A1 Pothole 18.12.10

by zero eight

21 Feb 2011

Dear Potholes.co.uk

This is our story of the A1 Pothole near Newcastle.

Last year myself and my partner travelled to Northumberland on business when we hit a very large pothole on the A1 fast lane.

The impact burst the front passenger side tyre and buckled the wheel, very lucky that the impact did not create an accident.

We limped to our destination and while I was working with my clients, my partner took the car off to a local garage to replace the wheel with the spare, which they did at no cost.

We contacted the Highways Agency to report the hole and to find out if we can claim for the repairs. They sent us some documents to complete and to ask us to include a couple of quotes which we did at a cost of around £260-280.

Today we have received a letter from the Highways Agency stating:

“You should understand that there are clear legal guidelines which dictate that in such circumstances, the relevant Highways Authority (in this case the Highways Agency) will not be liable for any loss or damage which may result from you striking a pothole. As a consequence we do not accept responsibility for any losses caused by the above incident, and I regret that I am unable to offer compensation on this occasion.”

We are a little confused to this as the situation is very simple, our car was damaged by a very large pothole in the road. So on what grounds could you claim for repairs?

Today I have sent the FS FC Red Claims department to point me in the direction of the “clear legal guidelines”. So I wait for their response.

Kind Regards

P Slaney