Bookmark and Share

Read stories

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

stories title
Unsuccessful claim
Pothole location
88 Little London Rd, Silchester, Reading, Hampshire RG7 2PP, UK
Status
Unfilled
 
BACK to 'Read stories' home

Comments (2)

roughroads    posted : 23/03/12 at 7.08pm

Try finding the exact location on google earth and see if it is present on there, i have used this to shame the Roads Service in Northern Ireland.

Potholes.co.uk Expert    posted : 09/01/12 at 11.16am

Exactly the information we recommend you obtain in our step by step guide. Always remember that you have no automatic right to compensation and that taking legal action will not be seen as a threat, but will be defended. Therefore, you need to be well prepared, unlike our friend in this case.

Write a comment

To post a comment you need to be signed in. Please enter your email address and password below to sign in, or if you don’t have a password click the link to register.

Not a member yet?  Register now
Forgotten your password?

Related stories

Success at last Added on 11 Jun 2012; comment [4]
Potholes and Essex CC Added on 26 Jun 2012; comment [0]
MOTORCYCLES & THE POTHOLE PROBLEM Added on 19 Jul 2012; comment [0]
I just LOST in County Court Added on 17 Sep 2012; comment [2]
Potholes and Missing Grid Covers Added on 16 Oct 2012; comment [1]
Please type a keyword
(min. 4 chars)

You can also find stories using our
interactive map...

Go to map