Bucks County Council

29th July 2010

In early February 2010 one of my alloys was severely dented by a pothole near Gt Missenden, requiring a £400+ replacement. I immediately reported the incident to Bucks CC providing photographs, marked up Google map, invoice and full description of circumstance. This was acknowledged on 16th Feb. Yesterday, I finally received a standard letter which explains how well the council perfomed under difficult circumstances but "given the extreme weather.....the County Council cannot be held liable for the damage to your vehicle in this instance". The letter makes no reference to the specifics of my case nor gives any defence or explanation of the inspection regime for the road in question. In short, on the basis of this letter Bucks CC will not have paid any compensation to anyone during 2010. Advice on next steps would be appreciated.

Replies (5)

les_Allen     posted : 05/08/10 at 12:13 pm

Also hit a pothole, halfway down Hedsor hill near Clivedon Hose. 23rd january. No street lights trees over lapping the road, no moonlight, pothole was 54" by 20" wide, and probably deeper than 6" and full of water. Had to wait almost three hours to have a tyre delivered and fitted, MPV does not have spare. In th espace of that time 6 more people hit the same pothole. The person whose house we parked outside mentioned taht there had been quiote a few peiople hit it, and it had been reported two or three times, she had even been in contact with the Police about it. went back the next day to measure the depth, miracously it had been patched up that morning. Anyway contacted the Highways Division, completed the form, sent a copy of the bill, approx £98, and photos and waited. Eventually I got back a letter from Bucks CC explaining about adverse weather conditions and how complex a pothole can be and the fact that they have taken considerable action they can not be held liable. They do tell me I can seek legal advice, but like some of you, the cost is probably not worth a lopng drawn out matter, which I would probably lose, especially when they say we fixed the hole the next day.
I would dearly love to know if the man responsible for the roads, Councillor David Shakespeare received the same letter.

Potholes.co.uk Expert     posted : 03/08/10 at 9:38 am

The "odds" of winning any pothole case start off slim as the law is stacked heavily in favour of the highway authority. Your particular circumstances are based entirely on the information relating to your case, so no-one can say at this point,

Whether it is worth the hassle is a decision only you can make.

eric3586     posted : 02/08/10 at 11:29 am

I too have just received the standard excuse letter from Bucks County Council, the damage (£380) was caused near Princes Risborough on 26th January. The conditions were appalling, after dark, and in pouring rain causing a puddle to fill the (3 feet long by 6 inch deep) pothole, which was then invisible, there were no warning cones, although a previous repair was evident, on inspection the next day.
The last sentence of the letter states "you have the right to seek legal advice on this matter" Is this worth the hassle, and what are the odds of any success?
I now realise hundreds of these letters have been distributed in the Buckinghamshire area.

Potholes.co.uk Expert     posted : 02/08/10 at 9:36 am

The bad winter of 2009-10 has undoubtedly caused £millions of damage to roads and countless potholes, and in my humble opinion Courts will take a favourable view to the 'plight' of local highway authorities.

However, you should still be assessing if their actions were reasonable in the circumstances. For example, if they normally repair potholes within 1-2 days, but during the winter were struggling to repair them within 1-2 weeks, this might be acceptable. If however, known potholes were left unrepaired for several weeks or months, then I reckon they might struggle to claim that they acted reasonable. Lets be realistic here, the winter was very bad, but it was hardly 'day after tomorrow' stuff was it.

markmc     posted : 29/07/10 at 4:54 pm

I hit a pothole on the same strech of road on 15/1/2010 causing exactly the same damage. I informed the council immediately, who sent out a damage report to fill in and return. Some time later i recieved a letter using the "section 58" excuse, effectively stating they had carried out the necessary checks and therefore my claim was rejected. I then wrote to the council asking for the road reports as suggested on the potholes.co.uk website. They have now replied stating the following:

Recent adverse weather conditions have led to the rapid deterioration of many roads across Buckinghamshire, indeed across most of the UK. The conditions were extreme and the marked increase in reporting road defects has evidenced this.

Buckinghamshire County Council as the Highway Authority has done everything, so far as reasonably practicable, in all circumstances, to deal with the situation and comply with our maintenance and inspection procedure.

I do not want the hassle or costs of court and wonder if its worth forgetting now for the sake of £200+??