Hi,
Thursday night I Managed to hit a pot hole in the road and the coil spring shattered. Managed to get the car towed to a garage and estimate for fitting a new spring will be around £120. I know I should have avoided the hole, but Just wondered if anybody had managed to claim damages from the Council, and if so, how would I go about it?

Thanks in advance.

Get to the location with your camera PDQ before they can fill it in.

Measure the depth of the hole. Less than 20mm you'll have no chance.
Get a photograph of the pothole (ideally date marked) with a ruler in shot ... and a wider view to show location.
Get a clear statement of damage to the car from the garage (you might have to type it up for them to sign).
Then contact StreetForce on 273 4567 and take it from there.

The critical elements are the depth of the hole and the time since their last inspection.

You'd need to prove it was that particular pothole that caused the damage. I've had to replace a steel wheel due to driving too fast on cobbles. My fault, nothing to do with poor repairs.

The point I'm making is, unless you can prove it was a pothole then I doubt if you'd be able to obtain compensation.

Measure the depth of the hole. Less than 20mm you'll have no chance.
Get a photograph of the pothole (ideally date marked) with a ruler in shot ... and a wider view to show location.
Get a clear statement of damage to the car from the garage (you might have to type it up for them to sign).
Then contact StreetForce on 273 4567 and take it from there.

The critical elements are the depth of the hole and the time since their last inspection.

Or scrape it out below 20mm! :hihi::hihi:

i ruind a wheel before christmas, and sent the form off before christmas, and i still havent herd anything. There is a form on the website.

i ruind a wheel before christmas, and sent the form off before christmas, and i still havent herd anything. There is a form on the website.

http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/sys_upl/templates/PT_AZServices/PT_AZServices_details.asp?ServiceID=942&pgid=4191&tid=152

Where was the pot hole?? My son was crossing the road on London Road and damaged his ankle. Wondered if its the same pot hole??

http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/sys_upl/templates/PT_AZServices/PT_AZServices_details.asp?ServiceID=942&pgid=4191&tid=152

For something like this, you should be using recorded delivery.

a few years ago i was taking my mum to her caravan at skeggy, on the way to her house i hit a pothole (outside the omega massage parlour:suspect:),it was about six inches deep and a foot long, it pushed the rear shock absorber right through the turret in the back wing, i had to limp to my mums house, strip it down, hammer the washer back to flat and weld it on to the shocker (so that it didn't go again)...

we eventually set off about three hours later...

i didn't know at the time that you could claim damages...

if a cyclist had hit it, they would have been claiming for personal injury....

john...

I have been in your very situation before against the council and not even a solicitor paid for by my the legal cover on my car insurance could get my costs recovered.
I hit a put hole which was 70inch long and at it's deepest point 5 inch and I sent photographic evidence.
The council use the get out clause that if an employee has travelled on that particular road in the last 6 months and notice no problems then they are covered. They sent to my solicitor a sheet of paper which showed someone had travelled down that road in the past 5 months and so not their fault. I have kept the copy as it is sheer brilliant. I could create the same in 5 minutes in Word and I would bet they get out of many cases like this in the same way. The final cost was £110 for a new wheel and £60 for the tyre.
The joys of living in Sheffield!

I once shagged an axle in a previous car of mine on Carlisle street.

I still avoid the same man hole cover to this day, even though i have a different car.

I hate Sheffield Roads.

I got a letter yesterday morning from the council, saying that they are not going to uphold my claim!

They say that they have evidence to back this up, so im going to ask for it, as in my opinion it is there fault!

Im not paying £140 road tax then over £100 again because the roads i pay to drive on are not up to standard! Im fuming!!!!

I got a letter yesterday morning from the council, saying that they are not going to uphold my claim!

They say that they have evidence to back this up, so im going to ask for it, as in my opinion it is there fault!

Im not paying £140 road tax then over £100 again because the roads i pay to drive on are not up to standard! Im fuming!!!!

You might have trouble there my friend.

The road i live on used to be ****, pot holes everywhere. I got home from work one day to find my rear wind screen shattered and a peice of rubble from the road on my rear parcel shelf.

I took pictures of the road straight away, and sent a claim form off to thecouncil with copies of the pictures which showed several large holes all with the yellow spray around them highlighting them for repair.

What do you know, 3 days later there is a tarmaccing machine at the bottom of our road and the whole road re surfaced within the week.

2 weeks later, got a reply saying an inspector had been out to 'inspect' the road and poor driving surface and could not find the holes as outlined in the picture i sent, even though i made sure there were landmarks in the backgorund of the picture to prove it was the same road i had taken pictures on.

So they got my claim form, came and resurfaced the road quick sharp, then denied the road ever being in a bad state of repair.

i apologise to any council worker who comes on the forum, but that attitude stinks!!!

You might have trouble there my friend.

The road i live on used to be ****, pot holes everywhere. I got home from work one day to find my rear wind screen shattered and a peive of rubble from the road on my rear parcel shelf.

I took pictures of the road straight away, and sent a claim form off to thecouncil with copies of the pictures which showed several large holes all with the yellow spray around them highlighting them for repair.

What do you know, 3 days later there is a tarmaccing machine at the bottom of our road and the whole road re surfaced within the week.

2 weeks later, got a reply saying an inspector had been out to 'inspect' the road and poor driving surface and could not find the holes as outlined in the picture i sent, even though i made sure there were landmarks in the backgorund of the picture to prove it was the same road i had taken pictures on.

So they got my claim form, came and resurfaced the road quick sharp, then denied the road ever being in a bad state of repair.

i apologise to any council worker who comes on the forum, but that attitude stinks!!!

Isn't there some sort of Ombudsman you can contact in this type of situation?

Tbh mate, i just gave up.