Pot Holes!!

[Johnno260]

If you damage a wheel in a pothole who do you contact?

I assume insurance won't be interested.

Should it be the county council who maintain the road?

Reason I ask is a crater just put a decent sized dent in a front alloy on my Fez :-(

[iNath]

County council for road, Highways Agency for motorway.

http://www.potholes.co.uk/claims/how_to_claim

[adamc260]

Your Insurance should cover it too as it's accidental damage but it will go against you if they cannot recover the costs from the Council (which is a hard task!)

[Johnno260]

Cheers for the reply gents much appreciated.

[b1g_dav3]

Make sure to take photographic dated evidence with a ruler and say a hand as reference.

[Johnno260]

btw is it worth making iNaths post a sticky, as that links really good.

[ijustwantafile]

Council should pay out. go get a photo of the pot hole as evidence etc

[BrownMotoring]

Local Council should pay out but don't be surprised if you have a fight on your hands or it goes nowhere and an insurance claim will just hike up your premium. Generally speaking they are very penny thrift and tend to fight a lot harder lately. I successfully claimed against my Council around 5yrs ago for much the same. Got all the evidence but to say it was a painful process would be a huge understatement and it came to nothing. Two months ago I hit a manhole cover in Bath, stuck up just enough to slash two tyres, destroy the alloys and bend a steering tie rod on my new Fes. Happily I pushed the manhole cover back into place using my own car as a lump hammer. After the first time it was just easier, cheaper and quicker to soak up the cost myself and get back on the road again. If you do - good luck, let us know how it goes and any tips :)

[Johnno260]

looking at prices are the Zetec wheels all 15" as standard?

[BrownMotoring]

I believe so. I've got Zetec standard 15" 8 spoke ones (this is a pretty good offer: http://www.fordonlineparts.co.uk/product/Ford_Fiesta_15%22_8-spoke_Alloy_Wheel_-_2008_onwards_-_1495706_F1495706-60) Might find something cheaper on eBay if you shop around. The 2012 cars onwards have slightly different wheels. Same size I believe, just different design.

[Johnno260]

Yea those are the ones I was looking at, pretty good price.

Garage I bought the car from wanted £125 + VAT.

I am tempted to get 2 online, then all I need is the jack kit and I have a spare alloy!

So far, local garage as said alloy is toast, but there is no suspension damage, I am gonna photo the pit tomorrow, then contact insurance and county council.

[BrownMotoring]

I noticed they are doing 25% off all sorts of wheels so if anyone is looking that's good place just now. I probably missed a trick at the time as I remember procrastinating over whether to upgrade to some 16" but it was an expensive enough repair bill. Make sure they check your steering tie rods, at least on the one side. My driver side one was banana shape by the time I'd done my handy work and that was under 30mph. Turns out they can bend easily and if you hit the hole hard enough to damage the alloy it could be worth checking the steering over too. Spotted this article just now. It's stating a lot of the obvious but it does make a few reasonable points: www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/8742595/Potholes-how-to-claim-compensation-from-your-council.html

[DaveD]

Found a Pot Hole? then use Fix My Street link attached. These people really do a good job and I have used them for three years now. The pot holes reported by me are usually fixed within a week.

http://www.fixmystreet.com/

[Johnno260]

uff mine was a little faster, was 60mph road, I slowed a lot as I thought it was a puddle and I couldn't swerve due to oncoming traffic, was 40mph+ when I hit it I think.

but that poor alloy has taken 2-3 hard knocks the last few months, it would be nice if the roads looked less like the lunar surface really, the council here really should know better as the local papers reported recently on the council having a massive repair bill on a Ferrari damaged by pot holes.