blown tyre - anybody claimed from roads dept?

[Nj]

I was off to fix my old gran's central heating last night and as I was heading up to join the M8 at tradeston in Glasgow I hit a pot hole. I usually take the outer lane down through the traffic lights and just keep going but last nioght the road was empty so I logically took the tighter line. I wasn't going slow but not fast either. maybe 35 to 40mph. I shat a brick when i hit and knew I wasn't getting away with it. within half a mile i felt the car pulling to the right so pulled onto the hard shoulder and watched as the rest of the air drained out of the tyre. Thankfully the cops stopped behind me to give me some protection and the female officer even lowered the jack fully and put it away while I was tightening up the bolts. when I finally found a petrol station with an air machine that worked I tried putting air into the tyre but it just highlighted the gaping hole in the sidewall.
I left the car into the garage this morning for something unrelated and tol dmy mechanic what happened. he reckons if i can get photos the roads dept will give me a claim form to fill in. Has anybody done one of these before and had any joy?

cheers

[S2central.net]

I know one fella that successfully claimed for exactly the same thing you describe locally. Make sure and keep the receipt from the tyre place and it would be a bonus if those useful cops had something in writing to verify the when and where.

Paul

[Nj]

good thinking that man. i'll give the fuzz a bell and see if they can do anything for me.
good to hear that someone has claimed for that very thing. I wasn't the happiest looking person at the time. and all I could think of as I changed the wheel was "i bet some ****er in a civic runs me over"

[BRY]

Smaller claims are / used to be dealt with by the "nominated person" at the council i.e. not an insurance professional.
Their insurance cover is for larger claims above a certain amount ie £20k. Anything less than the set amount is paid for directly by them.
If you submit a claim with lots of factual evidence they will probably pay up, rather than fight it. If it was for a large amount then you be dealing with the insurance profesionals and we know how nice they are.
This is based on my experience about ten years ago so things may have changed.
HTH

[Knight Rider S4]

Were is this hole Noel i am needing a new tyre on the back the S2

[Nj]

cheers Bry. that's excellent. My main problem will be trying to get a ruler into the pot hole to get photos.. and not get run over.
your avtar is stragely hypnotic by the way. so.. shiny.. can't.. look.. away....

[Nj]

Were is this hole Noel i am needing a new tyre on the back the S2

haha. it'll be the one marked with the dead bloke clutching a camera if i'm not careful.

[Error404]

i'd check the rim for cracks too as i know a guy who had a similar pothole incident and had hairline fractures in the rim

Judging by the speed with which the road i drive to work on is degrading i might put in a claim soon for wishbones bushes, top mounts and fillings

[Nj]

I'll need to take a good look tonight. might caim for a new pair of boxers too cos I broke the others when i hit.

[richslay]

Happened to a friend of mine. Get Photos, he mentioned it to them and magically the next day it was filled!!

In order for them to pay out they have to have been negligent. They have to conduct road checks on a regular basis and if they know about they must have mended. The trouble is that the definition of regular is open to interpretation. But if the hole is vast then I suppose you could argue that there is no way it is new.

Try here for loads of details:

http://www.potholes.co.uk/?p=how_to_claim

To establish if the hole is known about you could also try checking if it has been reported on :

http://www.fillthathole.org.uk

Hope that helps

[nothelle300]

make a call to your local council offices and ask for the highways tell them what happened, and you have to ask for a claims form,i claimed for two wheels/tyres due to the fact i reported the pot hole and after 2 months nothing was done about it and numerous phone calls.worth a try anyways!

[s2_bo]

Get a 4 wheel alignment done too and claim for that as well. A knock like that is more than likely to throw the Balance out.

[rs2315]

The roads in this country as far as surfacing is concerned are a total disgrace.
I live in the Leeds area, and every road I use in a built up area has potholes.
When any work is done, the holes are filled, then they subside and break up again.
We all know what happens when a lovely bit of tarmac is laid, a few months later utilities come a long and dig it up again
Quick roads get looked after, hit a big hole at 70 mph damage to car, at worst big accident, possible death.
It's no wonder 30 zones don't get a look in, car doesn't hit them as hard.
So enjoy the retail park runs, or the highstreet with the jams the thousand sets of lights, oh and the lurvly potholes. Driving heaven
rs2315.

[Nj]

thanks lads. all excellent info. i'm going to get photos before I report it in case it gets filled in and they go "what hole?"
i wasn't sure whether to claim for 2 matching tyres cos I shouldn't really have 2 mismatching tyres on the front (this is the 16v by the way, not the s2).
richslay - cheers for the links. I had no idea there were websites for this kind of thing.

[Nj]

incidentally this is the offending bit and tyre