MScotts
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As-per the title, has anyone had success in claiming for damage done to their car due to hitting a pothole? If so, what advice have you in filling out the Council claim forms and what supporting info (letter, photos, map, etc) did you include when submitting the claim that you think swayed/ helped their decision to reimburse you costs for rectifying the damage?
Yesterday, our Ford S-MAX suffered pothole damage whilst travelling along Cambridgeshire's 'finest' roads yesterday :annoyed:
Here's a brief rundown/ timeline of events.
The pothole was about 2ft long by a 1ft wide and about 6 to 8'' deep, but was (almost) full of water, disguising it somewhat. The car went through it at less than 30 mph, avoiding it wasn't an option due to on-coming traffic. For a second or two the car was pretty much uncontrollable due to the front wheel hitting it square on, and of consequence, suffered an immediate deflation with the car coming to a halt within 50 yards.
Whilst waiting on the RAC to arrive the above measurements were made and a phone call went out to Cambs council to explain the situation and to request a claim form. Ironically, a council truck arrived before the RAC wagon in order to do one of those 'brilliant' temporary repairs to the pothole (they end up being the permanent 'fix' until the traffic displaces the tarmac to re-expose the pothole again!).
On inspection by the RAC bloke it was discovered that the tyre (2 weeks/ 150 miles old!!!) had a 1.5'' gash at the top of the inboard side-wall and the alloy wheel had a moderate sized buckle adjacent to the tyre damage. The car was recovered home, it's a 2009 model and has no spare wheel like many don't.
The car was immobilised due to the irreparable damage, which had to be rectified soonest as it's a needed asset. So the wheel/tyre was taken to the Ford dealer for assessment. The tyre was obviously a write-off, and once the wheel was visually checked then put on the wheel balancing machine, it was deemed a write-off too. £479.68 was the total to replace the wheel & tyre.
After returning to the house the replacement wheel/tyre was fitted to the car and it was then driven to the Ford dealer to have a suspension & steering health check. The Ford dealer strongly advised this as the shock-load which caused the wheel & tyre damage must have been pretty big. The tracking was found to be out but no damage to the steering or suspension was found. They just billed us for the tracking adjustments, £19.95.
So all-in-all, this episode has cost me about £500, and that's not including costs for fuel to/from the Ford dealer (twice) or for the phone calls etc from the mobile and landline phones. Therefore, as-per my opening line ^, advice would be appreciated.
--Andy.
Yesterday, our Ford S-MAX suffered pothole damage whilst travelling along Cambridgeshire's 'finest' roads yesterday :annoyed:
Here's a brief rundown/ timeline of events.
The pothole was about 2ft long by a 1ft wide and about 6 to 8'' deep, but was (almost) full of water, disguising it somewhat. The car went through it at less than 30 mph, avoiding it wasn't an option due to on-coming traffic. For a second or two the car was pretty much uncontrollable due to the front wheel hitting it square on, and of consequence, suffered an immediate deflation with the car coming to a halt within 50 yards.
Whilst waiting on the RAC to arrive the above measurements were made and a phone call went out to Cambs council to explain the situation and to request a claim form. Ironically, a council truck arrived before the RAC wagon in order to do one of those 'brilliant' temporary repairs to the pothole (they end up being the permanent 'fix' until the traffic displaces the tarmac to re-expose the pothole again!).
On inspection by the RAC bloke it was discovered that the tyre (2 weeks/ 150 miles old!!!) had a 1.5'' gash at the top of the inboard side-wall and the alloy wheel had a moderate sized buckle adjacent to the tyre damage. The car was recovered home, it's a 2009 model and has no spare wheel like many don't.
The car was immobilised due to the irreparable damage, which had to be rectified soonest as it's a needed asset. So the wheel/tyre was taken to the Ford dealer for assessment. The tyre was obviously a write-off, and once the wheel was visually checked then put on the wheel balancing machine, it was deemed a write-off too. £479.68 was the total to replace the wheel & tyre.
After returning to the house the replacement wheel/tyre was fitted to the car and it was then driven to the Ford dealer to have a suspension & steering health check. The Ford dealer strongly advised this as the shock-load which caused the wheel & tyre damage must have been pretty big. The tracking was found to be out but no damage to the steering or suspension was found. They just billed us for the tracking adjustments, £19.95.
So all-in-all, this episode has cost me about £500, and that's not including costs for fuel to/from the Ford dealer (twice) or for the phone calls etc from the mobile and landline phones. Therefore, as-per my opening line ^, advice would be appreciated.
--Andy.
