Interestingly this is the second news story I’ve seen recently where the media appear to be hitting out at the council for refusing to pay out for pothole claims. As an injury law firm, this is most unusual because we often find it’s the media hitting out at lawyers and victims for claiming against a local authority!
This story comes from our home county of Derbyshire, and tells the tale of a student left with a £210 bill for car damages that the council are refusing to pay. So let’s take a look at what’s happened.
Sources from the Derby Telegraph tell of 22 year old student teacher Siobhan Lawrence who hit a pothole on a 60mph stretch of road on Snelsmoor Lane in Challeston. The pothole was reportedly six inches deep and had caused significant damage to the wheels and tracking of her Ford KA.
As is the case with most pothole claims, Derbyshire County Council have denied liability and are refusing to pay for the damages. This is of course frustrating, and I can vouch for this personally as I did exactly the same thing in January 2013 and ended up with repair bills of around £300. My case was pretty much the same as this one, but I never bothered claiming because I know how difficult it can be.
Not that this should put you off though; if you’re injured, it’s worth making a claim.
Turning back to this story, why has the council denied liability, and how are they able to get away with it?
Well they have denied presumably because, under Section 58 of the Highways Act 1980, local councils have a special defence against claims. As long as they can show that they have a reasonable system of inspection and maintenance to check for potholes and can prove they have adhered to it, and that the pothole was not present on their last inspection, they’re pretty much not liable in law.
The news article confirms that a spokesperson for the council in this case has said the following:
“While we do sympathise, we’ve not accepted liability for this damage as the routine road inspection and maintenance was up-to-date and we’d had no reports to alert us to the pothole. As a result we couldn’t reasonably have known that the road would pose a problem for motorists.”
So, because the pothole was not there on the last inspection, and because it had not been reported and another inspection wasn’t due, they have adhered to their duties in accordance with the Highways Act 1980. Unfortunately, potholes can develop rapidly, meaning that councils cannot be held accountable unless they have knowledge of it existence.
The report goes on to confirm that the victim has said the following:
“I feel angry, as I am out of pocket for something that is not my fault. I am a postgraduate student – I do not have money to spare to pay for the damage.
The council should pay. They have been negligent.”
Unfortunately, due to the special defence they have, it can be difficult to win a claim for a pothole accident. You can’t reasonably expect the council to inspect their roads every single day, or every single week, for example. Potholes can appear over night, and roads are inspected based on how busy they are. If a pothole is reported, the council must act within a reasonable timeframe, which can be months.
In reality, the best shot at winning a claim you have is to instruct a specialist lawyer for it. Whilst we can only act within the scope of the law (and sadly we cannot change the law!) there is a lot we can do to fight for the rights of innocent accident victims.
