Councils should they be held responsable!

mytgxl · 19-07-2011, 08:35 PM

In my street there is alot of road damage,been on to the council to fix them for over six months now! Well as I was coming home from work (in the dark) I here this big clunk on the car! So when I get back to my house I break out a torch & have a good look around the car! Can`t seem to find any damage, So the next day I`m washing it & find this!

The underneath of my XR8 has got a great hulking hole in the side skirt! Not Bloody happy Jane!

The damage is over $1700 bucks,

The council said they will see if they are at fault or not! Has anyone had this problem before & how did they go for getting their Excess back!

Jim Goose · 19-07-2011, 08:39 PM

YOu best find the hole you fell into!
That is an awfully large amount of damage to the side of the car and yet underneath seems fine?
Large rock on the road?

mytgxl · 19-07-2011, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Goose

YOu best find the hole you fell into!
That is an awfully large amount of damage to the side of the car and yet underneath seems fine?
Large rock on the road?

No that is the underneath of the car & yes it was a chunk of tar 100mm think slung up from the road!

Jim Goose · 19-07-2011, 09:03 PM

Dunno what its like where you are, but councils here are "supposedly" held liable if damage occurs to car "if" the pothole has been reported and it falls outside a 48hr period since it was reported.

last fairlane · 19-07-2011, 09:13 PM

Hi all some 15 years back I hit an open manhole cover in my XD
well I went to the council and told them
and was advised to write a "letter of demand"
and explain the problem
which I did
and I got a letter back asking for a quote
one of my mags had a chunck out of it
anyway I got a quote for a second hand factory mag
and a new tyre and received a check for $100
but had to sign a waver saying I would not
hold the council liable for any further damages
thanks John

Never trust a dog to hold a sandwich for you

ZA-289 · 19-07-2011, 09:06 PM

Thats a shocking road. but yes I think in most councils it has to be proven that the council knew about it for more than 48 hours and did nothing about it.

You could report it now and say it happened in 2 days time and hope the dont fix it.

But I guess they will say "thats why you have insurance"

Jim Goose · 19-07-2011, 09:15 PM

Yes i would push for damages from the council....talk to your insurance company too, see what everyones responce is.

Cúl-Báire · 19-07-2011, 09:24 PM

It’s a case of pursue the council yourself, or if you let insurance do it they will chase them down for the money (and possibly your excess) anyways... My future father in-law had a similar problem in his BA GTP not long ago, and the council paid up.

gcg2503 · 19-07-2011, 09:29 PM

Hi Paul. That is some serious damage there mate. Sorry to see that :(

mytgxl · 19-07-2011, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gcg2503

Hi Paul. That is some serious damage there mate. Sorry to see that :(

Yer George just another thing to take my mind off what I really need to be thinking about! LOL.

**Polyal** · 19-07-2011, 09:35 PM

That is horrid damage and a disgrace of a road.

If your car is lowered then raise it to standard ASAP...just another thing for them to weasel out of.

I regularly travel on a country road and there is a far hole right in the middle of a sweeper and its only a matter of time until rim is damaged etc, you cant avoid it as its right on line.

mytgxl · 19-07-2011, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polyal

That is horrid damage and a disgrace of a road.

If your car is lowered then raise it to standard ASAP...just another thing for them to weasel out of.

I regularly travel on a country road and there is a far hole right in the middle of a sweeper and its only a matter of time until rim is damaged etc, you cant avoid it as its right on line.

That what gives me the **its it is at std height!

Fairlane · 19-07-2011, 09:39 PM

Man that is some serious damage, definately try and chase the council up for that one.

Now im going to bet it was somewhere in Lake Macquarie council. Seriously I reckon they have just about the worst roads in Australia.

duaned · 19-07-2011, 09:46 PM

Sorry to see that much damage to your pride and joy. Which road did the damage actually take place?

snappy · 19-07-2011, 10:02 PM

This happened to my Mate the other week . He was driving his missus peugots 307 and he hit a pot hole/crater and the side impact airbags went off the car looks like it will be a write off and i belive the insurance company is chasing the council for the costs

**Polyal** · 19-07-2011, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snappy

This happened to my Mate the other week . He was driving his missus peugots 307 and he hit a pot hole/crater and the side impact airbags went off the car looks like it will be a write off and i belive the insurance company is chasing the council for the costs

Jesus thats a fair shunt, or an over sensitive sensor! I hope the council coughs up.

mytgxl · 19-07-2011, 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snappy

This happened to my Mate the other week . He was driving his missus peugots 307 and he hit a pot hole/crater and the side impact airbags went off the car looks like it will be a write off and i belive the insurance company is chasing the council for the costs

Thank god my airbag didn`t go off, otherwise there would be another explosion that you would here down geelong that would be me going off my head more than I already have! The funny thing is all the roads round the councilours houses are fine!

phillyc · 21-07-2011, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1 bad ef

Thank god my airbag didn`t go off, otherwise there would be another explosion that you would here down geelong that would be me going off my head more than I already have! The funny thing is all the roads round the councilours houses are fine!

Mate glad to hear you are okay. Sorry to see the car, what a shame. That is one big mofo bitu-rock you hit.

I'm a Newcastle local. What suburb is that?

PS. PM me if you need assistance writing a letter etc. I had a succesful outcome when I helped a friend out with a letter to a negligent party which caused large damage to my friends Falcon.

**janddbone** · 19-07-2011, 11:33 PM

Hopefully one day the tax structures of this country will allow councils to fix the roads...

ELGT4me · 21-07-2011, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr_br_johnstone

Hopefully one day the tax structures of this country will allow councils to fix the roads...

Only after they learn to build decent roads, & not have the temerity of not consulting other services as to what lies beneath that road, before they put the layers of ashpalt, concrete etc, on the finishing run. I wish I had a dollar for every time I saw new roads get dug up, because someone forgot to tell somebody they had to lay another service under the new road.

mik · 20-07-2011, 01:42 AM

with the damage the under body has sustained you could also say that there was/is also a possibility you or someone could blow tyre after hitting that, and have an accident, if there`s any decency/duty of care by the council they should pay for the damage and fix the dam road you would hope.
best of luck

xr8lover · 20-07-2011, 02:57 PM

I recently had a claim for 3 mags on my xr8 knocked back from Vicroads, damaged from severe potholes. What a bunch of jerk offs they are!. After a wait of 6months I get a letter stating they are not at fault, take us to court they tell me.Damage bill was $2900.

KuRT12 · 20-07-2011, 05:05 PM

Councils are ****,

i live on a dirt road and currently its in such a bad state i am unable to leave the house in my SV6

ltd · 21-07-2011, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xr8lover

I recently had a claim for 3 mags on my xr8 knocked back from Vicroads, damaged from severe potholes. What a bunch of jerk offs they are!. After a wait of 6months I get a letter stating they are not at fault, take us to court they tell me.Damage bill was $2900.

If you have evidence then take them to court.
Court costs will be around $65.00 and you have nothing (besides $65.00) to lose.
Often you'll find that by just receiving a summons people start to poop themselves and work on ways to resolve. The last thing a council really wants is a precedent set by losing to a claim about their lack of road maintenance.

ltd · 21-07-2011, 09:01 AM

Mate, the council is completely liable. What you need to do is write a letter of demand, attach a quotation of the repairs as well as some photographs as per this thread. Give them 48 hours to contact you and then discuss very calmly with them that the damage occurred on their road in a pothole that has obviously been repaired before (note the darker bitumen) but not to an acceptable standard. When they try to fob you off, then calmly say to them; "Alright, of course I will be pursuing this matter much further with legal counsel..... What was your name, can you spell that for me please..... Thankyou very much for your time".
Usually at this point, the junior clerk who contacted you pretending to be a manager is now bricking it because you have their full name, and worried about it being referred back to them in the future. Within another 24 hours someone else will most likely contact you, and then offer to settle. In my previous employ I personally did this around 40-50 times and the one thing I learnt from the experience was, people in the council hate when their name is attached to anything that has the potential to get them in trouble.

robrex · 21-07-2011, 10:14 AM

I had a similar incident a few years ago and reported the hole to council and wrote a letter to them requesting compensation. To cut a long story short, after numerous back and forth correspondence they refused to pay. All they need to do is prove that the section of road had been included in a general maintenance inspection schedule and that the damage had not been previously reported (I think within 24-48 hours) and they'll refuse to pay. Good luck if you pursue it.

**El Venom** · 21-07-2011, 10:45 AM

Dam that road looks half decent compared to roads where I am except for the chunk of bitumen. If you can prove that the council had known about the hole which obviously did because they have attempted to repair it then they have to cover the costs of the damage.

Being government they will try scare you into not chasing them for the money knowing full well that they should. I managed to get a council to pay my excess when I had an accident last year. You just need to keep on them politely and dont back down

FTE72 · 21-07-2011, 04:50 PM

LTD is spot on. Repair on a repair, how could they possibly deny they knew about it.

Uncle Niceguy · 21-07-2011, 05:34 PM

i've just been in a similiar sort of case while driving my sisters citreon c3 where we had to get a new set of wheels and tyres due to a few very big potholes. (live in semi-rural area) north of caboolture and we pursued the council we got our money back and they fully re-did the stretch of road.

Franco Cozzo · 21-07-2011, 07:34 PM

Mum bent a 13" steel wheel and bubbled a tyre on a big pothole on our local roads, another local smashed off the sump on his car. Another smashed two wheels on his Navara, someon else snapped an axle on their trailer too.

They fixed them up eventually, after about 6 months of people swerving all over the road to avoid them and complaints about damage to cars but it got REALLY bad up until recently, the main road of my town was potholed up big time, big ones too, entire left lane of the main road for about 50m was just road with big holes in it, looked like swiss cheese.

They said they don't build our road to a high standard, all they do is compact down the dirt and chuck stones and tar on top, rather than doing a proper road base. Then it rains and we're back to square 1 with potholes.

Its a never ending battle living in the Country, we get nothing.