply by just pouring new tarmac in to it. Now that's collapsed and the 2 feet in front of it is forming another separate pothole/trench too.

Our infrastructure, as a nation, is a joke at the moment.