Can you claim from the council if a pot hole wrecks your car?

That is the question I have.

I hit a pot hole yesterday and broke my exhaust and was wondering if I can claim the cost of repairs from the council. What else do I pay road tax for?

You can in theory, but it's not easy. I'll have to ask my Dad for details as some years back he was a witness to a friend whose wheel was wrecked by a big pothole in the middle of a main road.

yes. I have read somewhere before, that some councils would rather pay the claims, than fix all the pot holes, as its more expensive to fix the holes.

You can certainly make a claim to your Council if your vehicle was in sound condition and the pothole is a highway defect that it can be reasonably argued the Council should have repaired.

picture the hole and the damage to your car, get a friend to say he witnessed it, eh voilla. then you wait about 2 years,lol haha

You need to get pictures though ASAP if I remember right from where I have read about this.

Damage to car

Pictire of road and pot hole etc

That is good, as the pot hole broke my catalytic convector. Have been quoted £350 for repairs

Some one told me- so i dunno if its true or not, but if it is
it just shows one how a big a shitbag PC country we now live in thanks to New Labour .

but

If it snows like, and you clear you pathway drive, and some eff comes along and slips on the part you have cleared then he can then proceed to sue/claim against you because you cleared the snow

you couldn't make it up cud ya.

I have heard that and know of someone who has been jailed for going around and making claims from such events.

are you using Ashers' catalytic converter to clear your pathway

The other day someone was telling me that this was an Urban Myth.

If it is true, I think you will find that it goes back to the Tories, and probably Thatcher's time.

The logic is that you have taken responsibility of the pavement in front of your house.

I got a puncture following a 'pothole incident' and as a result attempted to claim the expenses from Sandwell Council. Needless to say they refused, i stumped up the cost (albeit a small one) myself, and my opinion of the council rose even further

Ashers.... out of interest - how did a hole affect your exhaust?

Surely that will be the question that the council ask (I know I would).

A damaged wheel, axle, bearings etc.... you can understand. How so your exhaust?

If it fell off after hitting the hole, then there may be a case to suggest it was already damaged/corroded in the first place?

And why didn't you avoid it?

The irony is, if you'd had some snow - the road would have been safer for you

Unless the snow\ice made the pot-hole

The exhaust already had a slight hole in it, but the force of the pothole snapped it clean in two.

Never mind black ice, its that tarmac eating stuff.... its a right meance.

Case closed your 'onour.

I think it was in Scotland, where they are putting rocks down to provided grip

I assumed that they meant stones, rather than boulders.

Oncoming traffic

Hopefully they will not ask.

Case dismissed

Personally it doesn't sound like a fair claim to me. As mentioned, a burst tyre, wonky wheel etc - damage to something previously in good condition is fine. An exhaust with a hole in isn't in good condition.

An old school friend of mine was killed on his motorbike after hitting a pothole. When investigators went to view the road the next day, the pot holes had been filled in already.

The council aren't liable for all the holes in the roads. Companies carrying out various jobs underground, gas/cable/whatever insure the work they do and only once this expires does it then pass to the council. They then tell you they cant afford to carry the work out. Barstewards.

That happened near Stroud the other week. A car hit a pothole and went into a drystone wall and 2 people were killed, 1 girl broke her back and the driver is now in a wheelchair. The following day the pothole had been filled in.

Hopefully they will.

This is the case at work ( restaurant ) we got an email from head office saying not to attempt to clear the snow, because if we do and someone slips they can sue us/the company. It is because we would have changed the state of it, and basically if someone hits the deck outside on a small bit we missed we'd be liable. Crazy stuff.

Just have to watch all the old dears struggling in, then explain to them why we can't clear the snow

I think it is because you have taken "responsibility" for it...... the problems are normally the next day when it melts and freezes overnight