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Potholes through Lingfield Highstreet

by timb

19 Jan 2011

I was driving through the village of Lingfield on 4th January 2011 at 16.55 towards the Marriot Hotel where my girlfriend was working.

I was travelling down the high street at 25 mph with traffic building up on both sides of the road. Upon approaching the traffic lights by Bengal village I hit the first pothole which although very deep was quite short in length. I managed to keep the vehicle going in a straight line, until I had reached the middle of the junction where my offside front wheel plunged into a very deep and long pothole.

Over the next week, the steering wheel started to pull to the left. Knowing that I had hit a pothole I took the car to the garage to get the wheel realigned, to correct the problem.

After leaving my car, I had a phone call from the garage, to tell me, severe damage had been done to my car.

The following repairs had to be made:
Complete replacement of the offside front shocks, top mount and spring. When the works had been completed and the realignment was being conducted the technician noticed that the steering wheel rod had also buckled and bent under the impact.

TOTAL COST = £ 457.30

I have since returned to the incident area and the pothole has still not been filled. I have written a letter to the council and highways agency (attached photographs, map and sketch of the pot holes) and intend to seek a claim for the damage inflicted on my car.

Pothole location

86 High St, Lingfield, Surrey RH7 6, UK

Status

Unfilled

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Comments (3)

RBuck posted : 25/01/11 at 12.04pm

You need to look at the council maintenance schedule on the road - when they should be inspecting the road and then compare this to their actual inspection dates. If they have not been inspecting the roads as they set out they are liable for the surface and any damages caused to your vehicle. rnrnA B road should be inspected fairly regularly due to the amount of traffic on it. rnrnIt may be an idea to look at any previous repairs to the road and notes - they may have recently repaired the pothole in an insufficient manner? Take a look through the history of the road to see if there have been previous incidents such as yours.

timb posted : 23/01/11 at 9.48am

I've had a look at the claim pages and read the step by step guide. I've received my freedom of informations act report regarding the pothole incident area. Which bits do i need to look at in particular as its over 40 pages long?rnrnMany thanks!

RBuck posted : 21/01/11 at 11.40am

Hi timb,rnrnYou need to take a look at the "how to claim" pages - these include an easy step-by-step guide to claiming from the council including explanations of their standard defence in these cases. The first thing you need to establish is whether or not they have been keeping on schedule with their maintenance of the road. This will help you ascertain whether or not it is worth you claiming - if they are not liable you will not win!rnrnGood luck!

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