Hello everyone.
I've had the very bad luck of severely damaging my motorcycle due to the unfriendly placing of a rather large pothole not far from where i live.
I'm about to complete the third party claim form from the council in question and was wondering if there is anyone who has been in a similar situation, what was the outcome, did you manage to prove neglegance, how long did the claim take?
The problem for me is writing the details in a way that forceably notes the council responsible for the damage.
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Highways Act 1980 imposes a statutory duty on the council to inspect and maintain the highway. However, it does not impose strict liability and merely demands reasonably freuqent inspections and that defects of a certain size be repaired.
On top of that, councils and their insurers tend to play hard ball on issues like this and don't pay up easily. If you are to succeed, don't be emotive and accept that further research may be needed before you can make a claim. On the simple fact of "You hit a pothole and sustained loss," there is no case without further information. You need either to provide or request hard evidence.
As for timescales - it will vary depending on who your opponent and its insurers are, and you may or may not be successful. Even if you are successful, you are unlikely to be measuring the time in weeks.
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If you do go ahead and make a claim, make sure first of all that you go and take a picture of the offending pothole, with a ruler or something clearly in shot showing size. I have heard of councils sending someone round to fill the hole in once they are notified of a claim, and then saying "What pothole?"
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I'd be interested to hear a bit more about the circumstances and nature of this damage before making judgement. I don't mean any offence but "I hit a pothole" does sound a little bit compensation culture. Isn't damage like that what fully comp insurance rather than council tax is for?
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If you're insured with a reputable company and/or have legal cover thrown in, isn't this for your insurance company to sort out?
If there's any question of a third party being to blame, your insurance company should claim against them? You are their client and it's their responsibility as insurers to minimise your loss. It wouldn't hurt to provide the insurance company with photographic evidence though.
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At last! Something I know about that I can answer on, although at some risk given the opinions of others.
The rules are simple and if I remember correctly work as follows. You have three years to claim. The council can only be liable if, as DavidHM says, they have failed to inspect and repair within a reasonable time. What that means in practice is that the earlier you claim the more likely you are to fail as they can prove they inspected. Ask for maintenance and/or inspection records for the area. Get an opinion on how long the defect has been around. If it has been there a while and the council knew but failed to remedy you win.
In terms of payment the faster you put in a valid claim the faster it gets settled. At least that is the aim.
I work for an insurance company and recently looked into highways claims. Since fraud is a huge issue here, and I mean huge, all sorts of lovely things like voice stress analysis and conversation tracking are being introduced. The number of people who slip carrying a t.v. but who don't know the make is amazing.
On a side note the council will carry an excess far greater than the value of the damage to you and the bike so the cost falls squarely on the council not the insurance company.
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It's good to know that there is someone thats gives some people the benefit of the doubt.
I agree with your concerns over fraudulent claims and would welcome some form of lie-detection if it helps in claims of anykind going more smoothly. Maybe in the not too distant future it will crack the abusers and bring the premiums down? Who knows?
I'm not sure my insurance company can help out as i'm only covered by 3rdPTFT. Not that i don't think my bike deserves FullyComp, my first year i had a small accident £1,000 and 2nd yr an attemted theft £1,000 so it's a case of could'nt afford.
The information about the repair/maintenance schedule for the area in question, is that readily available through the council or library would you know or do i have to pay to gain these records? Am i better off seeing a solicitor with the details of the accident?
I'm calling it an accident because i was bucked out of the riding position and almost thrown off the bike landing with my one knee on the seat.
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Don't know where the records come from. I also can't say whether you should go to a solicitor or not but what I can tell you is that most claims that come through solicitors are try-ons and are treated as such. Claims from the individuals concerned are more likely to be real.
The best thing is to find out what evidence is required for the claims handler to make up their mind on the case. Try to get as much of that as possible before claiming so the data is available straight away. I have a meeting scheduled next week on this so I will come back with more info if I can.
Any other advice would have to come from the legally trained contributors.
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Thanks androo for your input and interest in this matter. I'll see what i can do as far as gathering some proper info on the area. I'll keep a lookout for your results:)
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It would seem either most of you are insurance company related or work for the council? :(
If i knew how to operate this computer a little better i'd post the pictures of the damage done to the wheels.
Imagine a nicely sized piece of cake and insert it pointy bit first, into the rim of the wheel and on the rear wheel a big flat edge :/ It's on a lefthand bend with a bush covering the corner. As for the pothole, it's roughly 4'long, 1'wide and about 3"deep. Is this deemed to be large enough to be repaired bearing in mind i've also had advanced training from the gwent motorcycle police to ride a motorcycle defensively in most situations.
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I wrote a letter to the council about the location of holes in the roads accross the brighton and hove area's. And gues what happened:
1. Where they found them, they drew with white paint around them and 2 weeks later they are still there.
2. They failed to see most of the holes (i.e. sinking drain covers which a motorbike falls into is fine)
3. Most holes/ bumpy roads they seem to consider as o.k. when in fact they aren't. They have to be huge holes in the road and kill someone/ cause an accident to be repaired, and of course any normal person knows a small hole in the road will become big very quickly. Why we pay so much for road tax is beyond me. If they spend £0 on repairing the road network, shouldn't road tax be free?
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Crikey, here in Spain thats not a pothole, merely a slight irregularity in the road surface!
Streets, roads, pavements(sidewalks) are ALWAYS full of uncovered holes, outstanding re-inforcement rods, left over fixings for broken or removed street furniture and so on.
The robust view here seems to be that if you are stupid enough to trip or fall it's your own silly fault for not looking!
Roger.
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A good legal system there then, at least there is some maintenance done on the roads and pavements here however little it is. I've also heard that in some parts they got the sewers running through the streets, mmmm. Nice place to live. I wonder why you moved there?
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2wowheels, there are more important things in life than holes in the road and a good legal system. Quality of life springs to mind.
On the other hand, maybe he was born there rather than moved there?
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I guess so.....i know one thing, it should'nt be taken for granted no matter what.
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There was a recent case reported on in a news item on BBC E. Midlands last night. Last year a young woman was killed when she came off her motorbike on a country lane in Derbyshire (I know it well, as I grew up around there). She was several months pregnant at the time and they managed to save the baby (albeit premature).
The inquest heard that the accident was caused by a poor repair to the road by a utility, which had left the repaired surface projecting above the surrounding road by about two inches. The inquest returned a verdict of accidental death. I would have thought it was caused by negligence. I would imagine the family have a strong case for a claim against the utility.
Mind you, what a heavily pregnant woman was doing riding a motorbike, I can't imagine.
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Mind you, what a heavily pregnant woman was doing riding a motorbike, I can't imagine.
Maybe she couldn't afford a car?
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I helped someone claim against West Lothian Council a couple of years back. They went into a pothole and damaged their suspension.
Can't remember the exact detail but wrote a letter to the council enclosing the receipt (after having phoned them immediately after the accident). Took pictures of hole and sent it with the receipt and received payment within a week. If memory serves me right, it was for about £80.
I work for a retailer and we have a "Form of Discharge" where we can pay out up to a nominal value, once the claimant fills out a form. Thinking being that it is left to our discretion as either way, this will work out cheaper than involving insurance companies, lawyers etc.
Perhaps Councils work this same way?
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Nope, born in Malta (Dad in the Royal Navy)- moved to Spain 'cos pensioners cant afford to live in the UK!
Roger.
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Nope, born in Malta (Dad in the Royal Navy)- moved to Spain 'cos pensioners cant afford to live in the UK! Roger.
Ah, so that's the answer. I'll arrange to have some more shipped out to you from Bournemouth this weekend. Pensioners that is.
ND
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