council liability ?

firepower · March 16, 2007, 15:48

i drove over a raised man hole cover last week which has ripped my tte chassis brace off my car can i claim from the council for the damage to my car.

the road was being resurfaced but there were no warning signs of this raised man hole cover s:(

s:(

Anonymous · March 16, 2007, 15:54

was there signs saying there was roadworks at all?

firepower · March 16, 2007, 15:56

no, not on the road i drove along

Anonymous · March 16, 2007, 15:57

worth a try then

Wabbitkilla · March 16, 2007, 16:03

Bang it to them mate - under the law there are regulations about roadwork marking both for the protection of the workforce and the protection of the road user. If there was no marking and you can prove it, they have committed an offence under law and can be fined and are liable for any damage or injury caused.

A decent solicitor will be your best friend, and it might just take a letter pointing out that both the Police, and HSE would be very interested!! s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

BTW - i'm not a lawyer, but there was a time when i had to know about these things for the job i was in at the time. The ACT specifies where you have to place signs, what type of signs, etc etc.

firepower · March 16, 2007, 16:04

thats what i thought , i was well mad s:evil: :evil: s:evil: when i discovered what damage had been caused and through no fault of my own

Wabbitkilla · March 16, 2007, 16:08

I bet! It's terrible when somthing happens to your pride and joy - especially if it wasn't your own fault.

Good luck, and keep us updated.

firepower · March 16, 2007, 16:09

thanks
i have taken a photo of the road and raised man hole cover and there are no signs , cones or barriers anywere i shall send a letter along with the photos to the council and see what happens

spit · March 16, 2007, 16:12

Any damage other than the brace Phil? - hope the mounting points haven't been damaged. s:? :? s:?

firepower · March 16, 2007, 16:15

a couple of the mounting bolts have been sheared off and the plastic nappy under the car on the passenger side is damaged s:(

s:(

spit · March 16, 2007, 16:59

Quote from: "firepower"a couple of the mounting bolts have been sheared off

Oh cr@p s:? :? s:? Looks like an effort with an extraction tool to get the leftovers out then s:oops: :oops: s:oops:

enid_b · March 16, 2007, 20:29

Quote from: "spit"Any damage other than the brace Phil? - hope the mounting points haven't been damaged. s:? :? s:?

i think it damaged my studs on the manifold, any chance you can add that to the claim for me? s:)

s:)

firepower · March 21, 2007, 15:47

i will be happy if they pay out my claim it may be pushing it a bit to claim for manifold studs as well , but i can point you in the direction of a raised man hole cover if you would like to make your own claim s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Anonymous · March 21, 2007, 19:34

Persevere with the claim my guess is they will tell you where to go in the first instance - however once solicitors start rwriting letters and small claims court gets involved they soon back down..

All the best with it - nail the buggers and claw back some of that tax! s:D

s:D

normanh · March 22, 2007, 09:14

I warn you now the local council will just forward any claim to the contractor undertaking the roadworks. My daughter had a fallen on a crossing in the dark due to no lights and a big protrusion in the road all down to resurfacing. It took over a year even to get an offer as at first all liability was denied for a number of letters. The council just didnt not want to know one bit! Maybe the leagal approach will work better!

normanh

andywood · March 22, 2007, 11:49

I think, if you choose to go the small claims route there isn't any need to get solicitors involved as you can request the summons on-line now!
If the council (or contractor) does not respond within in a given time ( i think 14 days) then you automatically win the case.

Maybe worth you finding out more about this, as it makes the whole court thing a lot less daunting to the average person just wanting the right thing done.

roger · March 22, 2007, 13:04

Its actually 28 days, which can then be extended by another 28 days if they say they are putting in a defence.

Going to Small Claims is not the right way.

Firstly you have to identify who is responsible (you will lose court costs if you sue the wrong person), then work out all losses, then negotiate.

Small claims is only meant for defined losses e.g. a debt, refund of purchase price etc.

What you have here is really a County Court matter if agreement can't be reached and really depends whether you are arguing about liability or quantum (£).

You can do it yourself if the Council / Contractor play ball. If they don't, you will need the legal advice / assistance.

andywood · March 22, 2007, 13:54

I bow to your obviously greater knowledge of all matters legal Roger s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

I guess that maybe you have had a few first-hand experiences or are in the legal profession?

roger · March 22, 2007, 14:08

Quote from: "andywood"or are in the legal profession?

s:wink: :wink: s:wink: .....but not a lawyer, probably a dangerous combination to be givibg "advice"

firepower · March 26, 2007, 16:09

thanks everyone i telephoned the council last week and they did indeed inform me that they would need to investigate my claim and may pass the claim on to the contractors , i will keep you informed as to how i go on . it does seem to drag on and i have to do all the chasing .

roger · March 26, 2007, 16:38

Quote from: "firepower"it does seem to drag on and i have to do all the chasing .

Don't think you will be getting instant replies, 2 weeks between communications is not uncommon. Now you have got them hooked, make sure you put everything in writing (even confirmation of what was said over the phone), keep copies, even consider Recorded Delivery - build a file.

I strongly recommend you steer clear of e-mails. It might be quicker and easier for you, but it is also quicker and easier for them to be lost / ignored / deleted by spam filters / sent to wrong person / recipient out of office / computer breakdown etc etc.

Best of luck, don't get despondent but as I said don't expect instant miracles either. Just plod on, and of course, keep your cool, and don't threaten anything that you can't, won't or don't carry out.

ChrisGB · April 2, 2007, 01:03

Just a thought, you may be able to claim from your insurance who would then claim from the responsible party. It will knock your NCB while the action is in progress, but makes life easier for you. Your temporary loss of NCB should be refunded upon completion if the claim from the responsible party.

At least you have the ability to find someone to sue as the works have been done by somebody. I hit a kerbstone laying across the dual carriageway and totalled a wheel. The coucil denied it was their resposibility saying that the kerbstone had been dispalced in an incident / accident earlier in the day. There were roadworks going on in the upper carriageway (where this had fallen from) but there was no way to prove otherwise. One of the people who hit the kerbstone (there were 16 of us) was a solicitor and even he could get nowhere with it.

Good luck

Chris

firepower · April 2, 2007, 15:54

i dont really wish to involve my insurance at this stage as the claim for the damage to my car only amounts to around £400 and my excess is £250 but i will plod on on my own and keep popping up at my local council offices with my claim until they get fed up with me and pay up

Wabbitkilla · April 2, 2007, 16:12

"Shawshank Redemption" comes to mind - write a letter every week.

Anonymous · April 2, 2007, 17:04

They drag things out as much as possible in the hope that most complainants will get bored and give up.
If you persist and pester you will get your due.