Claim to the council from pothole killing wheels?

Guglielmo

Anyone ever done this? With success/without success?? Whats the best way of going about it?

A friend has damaged his posh wheels on a nasty pothole and I said I'd ask about for him, I have heard of people doing the same with car wheel damage so why not bikes?

Any stories or advice appreciated!

Cheers guys

wheezee

I've an idea the potholes have to have been reported previously, and the council failed to act, before you can hold them responsible...

tim_wand

whezee is spot on. Youll have to prove they were aware of the fault and failed to take reasonable action to rectify it, (think they are allowed upto 90 days) unless there has been a serious accident resulting from the road surface.

Big one around here is Pikey's removing drain covers and still the council gets an exemption from taking immediate remidial action because its so frequent.

Download onto your phone or PC the CTC app Fill that Hole, he will Geotag any defects and report them to highway agency, This also creates an easy registry for people like your mate to check against to see if it was a known problem and the council have not acted and are therefore liable to claims.

JamesB

About 30 years ago I completely destroyed a pair tubular wheels on a large pothole near Brum; cannot remember whether council already knew of pothole but I recalled it being around for a few weeks earlier.
Council paid up in full, so given these much more litigious days reckon your friend stands a very good chance, particularly if evidence that pothole was there can be gathered; after all it should not be up to road users to have the onus of reporting faults but the council to monitor and maintain roads

Gizmodo

tim wand wrote:

Download onto your phone or PC the CTC app Fill that Hole, he will Geotag any defects and report them to highway agency, This also creates an easy registry for people like your mate to check against to see if it was a known problem and the council have not acted and are therefore liable to claims.

Nice idea and I will definatley download the app, but how much riding would we get done if we stopped at every pot hole and geotagged the location with a phone. :shock:

RideOnTime

wheezee wrote:

I've an idea the potholes have to have been reported previously, and the council failed to act, before you can hold them responsible...

Yes, I thought that was the case

Mad Roadie

Claim - holes costing them money as a result of not repairing is the only way to apply pressure for action - years ago I actually had an accident because a grate was partly missing. it snatched the wheel, trashed the forks, front wheel and me. The claim went into the council for new clothing, wheel and forks - all paid very quickly


with hindsight i just wanted my bike put right (and the forks were better than the originals) but I should have claimed for the injury too. Times are different now, I would have got several £100 I am sure - even back in the late 80's

cougie

What happened to looking where you are going ?

ilm_zero7

I think we have a rightful expectation that the surface should be free of bike catching holes, and to allow riding in a straight line, not weaving around holes just to stay up. Cyclists inexplicably swerving is often a motorist's complaint, without the realisation why..... there is enough to observe, and watch without having to think if the ext hole will throw you off