Potholes.co.uk - How to claim www.potholes.co.uk Pothole News, Advice, Case Studies, and information on how to claim - the UK's definitive guide to potholes.   BB                                                                                                                                                                             

Looks simply but I put a cliam in last year for damage to my car but I had to prove that the pothole had been reported to them and thay had not carried out any repairs in the aloted time scale I was lucky I had the info and ref numbers inculding all dates still took 3 months to get my money back

Yes, it does make it sound very simple.

However, as JP suggests, it is a bit more complicated than this.

Firstly, Section 58 of the Highways Act offers local authorities defence against claims relating to lack of maintenance.  Section 58 explains that if the local authority can demonstrate that they acted reasonably in relation to maintenance then they are not liable.

And acting reasonably varies depending on the type of road and the type/volume of traffic that uses it.

So for example if you damage your car driving over a pothole on a virtually unused side road and it is shown that no one has notified the council of the hole, then your case is immediately weakened.

Also, the repair of potholes is scheduled dependant on safety.  As such if you damage your car on a pothole on a main road, it may well be that someone notified the council of the pot hole a month earlier.  But if the pot hole is not on a corner or near a ped crossing etc, it's repair will be scheduled, but may not be considered a priority and as such in this case the council may still be able to demonstrate they have acted reasonably.

The best option I'd suggest is to employ a highway and road safety engineer (or if the damage is bad enough, get your solicitor to employ one) who has contacts within the council and understands procedure and the rules and regulations.

Now where to find one .... ahem!                                                                                                                                                                              

Hi   over the last 15 years ive made i think 4 claims to various council's in the uk, i didnt get any help i just took pics of the damage and pics of the offending hole, with something next to the hole so it shows the height and depth of the hole.   Ive been paid 3 time, were talking a set of Dymags too, one i didnt get paid was for the car, a piece of wood flew up and cracked the splitter and i had to claim on my insurance.   not sure if its that easy now though.   mark                                                                                                                                                                              

Possibly not ES, but what you did is absolutely spot on.

Most people have phones with cameras in now and what I'd always recommend if your vehicle (or indeed you) is damaged by a highway issue, is to take lots of photos (from different angles etc) of both the road issue and the damage it caused.

That way if it does go to court you've got good evidence.