Pothole Damage & Councils

[My poor XF]

I would be sending a formal letter to the legal division of the council outlining the specifics of the pothole/holes and informing them that they will now be liable in the event of any damages that can be attributed to said pothole. Also keep copies of anything you send.

It might not help you now but you and anybody else will be covered should they decide against repairing it, this also works for damaged footpaths, trees etc. Once a council is aware of any potential liability they tend to get fixed relatively quickly.

[mik]

Originally Posted by killerjoolz

I had photo's of the pothole as well my damaged rims and they still didn't pay,they didn't care....ggrrr

i think you have to be persistent and let them know you mean business, the guys in the backgound at the council get complaint`s frequently, if they can get out of a bit of paper work easily they will , but councils don`t like bad publicity or potential voters being upset, i would mention going to the local paper and reporting the damage to your car and how you were treated at the council, if they don`t come to the party i`d be surprised.

[MIEF9640]

That iss all part of why ratepayers pay rates and is the responsability of council to ensure that the roads are maintained so you have every right to pursue it don't let it just slide under the carpet as then they will intentionally keep doing it to everyone.

[dandandandan]

Councils will try to palm it off as much as they can so they can get out of paying up for vehicle damage. I'd imagine that council would get alot of people demanding money off of them for damage caused by unmaintained roads, reserves etc.

If you feel strongly that the council must pay for any damage caused, you should maybe escalate things by seeking legal advice? Also you could try to find out if other people have been affected by the same pot hole and had serious damage?

It's alot of work all of that but councils wont do what they're supposed to be doing with tax money unless they are forced too.

All my opinion but haha.

Good luck with this debacle.

[xy500]

is the council really responsible for damage to your car while driving? this is a surprise to me, i thought it was user beware.

[duaned]

Originally Posted by xy500

is the council really responsible for damage to your car while driving? this is a surprise to me, i thought it was user beware.

That's like saying you were walking along a footpath, didn't notice a large part of the path was lifted and you tripped on it and caused an injury to yourself. Correct me if I am wrong, but people look straight ahead when the walk, not look down at their feet. Perhaps one should have walked on the road to aviod the footpath, and in danger of on-coming traffic? Point is, a road is there to be driven on, we pay for that priviledge. We cant be driving offensively to avoid potholes etc. when the road should be up to a standard. Bloody councils should pay!!

[ratman]

If you notify the ACT Government of a pothole and it is not repaired within 72 hours - in which time you or others report damaged wheels, they will contribute to the cost of repair or replacement. This was the case a few months ago when a mate mangled his rim on a 300C, the vehicle is used for weddings and the local roads authority had reports of the pothole so he was covered - lucky.

[xy500]

Originally Posted by duaned

That's like saying you were walking along a footpath, didn't notice a large part of the path was lifted and you tripped on it and caused an injury to yourself. Correct me if I am wrong, but people look straight ahead when the walk, not look down at their feet. Perhaps one should have walked on the road to aviod the footpath, and in danger of on-coming traffic? Point is, a road is there to be driven on, we pay for that priviledge. We cant be driving offensively to avoid potholes etc. when the road should be up to a standard. Bloody councils should pay!!

if you tripped on the path i'd say you need to look where you're going, i don't think its really comparable to driving a car.
The whole 72 hour thing makes sense, i mean how can you expect the council to be at the scene the second a pothole is made?

[Micksxboxmods]

Originally Posted by xy500

is the council really responsible for damage to your car while driving? this is a surprise to me, i thought it was user beware.

It is if their roads are poorly maintained and of general poor condition.

I'll see if I can get some pics and you will have a better understanding.

We are on the extremity of the council boundary and they rarely venture this far out to do anything, let alone repair potholes.

[Yaw]

From a recoveries point of view- We often get people trying to claim through thier insurance for this type of thing. In cases like this the excess and whatever no claim bonus affect you have regarding your policy would apply.
(Until a recovery is possible) In order to hold a council/government liable
* You MUST PROVE negligance.
Which means you must prove beyond all reasonable doubt that they knew about the problem and did nothing about it in a resonable time frame.
* Definition of a reasonable time frame may vary. eg. Council not be able to know about it due to a weekend and therefore being, a Monday morning before they can be contacted to know.

You Mentioned within 20 minutes of your complaint someone was fixing it, That to me sound like excellent customer service from your council.
I seriously doubt you will be able to recover from what you have told us.

There is also the point that as the driver of the vehicle you should drive to conditions. (you mentioned this was a regular opening pothole which they fix on a regular basis) You have at least some contribution in blame don't you think?

[hawke]

My understanding is that if the hole just happened, and the Council was not aware of it, they have no liablity to you.

However, if the Council failed to repair a hole that they knew about, then you have a case.

If my memory is correct, Buckle v Bayswater Road Board [1936] HCA 65; (1936) 57 CLR 259 (15 December 1936) is the relevent case.

[Micksxboxmods]

Originally Posted by Yaw

You Mentioned within 20 minutes of your complaint someone was fixing it, That to me sound like excellent customer service from your council.
I seriously doubt you will be able to recover from what you have told us.

There is also the point that as the driver of the vehicle you should drive to conditions. (you mentioned this was a regular opening pothole which they fix on a regular basis) You have at least some contribution in blame don't you think?

this means that it was previously reported, nothing to do with customer service.

By them fixing it, it is an ommission of it requiring substantial repair.

[cjf]

I had a similar experience 18 months ago with damage to the front bar of my car when it was 3 days old , drove into a large 15cm drop off where council was doing road resurfacing and had cut away a section of road and didn't fill it before knocking off for the afternoon. All councils have liability insurance you just have to be persistent and let them know you will take it further if they are too lazy to process your claim.
I rang the council and asked to speak to the person who handles their insurance. They asked for photos and the quotes I had got for repair of the damage and also witness statement ( someone who was standing in their front yard at the time).
I got a cheque within a month for the full cost of repairs.

[Burnout]

Originally Posted by RG

Minge unfortunately the laws have changed in the last couple of years. Now unless the pothole was reported to council prior to you hitting it you have no claim. The fact that they fixed it so soon after it being reported adds to their "not negligent" claim also.

They've increased their "Duty of Don't Care"

The roads around here are just falling to bits, holes are getting larger, some of the patches are coming away from the patches.

Council fixed up the side of the road at Bundamba where the verge collapsed into a railway cutting as a result of the recent large storms. We had rain again a few days ago & its collapsed again.......
There is more rain due around here tomorrow.

[burnz]

i sucessfully sued sydney city counsel for the replacement of an exhaust stack on a kenworth,
overhanging folage (tree)
same with my commodore two damaged rims from maitland counsel on the new england road prior to the roundabout at the pacific hwy.

[geckoGT]

We had the same thing happen when our ute was brand new (3 yrs ago), Tori was driving through some road works where they had cut a trench into the road. When they finished work for the day they filled it with gravel. During the heavy rain that night the gravel washed out leaving a very deep trench.

Tori drove through the road works in heavy rain at night and did not see the depth of the trench, hitting it with both wheels on the right side of the car. The trench was so deep parts of the suspension hit the road surface at the edges. The result was two dented rims, two burst tyres. Damaged wheels came to $1700, two tyres $1000 plus a wheel alignment and suspension inspection.

We put a claim through our insurance (RACQ), had to pay the excess initially but once RACQ chased up the council we were refunded the excess as the council was at fault.

It can be done.

[hawke]

I spent some time today with the Risk Manager of a large Sydney Council. I am helping the Council on a major self insurance project.

I happened to notice a box full of correspondence from motorists that were claiming pothole damage. The letters had been stamped approved, and were covered with notations suggesting cheques had been issued.

It looks like payments do get made.

[evanj]

This is rubbish!!... the councils have to exercise a duty of care to all motorists. I would talk to a lawyer as they have to pay for damage. Up here in Rockhampton the council had to pay a large sum of money for motorcycle repairs for someone who did the same thing.

Originally Posted by Micksxboxmods

Hi Guys,
I recently had the misfortune to hit a massive pothole that had casued a 3 week old tyre to bulge at the sidewall, was impact damaged inside so had to be replaced.

What I would like to know is what is the best way with dealing with councils regarding this as I have submitted a claim and they have cold blank refused to pay saying they were not negligent.

Well..here goes
After returnting from hitting the pothole, it was being repaired by council workers(no more than 25mins after the event) so I stopped, showed one of them, got his name and work mobile as evidence etc.

I have lived in this area and it is the only road in and out and over the past 6 years this pothole has been repaired no less than 5 times( I would consider this to be neglegent as it is still not fixed properly and requires another repair only 2 weeks after the last).

This is not your usual pothole, it measures 70-80cm diameter and about 20-30cm deep and gets bigger everytime.

Council have told me basically to wear it as they don't see themselves as negligent...

What are your thoughts/ suggestions??
Cheers
Mick

[blownv8au]

i hit a pothole a meter long 80cm wide by 18cm deep on the way home one night from work full of water didn't look like a pothole, buckled 18in rim and poped my tyre. i went back in the morning took photos of it and wheel got a quote for $800 and went to rocky council they came to the party for half stating it was my choice to fit 18s and they were only liable for standard wheel and tyre and alignment, better than nothing though.

[ea90gl]

Thats strange I just ran over a pothole in the fiances car a couple hours ago, ended up with a flat and some wheel damage (she has 17 inch rims with 6 months old tyres). I remembered this thread from a while back and was going to search it but its right up there in the pub section. I got lots of photos of the the pot hole with the car in site so it looks like its at the scene. Got close up shots of the damage and how's this for luck, had a guy come out of his house to check out what was happening since he heard the smack from inside. Ended up giving me his details so I can use him for back up when I ring the council on monday, wish me luck

[ebxr8240]

Might have to a Billy Connolly ...

[Eu-GenixX]

i bent a rim on a pothole a few months back... the rims were less than 2 weeks old..19".. after much humming and harring... i ended up calling the Brisbane City Council... they first took details of the pothole so they could fix it... then gave me a reference number.. (not sure why they gave me that).. then said i'd have to contact their insurance mob to make a claim..

so i called the insurance ppl.. and they told me to write a letter.. stating where it happened.. what time.. and how.. and to include quotes for the damage repair.. or.. a receipt if the damage has already been fixed...

i never followed thru.. (stupid).. but i don't know if they would have paid anyway..

[388cube_edxr8]

Next time you get a speeding ticket send it on to the council. Falsely claim that you were not negligent in your driving (despite photographic evidence to the contrary) and that unless the fine is in excess of $1500 it is your personal policy to not pay it.

If they don't like that answer then they can submit a formal complaint, in writing, to your parents or your boss. They will then review the complaint and produce a written report within 6 - 8 weeks.

[EFPWR]

Originally Posted by 388cube_edxr8

Next time you get a speeding ticket send it on to the council. Falsely claim that you were not negligent in your driving (despite photographic evidence to the contrary) and that unless the fine is in excess of $1500 it is your personal policy to not pay it.

If they don't like that answer then they can submit a formal complaint, in writing, to your parents or your boss. They will then review the complaint and produce a written report within 6 - 8 weeks.

Hahahaha.. don't tempt me :P

Nah, the local council's alright here. Most of the more used roads are getting resurfaced (Hume City Council) so I can't really complain.

[Micksxboxmods]

Originally Posted by Eu-GenixX

i bent a rim on a pothole a few months back... the rims were less than 2 weeks old..19".. after much humming and harring... i ended up calling the Brisbane City Council... they first took details of the pothole so they could fix it... then gave me a reference number.. (not sure why they gave me that).. then said i'd have to contact their insurance mob to make a claim..

so i called the insurance ppl.. and they told me to write a letter.. stating where it happened.. what time.. and how.. and to include quotes for the damage repair.. or.. a receipt if the damage has already been fixed...

i never followed thru.. (stupid).. but i don't know if they would have paid anyway..

they wouldn't of mate, I have called 4 times, written twice to council and referred matter to Hon Barbara Perry (NSW State Councils Minister) and still they claim they are not negligent.

I have even suggested contributory negligence on the councils part and they still remain unchanged.

1 question: Why TF do they have insurance???

Mick