Help with FOI reply

26th September 2011

I hit a pothole at the beginning of May and damaged the nearside front alloy and wrecked the tyre on my Fiesta, as expected the initial complaint has come back with the usual denial of liability. I have subsequently requested the appropriate information under the FOIA. Now the previous inspection ( 21/42011) of the said piece of road states that there were no potholes. Considering the weather we had during the last half of April and the first half of May, I would say that it is impossible for a 80" long x 6" wide by 4" pothole to appear in dry sunny conditions.
The Leicestershire council have classed it as category 2 higher, which I would dispute as i have a picture of it with a ruler showing it to be more than 40mm deep. However it was repaired on the 19/5/2011
The route is driven monthly by 2 people in a car at 25mph.
Can anyone give me any advice on how to best word my reply, as far as i can see the inspectors had to have missed the pothole on their April inspection and that my claim is valid.

Thanks,
Garth

Replies (1)

Potholes.co.uk Expert     posted : 30/09/11 at 12:44 pm

Not sure I can help you. Your comment that it is impossible for the pothole to have occured is wrong and no reputable highway engineer will say otherwise. Also, if it was as big as you say, how did the inspectors manage to miss it?

The most obvious answer for why they did not see it .... because it was not there at the time.

This is how a Court will see things, trust me.