Hi,

In May this year whilst travelling on a country lane in Essex my car struck a pothole. Loud crunch, all on dashcam. After taking car to two garages both found damage and they were repaired at a total cost of £363.01

Looked on council website, bingo. Pothole was reported last updated on the 21st October 2021 when they said a repair would be carried out in accordance with priority etc. Reported it, made a claim. Eight weeks later council reject. They claim it wasn't dangerous enough for them to act, saying it had a Consequence score of 1 , but a risk score of 3, meaning I was very likely to hit it (61-80%). But the score of 1 they gave me as I recently found out equates to in their own definition, a jarring for passengers.

Since then I've done everything I can to undermine the councils decision .I've submitted FOI requests detailing inspections and maintenance of the roads policy. Both inspections , first in October 2021 second in November of 2022, noted no "actionable defects". Note how the inspections are scheduled for every October but this one took place 13 months after the previous one in 2021, violating council rules and national highways principles for 12 months for local roads such as this.

After claim was assessed to be null due to Pothole being category 2 (non dangerous) the initial report from October 2021 was quietly removed (screenshot evidence available)

ECC consequence of 1 as "negligble" grossly incorrect as that does not correspond with the damage claimant suffered and the description ECC gave for 1( a minor jarring). Whereas claimants vehicle suffered suspension damage

An actual consequence score of 3 multiplied by risk score of 3 would give a total of 9 putting it in category 1 requiring a repair within 5 days

ECC KNEW the pothole existed for 18 months but did not undertake any repair in this timescale, despite an admission that potholes can and will deteriorate

I believe I've proved that the pothole was dangerous according to their own criteria, but what about negligence? It is a country road but still subject to annual inspections. How do I go about proving negligence , I know there is s58 and I have arguments for most of their points, eg , the council had ample time to rectify the pothole . If it scored 9 it would have been repaired within 5 days not an unspecified timescale..it's also dubious how the council removed the report from October 2021 from their website, but I have a screenshot of this . I also have dashcam footage of the pothole, which is a metre wide and 70mm deep according to the inspectors. I was driving at 2mph at the time so driver error cannot be to blame.

I know there is the £50 charge to start smc proceedings but how much could I lose in money if I lose, could it be the full £750 if they call in experts etc? I think I could be exempt from paying the full costs as I'm a student /part time worker. Obviously before I start smc I will send an email and letter outlying my case, I have compiled a 20 page report on the matter. I have also obtained anecdotal evidence from locals including a firefighter saying the damage cars have had through the hole and how some of them damage was in December 2022 , just a week after the council inspection , the last one .

No, I am not going to claim through car insurance as that will cost me in premiums. I am making a stand against one of the worst local authorities in the UK for potholes and I am prepared to go to great lengths to do so (within reason). Like I said I've proven the pothole was dangerous but more iffy about negligence