Pothole damage on B6341 near Hepple by TXOSBI 08 Dec 2011 We hit a pothole on 4th Nov travelling to Northumberland from Lancashire. The alloy was bent and the tyre ruined. I sent all my photos, mot, bill for alloy repair and new tyre to Northumberland council just to see if I had a claim. Just had the reply that I've not been successful, quoted section 58 and that they inspect monthly, the last time on Oct 12th. Amazed by that as the pothole was bigger than my AA atlas which was 15*11 inches! I even had the alloy repaired and a cheaper hankook tyre to try to keep the cost down. Any advice? (I didn't submit a FOI request)

Pothole location B6341, Northumberland NE65, UK Status Unfilled   BACK to 'Read stories' home

Comments (6)

TXOSBI    posted : 18/05/12 at 2.24pm

You kidding Harry? I reported it as soon as I got back off holiday, to the council, with all details an pictures.rnrnI'd hardly say a couple of emails to sort it could be classed as 'hassle'.rnrnNo pleasing some people.

harrythenorth    posted : 06/04/12 at 5.22pm

FOI request did the trick - money now safely in mother's bank. Pity TXOSBI hadn't reported the pothole at the time would have saved a lot of hassle.

TXOSBI    posted : 17/01/12 at 9.57am

Hi.rnI followed the comments from REwood after they rejected my claim. I submitted a FOI request for the 12 months before I hit the pothole to the week after I hit it.rnI did this by email, the day after they replied to say they are paying out my claim.rnI received the cheque yesterday.rnDon't give up on this one, the pothole was massive!

harrythenorth    posted : 30/12/11 at 3.19pm

This appears to be the same pothole my mother hit on 10/11/2011 and damaged front & rear rims and front tyre - cost of damage £413. BTW she is 80, had 2 elderly lady passengers on their way home from a whist drive, so hardly falls into the boy racer category. She too has had here claim denied as road was inspected on 12/10/2011. We measured the pothole as 36"x21"x6" and don't believe a hole of this size could have developed in such a short time and intend to appeal on the grounds that there must have been indications of the pothole at the last inspection which were missed. Did you report this pothole to Northumberland County Council at the time of the incident and if so when and did you get a reference number?

TXOSBI    posted : 10/12/11 at 7.16pm

Thanks for the reply, I've read your story and I intend to pursue my claim. I guess they try to knock back everyone at the first attempt.

REwood    posted : 09/12/11 at 8.22pm

Don't believe a word they say mate. Check out my success story on here (Cumbria County Council). They effectively lied to me throughout and it only took a little bit of digging to expose them. Ask them what type of pothole it was and what commitment they had to repair it. Gut feeling it will be category 1 pothole with a 24 hour repair. Ask them when they first became aware of it and when they repaired t. Ask them for all report of potholes they received between 12 October and 12 November, and when they were repaired, to verify what they are saying. In my case they said they only knew about it a couple of days before I hit it and they didn’t repair it on time because of the extreme weather. The report they produced for the full month proved they knew about severe potholes on the stretch of road weeks before they said they did, and that they were repairing them on the very day I hit it!rnOne thing, don’t give. It took me almost 10 months to get them to admit liability, but they did in the end. rnPS both my insurers and the Councils insurers were useless.rn

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