Hello
Was wondering if anyone had made a claim against a local authority reguarding a poor road surface that caused them to crash.
Has anyone claimed for Bike damage due after coming off a bike due to a poor and uneven road surface
I’m pretty sure Yslart is in the process of doing something like this. Might be worth PM’ing him:cool:
Cheers
Tried to delete this thread and it won’t seem to disapper but thanks for the heads up.
Yep, speak to White Dalton Solicitors, the law regarding roads is very clear. White Dalton are all biking lawyers . . . there’s got to be a joke in there somewhere but I’ll not dig too deep for fear of a dig from Keti :w00t:
I hit a massive pothole on a fast country road and caused quite a lot of damage to my bike. It’s a long story but in the end the councils response was that they knew about the pothole and it was on their ‘to do’ list. Due to this they hadn’t been negligent so they wouldn’t pay for my bike. Of course, I should have a) asked to see the report to prove that they knew about this pothole (it was very big) and b) if they knew about it why was there no warning signs or cones around it?
At the time I had a lot of more important things going on in my life so never pursued it which is a pain because it was miracle I didn’t really damage myself! Cause the best part of a grands worth of damage to the bike though!!
Due to uneven road,ridges and a pot hole in the road right on edge of roundabout at Beares Green A40,due to council work that had been going on, i had a bad accident over a year ago that has left me still waiting outcome of knee op, and many many months of physio on it. Hospital and Police at the time said that 3 other bikers had hit same spot within that month, i was the only survivor…and to this day i think of how i could have died that day…thank god for leathers and helmet etc…I hit the hole, all i can think of is side on, it took the control of the bike away from me for a second, i tried to get it back and it was too late as i was catapulted, along with the bike, we both somersaulted, slid, across the roundabout and both hit the middle with a bang…i smashed my knee on the edge curb of the middle…bike was a mess…I called my insurance co who put me in touch with a firm of solicitors who specialise in council claims and sent the forms in with pics and statements etc…(Ginger gratefully, went back to the scene and took pics showing the area) and i checked that the council HAD been doing work there…But low and behold…after they checked, they came back with "it would not be beneficial to go forward with my claim, as the council have a rota on the motorways, A roads etc…and they are supposedly always checked…the area that i had my accident fell under that and so they said it would be pointless to spend time and money chasing the claim, as the council ALWAYS cover their backsides because of previous claims they have lost…all the blah blah blah…peed me off as i could have died…and they wouldnt have given a toss…I had to buy new leathers and helmet etc and get my bike repaired out of my own pocket…if i had done it through my insurance, it would have gone sky high next time round…so i thought sod em all…and did it my damn self…so there !!! Unless you have a damn good water tight case against the council…dont waste your time.
I would have though that being aware of it and not acting potentially showed negligence. If they weren ot aware of it they would have had a defence in that a council cannot posisbily know if all their roads are in good order all the time. If they have areasonable schedule for inspecting and replacing that would probably be good enough for the court. If on the other hand they knew of it and had not acted in a reasonable time they would be on very dodgy ground.
That is why I report all pot holes etc to councils through the TFL website all the time and keep the reference numebrs the TFL site gives you. Then if you have an accident, or you see someone else does you can prove the council knew of the fault and had done nothing about it.
Best thing is not to get target fixated and avoid potholes in the first place…
Mmmm, that’s a really useful reply! … not.
Having worked in the Highways Dept for both a County Council and a District Council, often doing these inspections myself, I can tell you that they do pay out on quite a lot of claims. I reckon your solicitors were probably a bit useless here. Unfortunate really, especially in a society that is getting more and more litigious every year. I would say push the claim. If your solicitors are less than helpful, try the free ones on TV … Claims Direct or something like that.
Goodness I’d never thought of that. Thanks!!
Obvious but true
groan…