The state of our roads has become a much talked about topic – not just in passing speech, but also in the media. Only today I have seen on the BBC News that road safety charities have warned that unless councils take a fresh approach to repairing roads, the amount they will have to pay out in compensation to injured claimants will escalate. The Institute of Advanced Motorists claim that Councils need to fully resurface roads rather than just filling in the holes. It has been revealed that the Vale of Glamorgan and Newport Councils have some of the largest pay-out figures on pothole claims over the last four years within Wales – the former being £245, 967, whilst the latter have figures of £203,913.
It seems that councils are having trouble fixing the damage caused to the roads due to the bad weather we had over the winter. If you have been injured due to the presence of a pothole, you may have a claim for compensation.
Local councils have a duty to maintain the highways, and in doing so, reduce the risks to our health and safety. However, claims due to potholes can be fairly complex for a number of reasons. Firstly, it can be difficult to ascertain who has the responsibility for maintaining the land, as it could be privately owned, be the responsibility of the local council, or highways agency, or even be a private company used by the council for managing the maintenance. Secondly, in the event the land is the responsibility of the council, it can be difficult to get an admission of fault on your claim.
The reason I say claims against the council for accidents such as pot holes can be difficult is that, for the council to know every fault on the road and to fix it immediately before anyone endangers themselves, is unrealistic. Therefore, the council have inspection and maintenance policies in place – so one particular road may be inspected every 6 months. If the council has acted in accordance with their policies and the defect which caused your accident occurred sometime between the routine inspections , the council may be able to use Section 58 of the Highways Act as a defence to your claim. This being said, if a complaint has been made regarding that defect and the council did not act upon it quick enough, then they may be held at fault for your accident.
If you have any questions regarding your pothole claim then feel free to give us a call at the office.
