Anyone successfully sued the council?

TheStone

Hit the deck this morning. Nothing worse than some cuts and bruises, expecting to hurt tomorrow.

No-one else involved, but the road (cycle lane) was in shocking condition. Any chance of suing the council for new helmet (mashed) and wheel (badly buckled), plus whatever else I find when I have a good look.

FeynmanC

Yes, people claim for falling or damage due to bad surfaces.

Suing should be the last resort though.

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/info ... /index.htm

prj45

A district judge has criticised the London Borough of Ealing for squandering hundreds of pounds in a dispute over a pothole claim.

The council spent the money employing top London solicitors Watmores to defend a claim for £90 by local resident Andrew Hillier, after his bike’s rear wheel was buckled while using a cycle lane in Uxbridge Road last June.

Despite the council admitting that the pothole was of sufficient depth to require immediate repair, it decided to defend the claim and subsequently lost.

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/e ... case-13839

I'm going to do it again though, gnnng:

Of course, you could just slow down if the road surface is bad? Naturally if you sued the council it just costs you and your fellow council tax payers money in the long run.

essexian

Good luck doing so as, from my experience as a Citizens Advice Bureau manager (ex), they always make it difficult for anyone to claim against them as their normal come back is to say that their insurance company will not allow the claim. This of course is rubbish and should be challenged as they can not restrict their liability in this way. If the “person” owes another a duty of care and is in breach of that duty and the other suffers damage, as long as the duty of care is not so remote to be unreasonable, then negligence can be claimed/proved.

I would suggest you take photos of all the evidence you have/ can get and check that the council are actually responsible for the piece of road where the accident took place. Expect a long fight for compensation.

TheStone

Cheers. I think I'll hurt and be annoyed for a couple of days, then buy some new bits and forget about it. The road's in bad condition, but I think proving it's not my fault would be tough and take ages for probably 150 quid.

Tempestas

I hit a pot hole in my car, it was submerged in water so not visible, it wrote off two tyre, two wheels and damaged the suspension on the car and bent the lower trailing arm. I was doing half the speed limit as well, 30mph in a 60mph (country lane). I took photo’s of the hole before they repaired it and passed it onto my insurance company who claimed through the council. Might be worth speaking with a no win no fee solicitor and claiming, they apparently have a budget set aside for claims of this nature...

White Line

I was doing about 35 mph and crashed due to a pothole on Sunday. Quite a lot of damage done; gear shifter bent, frame dented and slightly bent, shorts torn, front and rear derailleurs are playing up, and covered in cuts, scrapes and lumps.

I'm planning on making a claim, and hope I get more than £150. :shock:

Flasheart

Ouch ..mend soon mate