My dad sufferred a damaged tyre this week due to a huge pothole in the road which he hit in the dark. The tyre deflated almost immediately and he had to leave his car parked at the sports centre for the last few days as his car has no spare tyre.

This is the third such incident he has sufferred recently (he has a Focus ST with low profile tyres which seem quite susceptible to this) but lives in an area of Surrey which seems to have really poorly surfaced roads.

Anyone got any tips on getting compensation from the council in such cases?

Go back and get photos as soon as possible before they fix the pothole is the most important one.

Edited 13 February, 200917 yr by DGW
No need to quote OP.

if you phone up the local council they have a department that deals with compensation issues like this...

You will only get compensation if the pothole was reported to the council highways department and they have done nothing to fill it in within a reasonable timescale.

The recent cold weather has caused lots of holes to appear, and in some cases overnight, so they cannot be expected to know they all exist as a survey of every mile of road will be required and this takes weeks if not months.

I had the exact same thing happen to me last january !

The pot hole slashed the sidewall of the tyre so it couldnt be fixed and damaged the wheel, my brother works for the local council so he reported it as soon as it happened and asked for a claim form which they sent out so the next day I got pics and sent the form and the pics to the council and heard back about a week later !

In the letter they basically said the pot hole didnt exist even though I had the pics as proof and they had even filled the hole in !!!

I couldnt be arsed with the hassle of it going to court so didnt bother following it after that but if it was to happen again I'd make sure I got money for the damage !

Good luck with the claim

Thanks for all the replies guys.

I'll get my dad to take a photo and phone the council for a claim form but I guess they'll try and wriggle out of it.

Needless to say, he's getting a bit ****ed off at having to shell out £150 a time for new tyres purely due to poorly surfaced roads.

Somebody once told me that it was cheaper for the council to pay the fine for failing to compensate motorists than to pay the cost for each individual claim.

I have known of dozens of people who have damaged tyres/alloys in East Lothian over the years and none of them have been able to get a penny from the miserable beggars.

So I wish you the best of luck with your dad's claim!

I think Manny summed it up pretty nicely

Somebody once told me that it was cheaper for the council to pay the fine for failing to compensate motorists than to pay the cost for each individual claim.

I've 'heard' that more money is paid out on compensation claim than on actually repairing pot holes. Maybe if people stopped suing the council...

Chicken and egg situation Tim, if the council spent the money on repairing the roads in the first place there would be no compensation claimed by motorists...

Somebody once told me that it was cheaper for the council to pay the fine for failing to compensate motorists than to pay the cost for each individual claim.

I have known of dozens of people who have damaged tyres/alloys in East Lothian over the years and none of them have been able to get a penny from the miserable beggars.

So I wish you the best of luck with your dad's claim!

Tell me about it mate, the amount of potholes in east lothian is shocking!

Chicken and egg situation Tim, if the council spent the money on repairing the roads in the first place there would be no compensation claimed by motorists...

I know

But we all know the egg came first anyway

Southampton has some of the worst roads I've ever experienced. Big holes and fallen trenches everywhere and some have been there for 5 years plus without being repaired.

This website could be very useful for help and advice etc. www.potholes.co.uk/

Southampton has some of the worst roads I've ever experienced. Big holes and fallen trenches everywhere and some have been there for 5 years plus without being repaired.

better than Bournemouth i think.

better than Bournemouth i think.

When I was down that way I'd had said the same, but now I spend a lot of time up soton way and still driving both regularly I have to say that what I've seen soton is far worse :(

I do however agree that is really saying something quote sad about the state of our roads in the UK.

The roomy on it's skinny 17's is really aware of holes now. The smallest of ripples hurts, deafens... it's only a matter of time.

On the motorway I had the wheel tugged out of my hand... 70 miles an hour dark, instant blow out with turning force, thank you crash barrier.. fortunately it didn't but god it rattled my teeth.