Driver's big bill for car damage
A HILDENBOROUGH driver is taking action against Kent County Council after a Sevenoaks pothole caused more than £850 of damage to his car.
Nigel Duncum, of Vines Lane, said he and his wife knew straight away there was a problem after a wheel of their car descended into a four-inch crater.
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Nigel Duncum at the junction of St Julian Road where he damaged his vehicle in a recently repaired pot hole, pictured in Sevenoaks on Thursday last week PV2801103/105
He said: "We damaged our car in St Julian's Road at the junction with Riverhill when we hit a pothole four-and-a-half inches deep.
"My wife was driving and the car shuddered when she hit it.
"Glenda said it didn't feel right after that.
"We thought it was the tyre, so we bought a new one, but then we found all the joins of the suspension had broken."
Mr Duncum was landed with an £862 repair bill. He said he had not wanted to claim for it on his insurance as he would lose his no claims bonus.
"The claim form is quite complicated," he added. "It asks you questions like have you driven this road before and they want to see your logbook.
"I put in the claim anyway."
He added he found that there was a whole raft of information that could be asked of Kent Highways Service, the highways arm of Kent County Council, under the Freedom of Information Act, including the dates of safety inspections and details of carriageway defects.
He said it will be a few weeks before he knows the outcome of his application.
Ivan Armstrong, of Croftside, Vigo, damaged his car on a pothole in London Road, West Kingsdown, in November.
He was forced to pay a £32 bill after his tyre was punctured.
He said: "I did go to the county council but they refused to pay up.
"They said they are obliged by law to keep the roads in a state of reasonable repair.
"They are not obliged to keep them in a perfect state of repair.
"When I spoke to them about the damage, the pothole was filled within 24 hours.
"Other people had probably complained about it. It was very deep and it was filled with rain.
Criteria
"What I would urge people to do is ring Kent County Council and report potholes, and if nothing is done, report them until something is done."
Kent Highway Services spokesman Phil Scrivener said there are fixed criteria set down by law determining when people can claim compensation.
He added each case is considered on its own merits.
The public can report potholes to Kent County Council online at www.kent.gov. uk/highways or by calling 08458 247 800.
Nominate your Pothole of the Week by e-mailing a picture or writing to us at reporters@sevenoaks-chronicle.co.uk
21 Comments
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by Cyclist, Tonbridge
Thursday, February 11 2010, 2:11PM
“Looking at the picture it appears to be right on the left handside of a junction, on the edge, so I wonder why the driver is driving so close to the edge anyway considering drivers have to leave space for cyclists. And of course, the cyclist would have to avoid it anyway, and pedal away from i.There could have been ramblers going there too. Doesn't sound like careful driving to me.”
by alex.r, kemsing/Sevenoaks
Wednesday, February 10 2010, 9:11PM
“I have to say, although i may not be correct due to the angle of the photo, from what i've seen of that road the pothole isn't actually in the road at all and therefore i have to come to the conclusion that poor driving was responsible for the damage”
by Snowman, Sevenoaks
Wednesday, February 10 2010, 8:44PM
“Brian - Salt is not the root cause of potholes. The freeze-thaw action of water is. Why is that so difficult to understand? The more you bang on about salt being the cause the more silly you look.”
by Brian Elliott, Tunbridge Wells
Wednesday, February 10 2010, 4:22PM
“Snowman is correct. Add also to his list the fact that water doesn't compress. So when any wheel goes over water sitting in a brokenup part of the road , the water blasts its way around the already damaged surface, damaging it further. Salt has no chemical effect on tarmac, but does lower the freezing point of water, accelerating the action.
Well if Salt has no effect how come all the potholes are in area's that were salted??
Why are not all the country lanes full of potholes? Flippin eck talk about Stubbornly STUPID!!”
by BryanL, Sevenoaks
Wednesday, February 10 2010, 1:12PM
“Snowman is correct. Add also to his list the fact that water doesn't compress. So when any wheel goes over water sitting in a brokenup part of the road , the water blasts its way around the already damaged surface, damaging it further. Salt has no chemical effect on tarmac, but does lower the freezing point of water, accelerating the action. The primary cause of most "potholes" is greed on the part of subcontractors who bodge a minor fault in the road surface by not undercutting the damage, not sealing the edges before filling it with half a bag of Wickes Cold Footpath Asphalt banged down with the back of a shovel. No doubt their work is inspected and signed off by an official from somewhere, claiming mileage while looking at a photo taken on a mobile phone.
I have a warning for those of you reporting potholes-- if you later claim for driving into it, your claim will be thrown out, as you knew the danger was there!
The many potholes on the Bessels Green Flyover are testament to repeated faulty repairs over the last 6months.. My son's car hit the huge lump of tarmac thrown up by another car, stopped at the traffic lights with a badly damaged wheel and a split tyre. The hole was over 12inches wide and long, and about 4inches deep, The chunk of tarmac disintegrated on impact, showing it had no integrity as a repair.
I see some of the comments here are from the loony left and the loony right scoring points off each other, but only showing how our road tax is being used to fuel fools. How some of these dorks afford a computer and internet connection needs investigating, I think.”