Just before Christmas I was heading home from work in the pitch black country lane on a wet evening. This lane is only just suitable for 2 cars to pass each other. There was a line of traffic both in front and behind. An oncoming school bus forced me to drive on the very edge of the road when I hit a pothole which I couldn't even see due to the headlights of other vehicles. It was a hell of a bump and totalled my tyre by splitting the sidewall. I pulled over into a safe spot. 3.5 hrs later I got home after the RAC put my space saver on I got home. Is there a legal time limit on driving using the space saver? also is my local council liabel for the repair/replacement

There is no legal time limit on using the spacesaver.  However if you have an accident while using it, that will be noted in the insurance report.  They also can't maintain high speed and will eventually explode if you exceed the max speed limit written on the wheel.

As for the council, you can try and put in a claim, but from what I've seen, more lose than win with pot hole claims.

I would also check the wheel rim very carefully, as that may now be bent or cracked and need repair/replacement as well.

As Tom said, your wheel needs checked out also. Not only might it leak permanently but if it has become bent then it might not balance properly and you will have a permanent shudder.

If you are waiting for a new tyre to come and it is the front one that the space saver is on then it would be best to move it to the back for a few different reasons.

I would be getting the tracking looked at and new tyre fitted first thing Monday morning. As regards to potholes you may have a claim depending on its dimensions, whether it has been reported and marked with paint.

Are we going to start the front vs rear debate again?  

Personally, I'd always want the dodgy tyre on the front, where I have some steering control over it.  If the back end slips out you've got little to no control over what happens next.  

28 minutes ago, williamweb said:

I would be getting the tracking looked at and new tyre fitted first thing Monday morning. As regards to potholes you may have a claim depending on its dimensions, whether it has been reported and marked with paint.

It's crazy, happened to me. If you hit a pothole and damage your car and you're the first person to do so, you can't claim. By reporting the pothole you are then making claims possible for anyone else who suffers damage once the local councils highways department have knowledge of it and have scheduled a repair. They are only negligent if they know about it and don't fix it.

29 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Are we going to start the front vs rear debate again?

No, I wasn't thinking about grip or stability. 

They are rarely the same diameter as the original ones, so could cause damage to the Differential if used for a long time.

The Rubber must be a different compound also because from personal experience they get incredibly hot, even when driving slowly around town, more so if they are on the front.

It makes me glad that I have 195 65 Tyres on mine, it's impossible to Kerb my wheels and it would take a very big pothole to damage them.

Ok thanks fellas, That is everything I needed to know. It was a very big pothole and it now been filled in. I must have just missed it with the front tyre and it was the back which was damaged. I have not been over the stated speed limit (50mph). I could not afford to replace the tyre straight after xmas and I am now in hospital for a spell. National tyres will be changing it for me  they will advise me on the condition of the rim. I think some of the weights have moved but they will sort that

Council responsibility for pot holes causes a lot of debate. We would all like them to payout when it happens. Can they reasonably be expected to inspect every foot of every road every day or even every week? Potholes can appear in a day and get deep quickly. How many of us would vote to pay higher council tax for the manpower needed to do that? I would imagine no one. Don’t get me wrong , I’m not suggesting they never waste money. But if we want that level of service the money can’t come out of thin air. They are required to have a reasonable procedure in place. That doesn’t make them liable if they can not have reasonably known of the problem .  The best we can do is report every pot hole that looks like it could cause damage. I like my 175/65/14 tyres on steel wheels. Less chance of damage.  but I did bend one on a pothole that I couldn’t avoid. Rather amazingly the tyre was not damaged, not even a bulge.  The back edge of the wheel where you can’t see easily is more likely to bend as it’s much weaker there as the bracing ( the part with the bolt holes in) is much further away from that face of the wheel.  Get a plastic bowl out of your kitchen cupboard and see how flexible the top edge is compared to the base. A wide alloy wheel is same shape so you can see how the back edge is relatively unsupported. 

I submitted my 1st ever pothole claim in 1982 when a huge hole damaged both my wheel/tire on my then new XR2. I would always recommend submitting a claim, it costs you nothing. I would suggest that it is supported by plenty of photos of the hole with something to scale it, preferably a ruler. It's much less hassle doing that these days as in the olden times, I had to use a proper camera, and leave the film in to be developed to get prints LOL

As everyone says, if it was severe enough to rip your tire apart, highly likely damage was incurred to the wheel too...

Definitely submit a claim ... nothing to lose.

Not v long ago I found myself driving in Somerset and was frankly horrified at the condition of the roads there.  I had always considered my 2020 Focus to be a delightfully quiet and calm car to drive but after a week in Somerset it sounded like an old wreck!  Interestingly when I got it back to Suffolk it did not quieten back down straightaway but took at least a fortnight to return to its normal quiet ways.

I often finding myself about to curse Suffolk County Council when I happen upon yet another road closure due to roadworks, but then I remember Somerset and keep my mouth shut!  I believe we must be comparatively lucky in Suffolk.