claiming for pothole damage?

[dieselnutjob]

I hit a deep hothole last week which cost me just over £200 to rectify.

I got a part worn tyre from ebay which is the same model as the ruined one for £85 and fitted for £15.

A proper alignment was £120, which was necessary because both front and rear alignment were out as well as front camber.

 

I have photos of the pothole and the damage to tyre, and receipts for everything I spent to rectify it.

 

Kent council have sent me an "insurance claim" form to fill out, which is presumably to claim from their liability insurance.

 

If I do this then when I renew my car insurance next year will this appear on some database that I have "had an accident"?

 

From prior experience this would put my premium up even if the "accident" isn't my fault which would make it not worth claiming.

 

this is what did the damage

 

 

it cut the sidewall to extent that two minutes later there was no air in the tyre

 

 

[vulgalour]

Good luck.  Councils don't pay out on these things especially if your car is anything other than completely standard.  Chompy lost out to a pothole that effectively wrote his Saxo off and I nearly ended up with a square wheel on my Maestro hitting the same one.  Council's response was "not our problem, your car is old/modified and you can't prove it" and then a hastily applied patch to the crater.

[DSdriver]

That's a nasty one, is that wire reinforcement in the hole?

Don't accept their first offer of foxtrot oscar and threaten them with small claims court if they still resist. See if you can get local paper interested.

I did claim successfully from KCC but it was back in the eighties. Probably the same pothole.

[omegod]

I suspect the claim would be paid from their own coffers, fill it in as there's nowt to lose . I claimed off a car wash firm when the roller cover fell off mid wash and scratched my car,( paid out very handsomely )  I've never mentioned it when insuring and they have a central register of claims.  

[garbaldy]

Judging by the results people up here have had I wouldn't waste your time,

[barefoot]

On a slightly more positive note, then they were widening the M1 between 25-28, they cut down a load of trees & one day the wind blew a bit of a log across the carriageway & it hit the front, pointy nose bit of the 944. I rang up & played bloody hell. We were passed pillar to post for a bit, before some poor sap told us to send in two estimates. His e-mail response was devastatingly badly written. Meaning to say, I'm not accusing you of lying, he actually wrote.

I AM accusing you of lying about this incident, then you could see that he'd tried to recall the original mail, followed by a third apologising, admitting liabilty and promising a cheque in the post which arrived a couple of days later.

Until this moment, it had never occurred to tell an insurance company about it.

[strangeangel]

I do sympathise, Mr nutjob. As someone who rides scooters I hate potholes. When I see something like the one pictured I stop, take pictures of it and upload to the council's website. At least then they're obliged to do something about it.

 

Most of us have phones with cameras, so it's not a big deal, and in the absence of adequate road maintenance (like here in Kirklees) it seems like the only sensible thing to do.

[purplebargeken]

No need for your company to know. Bloody go for it! They rely on people not doing anything about it.

 

Take proper measurements of the hole though, with tape measure in shot.

 

Can you imagine a cyclist or biker hitting that? Twats and their shit roads. 

[Bobthebeard]

The AA website has a bit that specifically deals with pothole damage/claims.

[AlabamaShrimp]

It has don't bother. Mrs Shrimp bust the passenger tyre on her car in an unavoidable pot hole a couple of months ago.

 

Took ages for the council to get back to her where of course they said the hole wasn't deep enough to claim against. Funnily they fixed it about a week later

[dieselnutjob]

If it isn't logged on some database that I have "had an accident" then I will claim just to annoy them.

 

What worries me is that it is a claim against an insurance company, and I know that insurance companies do share data about claims.

[Bobthebeard]

They certainly do share data and information.. I had an incident in 2013. No fault. No blame on my part. Hit in rear by TP. Low speed accident etc... No injury claim. Had no injury.

Am still getting phone calls to this day about the ' accident I had' .

The details of this flag up on insurance quotes still. No increase in premium but it is on 'the database'.

[Captain Furious]

They're stored on a database called the CUE (Claims and Underwriters Exchange) You can request all the info they hold about you on it by filling out a form and sending them 10 English pounds

 

I did it last year, was just the accident that I was expecting to be on there though.

[Dead_E23]

I suspect the accident management companies just dial random numbers hoping they'll strike it lucky. Swmbo gets the odd call from them and she hasn't had any accidents in years. I've advised her that she should launch into a story about her 'accident' involving farting and following through, but she won't because she's too ladylike/sensible/whatever.

 

Anyway, dnj - potholes: a friend of mine recently tried to claim off Herts council and they essentially told him to do one. I suggested he start a claim through the 'moneyclaim direct' website which is how small claims works, but he cba. I'll be interested to hear how you get on!

[Guest Hooli]

I started to do this against Doncaster council a few months ago.

 

After getting an insurance form to fill in I've heard nowt, thanks for the reminder to chase it up. Mine cost £135 if memory serves.

[fairkens]

You have to be able to prove that the council knew about it but failed to take prompt action to repair.

 

In practice they will check their records and will pay out/not pay out accordingly.

[jakebullet]

You have to be able to prove that the council knew about it but failed to take prompt action to repair.

 

In practice they will check their records and will pay out/not pay out accordingly.

 

Use the "fix my street" app to anonymously tell them about said hole, then put your claim in later?

[dieselnutjob]

sorry but I'm not going to commit fraud

 

When I reported it they said that they didn't know, and there is no sign of it on that site either

[richardmorris]

Check fill that hole .org too. Used by cyclists and somone may have logged it already. The council will deny responsibility unless they already knew about the hole and did nothing.

 

http://www.fillthathole.org.uk

[jakebullet]

Put it on fix my street anyway for the next poor sap who gets a damaged car?

 

I went on a bit of a mad streak with said app a bit back. Prolly put local house prices down with the amount of reports, but now they've actually got round to fixing some of them it is a lot more pleasant. It appears dangerous pavements are low priority with an average of 2 months to fix.

[dieselnutjob]

When I called the council and told the location I probably got it wrong 

when I went back and took photos I think I got it wrong too 

I was going from the M25 towards Sevenoaks and think it was actually here

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.2808198,0.1511072,3a,75y,238.2h,67.47t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1so1dZ-LWq2UeRM_EbEdybQQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

The google earth pick was taken in August last year but my guess is that it has broken up more since them

[dieselnutjob]

The photos I took were from here

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.2814215,0.1491835,3a,75y,90h,67.47t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sChCxaS9xAxwHL92ChJSS8Q!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

but that can't be right because that doesn't come from the M25

 

bugger

[sierraman]

Id doubt they'd pay out. In any case they usually want invoices for the work from a VAT Registered garage for new parts if it's anything like car insurance. Put it down to experience.

[dieselnutjob]

Indeed

 

Given that it is one week of ownership into a gorgeous Jag, which has now suffered a scratch from a cyclist in Hyde Park and suspension (probably) bent from a huge pothole in Sevenoaks, I am going to say that this is the "man upstairs" as my Irish friend used to put it reminding me who's boss.

[pshome]

Didn't you see the pothole???

[dieselnutjob]

I was probably looking in the rear view mirror to merge with the lane of traffic coming from the A25.

It was an unfamiliar road and between lane  merging, speed limit changing and following sat nav my brain and eyes were probably all used up

[dieselnutjob]

and you can't get a four wheel alignment with camber and castor and all that anywhere for less than £100 in London

[richardmorris]

Indeed- http://www.felthamtyre.co.uk/alignment.html

 

They're very good if anyone is looking.

[andrew e]

It's not just the roads - my daughter broke her ankle 2 months ago due to a "pothole" in the pavement...