claim rejected

6th July 2010

I damaged an alloy and tyre in a pothole during february. I reported the hole, asked for details under the freedom of information act regarding inspections, findings and repairs and then made my claim.
The council (Hertfordshire) initially responded by saying based on the information they had regarding the road, they had not breached their duty of care.
I responded detailing why I thought that I had a claim based on the infomation I had rec'd under the FOI act. They had several reports of potholes leading up to my incident which indicated that they were Category 1 High Risk to be repaired within 24 hours.
They further rejected my claim stating that even though they were running 2 months behind and it was not possible to repair the defects they still believe themselves to be providing a suitable level of service.
What do I do next?

Replies (1)

Potholes.co.uk Expert     posted : 08/07/10 at 9:33 am

The winter of 2009-10 was the worst for 30 years and many highway authorites were suffering because of it. Resources were allocated to gritting as opposed to routine maintenance.

However, there must be evidence of this allocation of resources, so you ask them to demonstrate the reasons why they were running 2 months behind, and to provide any internal documentation which demonstrates that they risk assessed their delayed approach. You should also ask if the delays and breach of their own policy and practice was approved by elected members, and to provide documentation to demonstrate this.

I suspect they will not be able to provide any documentation, which in turn might strengthen your position if you decide to proceed.