An Incident

[ToyotaFan63]

Just thought you might be interested in hearing about what happened on the way to work yesterday. The weather has caused havoc with potholes appearing almost daily on my normal route but this was something else! Following a car down a dark, poorly lit main road I suddenly saw something at the side of the road but was too late to avoid. The bang was incredible but I thought the car was ok. Fifteen seconds later I realised that something was desperately wrong, so stopped the car, got out to find my rear nearside tyre completely shredded. I reversed back towards the object but kept a good distance away- a grid had broken and become dislodged. It must have been sticking up about six inches! As I gazed at my car again I noticed that not only was the front tyre also shredded but both wheels damaged, The next few minutes were mayhem as before I had chance to warn anyone else, FIVE other cars did exactly the same thing and came to a shuddering halt with damage to their cars. Police were called but took a while to arrive as all the occupants stood around - it was their daily route as well. After a four and a half hour wait for a recovery vehicle, the car was taken away on a flatbed truck. 

Obviously this is going to be an insurance job (with £200 excess from me). Has anyone else tried to claim money back from their local Highways Agency and been successful?. I have photos of the grid, damage to the wheels and tyres, a police incident number and an insurance reference number. Whether there is any damage to the suspension I don't know but I want the car just as it was before.

Any advice would be gratefully received. Thanks.

[Bper]

As long as you can prove that the damage was caused by a pothole, you can make a claim. You can make a claim for pothole damage from the council or authority responsible for maintaining the road where the pothole was or you can claim on your car insurance if you have fully comprehensive cover. It may be a bit long winded to do so but it can be done.

[flash22]

Plenty of photos and fill in the paperwork for the local council, most have an online solution

[Roy124]

Chris, sympathies but from what you say here I would say little chance.  However there are things you could try.  There was actually a piece in Saturday's papers. 

Check Fix My Street to see if it had been reported previously. 

Submit a claim to the council.  When they refuse your claim ask them how often the grid is inspected.  Ask them for a copy of the most recent report. 

 

[Mojo1010]

That's terrible. I have heard of people claiming from the council, just do it why not. Only lose a bit of time to document things, otherwise it's a claim on your insurance. A photo to see what it looks like. 

[Bernard Foy]

Wow, luckily no personal harm occurred. Wheels and tyres are replaceable. Have your car checked out by the Toyota dealership in other non-visible damages occurred as a result of the mishap which may not be immediately noticeable to the naked eye.

[Cyker]

Argh that sort of thing is always one of the worries in the back of my mind as similar hazards are not uncommon on my routes.

I'm glad you're okay!

If it's a motorway or certain major roads then the Highways agency are the people to claim off, otherwise it'll be the local authority/council for the area the road is in.

Most of them have an area on their website where such hazards can be reported, and information on how to claim or who to contact.

It sounds like you've gotten a lot of evidence and documentation; If you had testimony from the other victims even better. That will help greatly.

 

[Jimota]

A massive pot hole appeared in a local shopping centre car park which was so much of a hazard that access/egress became really difficult.  The car park looked perfectly fine a few days ago and it just shows how severe fluctuations in the weather can cause havoc with road surfaces.  Local authorities might use that as a defence in not knowing that a public road has been damaged.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Have a look at: 

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/how-do-i-report-a-pothole-and-claim-compensation-abaJj0n6mEar

[TonyHSD]

Sorry to hear that happened to you. I had also very similar experience on M25 J21 the slip road joining the M1 north. The bridge there had an large opening between joints and anyone with low profile tyres literally had a damage and was out of the road. There were already few cars broken down in the hard shoulder and while I was curious why the loud bam happened and I had to stop too. For me the damage was front left tyre. The motorway was shut to rectify the road damage after I rang the highway service. I pay myself for a new tyre, wheel alignment and suspension check, then filled up a claim form from highways as they were responsible for that part of the motorway, added some pictures and they paid in full. Perhaps a thorough check of suspension and undercarriage is very important to estimate the repair bill and for your claim. 
Good luck 🤞 

[ToyotaFan63]

Slight update - After being without a loan car for three days (I now have a Fiat 500 on loan), managed to get back to work on Friday and noticed that they have traffic lights around the grid now - obviously not an easy fix after all, despite a Highway Agency van coming out about two hours after the event on Tuesday. Also forgot to say that the insurance company wouldn't let my car be taken to my local Toyota dealer (Pinkstones in Stoke) and it currently resides at an independent repairer in Stafford. Meanwhile, a few photos of the offending grid / damage...

[ToyotaFan63]

...and before anyone mentions it, I'd already got a claim in with Toyota for a replacement front wheel under warranty due to the lacquer lifting with water ingress and peeling off. Yes, it looks awful in the photo!. Thanks for your kind words - much appreciated...

[TonyHSD]

That thing its like a guillotine. 😱
Do you think if the car had 16” wheels with higher  profile tyres could have survived, or perhaps been only tyre damaged ? 
After my incident in 2020 the garage didn’t notice or mentioned to me that one of the wheels was slightly buckled and only replaced one tyre. After that I decided to change the wheels from 17” to 16” and the car ride quality has changed and I think it’s slightly more protective against bad roads we currently have everywhere. 

[Roy124]

8 hours ago, ToyotaFan63 said:

Slight update - After being without a loan car for three days (I now have a Fiat 500 on loan), managed to get back to work on Friday and noticed that they have traffic lights around the grid now - obviously not an easy fix after all, despite a Highway Agency van coming out about two hours after the event on Tuesday. Also forgot to say that the insurance company wouldn't let my car be taken to my local Toyota dealer (Pinkstones in Stoke) and it currently resides at an independent repairer in Stafford. Meanwhile, a few photos of the offending grid / damage...

Fairly normal, my insurers insisted their preferred repairer, a Vauxhall frabchise, fixed my SAAB.

My daughter's insurer also wanted to use a non-Volvo repairer but eventually conceded.  Not sure why, but the car had reported to the mothership where all the damage was.  It was far more extensive than the rear end shunt suggested with shock loads as far as the front.

I suspect many dealerships farm work out to body shops anyway.

[ToyotaFan63]

On 1/22/2023 at 2:11 PM, TonyHSD said:

That thing its like a guillotine. 😱
Do you think if the car had 16” wheels with higher  profile tyres could have survived, or perhaps been only tyre damaged ? 
After my incident in 2020 the garage didn’t notice or mentioned to me that one of the wheels was slightly buckled and only replaced one tyre. After that I decided to change the wheels from 17” to 16” and the car ride quality has changed and I think it’s slightly more protective against bad roads we currently have everywhere. 

There were varying types of tyre affected on the other vehicles so in this instance I don't think it would have made much difference to be honest.

[ToyotaFan63]

Final Update - car back in my possession. No damage to suspension or other areas. Purely the two tyres, two new alloys and two new tyre pressure monitors. Job complete. Just put in a claim with the council to get my insurance excess back - will take months apparently. 

As for the grid - it was initially rebuilt after a few days, only for it to collapse again and has had to be rebuilt again!

Thanks for all your input...

[Roy124]

Chris. I may have missed it, who paid? 

[ToyotaFan63]

The insurance company have obviously paid for the damage to the car, but I am trying to claim back my excess from the Council. Could take months apparently...

[Roy124]

Chris, thanks, sadly, even if the council repay your excess it might still affect your NCD.

[TonyHSD]

It may not affect the ncd but the premium will rise a bit for sure. But these rose every year anyway. If me I will push for not increasing or go to another insurance. 

[Mojo1010]

Could it not all be claimed from the council? Excess is not good enough as its a claim on insurance. 

[Corollanutter]

I hope you have more luck with the claim than I did. I struck a 6" deep, 18" long pothole which was filled with water - at night - and therefore invisible. Luckily I took out the tyre and alloy cover when buying the car (at my clever wife's suggestion) which covered the two tyres and £150 towards the alloy. However the alloy cost just shy of £300 - so I tried to claim the balance from the council. Following lots of calls, e-mails and to-and-froing their "claims handlers" sent me a heavily redacted schedule (under the FOI act) of the road inspections in that area (the most important dates etc were redacted) - showing (apparently) that they had fulfilled thier statutory requirements in inpecting this type of road every 3 months. TBH, at this point, as was clearly their aim, I decided that I had better things to do with my life and time than persuing it any further. However I'm pretty sure that my enquiries, e-mails and calls cost them a darned sight more than the £150 I was claiming. It seems they would rather spend money in not paying out than actually paying up in the first place. Thanks South Staffordshire Council, what stars you are!!

[Roy124]

Chris, their time can indeed be costed but they are sunk costs. Same with NHS operation costs or GP missed appointments. 

[Mojo1010]

Just to add, I think my current insurer permit 2 claims in a 5 year period without affecting ncd. I would bill the council for the whole cost, why not? You lose out if u don't. 

[TonyHSD]

I had been lucky then claiming through Highways as they were responsible for the motorway where I had my incident. They were actually very prompt. Paper work sent to me in no time with return envelope and post stamp.
They wanted to send them the original invoices for all work done and asked me for pictures and to draw a diagram which I did and after a couple of months or so I had full payment into my account. They clearly stated that I can either go through insurance or make a claim directly to them, but not both obviously. Only upset with the garage that did not inspect properly the wheel and didn’t warned me it has been slightly buckled so I could claim for a new wheel but new tyre and wheel alignment  all paid. 👍