Unsuccessful claim

by bripuk

07 Jan 2012

I damaged my tyre and wheel on 4th May 2011 when my car ran over an aedge pothole on the Little London road in the village of Silchester in Hampshire. The pothole encroached into the road by some 300mm even though the council claimed that the encroachment was only 20mm. I had photographic evidence to show that my measurements were correct.
The whole case centred around a claim that the authority had inspected the road on the 4th February 2011 and that there was no evidence of a pothole on that date. It was of course impossible for me to prove that the pothole existed at the earlier date even though I was a regular user of the road and knew the authority's statement was incorrect.
The judge took the view that the statement provided by the road inspector was correct and that potholes could form over a very short period.
I was opposed in the court by two employees of the council together with a barrister.....all for a £380 claim.
My advice to anyone who wishes to pursue a claim is to have a record of inspections of the piece of the highway in question and also a list of all the complaints about potholes that have been received by the council. If you can then show that potholes have appeared shortly after a inspection you may have a chance but otherwise these self serving bureaucrats will be able to convince the judge of the validity of their case