I crashed into a lamp post, and now the council want me to pay £1200.

Had a car accident recently, turned a corner and back wheels caught on some ice, i was heading towards a parked car and a van so swerved and wrapped the car around a lampost. I was fine, the police are taking no further action as no other vehicle or people were involved but the council have written to me saying they'll invoice me for £1200 for the lampost - which I expected (maybe not that high price).

My point is that it happened at 9:30 in the evening, the roads (it was a long main road I skid off) weren't gritted - should I send the invoice back to the council and tell them were to shove it and say they should of gritted the roads? Isn't that what we pay council/road tax for?!?

My insurance won't cover it, I'm almost thinking now I wish I'd hit the parked car and van, it may have severely damaged my health but at least it would of been covered by the insurance! I certainly do not have £1200 so will probably end up in court anyway...

Anyone else with a similar experience?

Thanks

Why won't your insurance cover it?

I would have thought insurance would cover it, too.

It is damage to a 3rd party's property, it should make no difference that it was a lamp post you hit rather than a car.

i would get a report from the police who looked into the incident. If there is no mention of dangerous driving or driving without due care and attention then this is obviously down to the road condition (in this case ice) I'd write a letter with the police report to back this up stating the condition of the road was at fault and as the condition of the road is the councils responsibilty you cannot take full (if any) responsibilty for the lamp post. Whilst i also would have thought your insurance would have covered it, i would ask them for the reason in writing - it may be that this even helps your case! Im sure if you kick up enough fuss about this, they will back down! Imagine how the council would react if we invoiced them for any damage caused to our cars by the potholes that have been reported but not been sorted!

Had a car accident recently, turned a corner and back wheels caught on some ice, i was heading towards a parked car and a van so swerved and wrapped the car around a lampost. I was fine, the police are taking no further action as no other vehicle or people were involved but the council have written to me saying they'll invoice me for £1200 for the lampost - which I expected (maybe not that high price).

My point is that it happened at 9:30 in the evening, the roads (it was a long main road I skid off) weren't gritted - should I send the invoice back to the council and tell them were to shove it and say they should of gritted the roads? Isn't that what we pay council/road tax for?!?

My insurance won't cover it, I'm almost thinking now I wish I'd hit the parked car and van, it may have severely damaged my health but at least it would of been covered by the insurance! I certainly do not have £1200 so will probably end up in court anyway...

Anyone else with a similar experience?

 

Thanks

Tell them to get stuffed they should pay for it, thanks to their penny pinching and not filling in dangerous pot holes i damaged my wheel.

Tell them to get stuffed they should pay for it, thanks to their penny pinching and not filling in dangerous pot holes i damaged my wheel.

Same here. My car failed its MOT last week due to something or other to do with suspension/shock absorbers. My garage man said it was likely down to all the pot holes etc. Cost me £418!

Of course your insurance will cover it, that's exactly what you pay insurance for, even if you are just 3rd party, the council is the 3rd party.

You just pass the invoice to your insurers.

we pay council tax for things like that to be coverd,, council take ****

Unlucky!! I wrapped my car round a traffic light a few years ago, granted it was totally my fault and there was no ice or anything but I had to pay for it. (£1,700 and that was in 2004!) My insurance did cover it though so I'd be persistent with yours ad check all your small print.

Bit of a shocker though how much lamp posts & traffic lights cost.

Of course your insurance will cover it, that's exactly what you pay insurance for, even if you are just 3rd party, the council is the 3rd party.

You just pass the invoice to your insurers.

I hope you have protected no-claims. I got paid out £250 on my old Granada and my insurance doubled at the next renewal. I paid back the £250 to get my bonus back.

we pay council tax for things like that to be coverd,, council take ****

I agree, I had a similar sort of accident 2 years ago, I was billed £850 by the council for hitting a lampost, (it was slightly bent!), I passed it onto the insurance company and they sorted it out.

Had a car accident recently, turned a corner and back wheels caught on some ice, i was heading towards a parked car and a van so swerved and wrapped the car around a lampost. I was fine, the police are taking no further action as no other vehicle or people were involved but the council have written to me saying they'll invoice me for £1200 for the lampost - which I expected (maybe not that high price).

My point is that it happened at 9:30 in the evening, the roads (it was a long main road I skid off) weren't gritted - should I send the invoice back to the council and tell them were to shove it and say they should of gritted the roads? Isn't that what we pay council/road tax for?!?

My insurance won't cover it, I'm almost thinking now I wish I'd hit the parked car and van, it may have severely damaged my health but at least it would of been covered by the insurance! I certainly do not have £1200 so will probably end up in court anyway...

Anyone else with a similar experience?

 

Thanks

I can't understand why your insurance won't pay out, I would get on to them.

If I were you, I would take full responsibility for this accident and not try to put the blame on anybody else. You were driving in icy conditions and obviously failed to allow for this. When the council lay grit down it does not automatically make the roads completely safe and free of ice. Whether the roads were gritted or not, you made the decision to drive on them and should take responsibility for what happend.