Originally Posted by dan_geoghegan
[quote author=Scotty link=1345734350/25#25 date=1345791484]A couple of years ago I tried claiming from Swindon Borough Council after a pothole (200mm square, 65mm deep) caused a big dent in the rear wheel of my road bike. They claimed to have inspected the stretch of road in question (between Liddington and Aldbourne) only 16 days previously and that the hole hadn't been there, and sent me a copy of the report. I could have enlisted the help of a couple of mates who are "with the roads" to fight the point, and would have done had I sustained an injury, but it would have been difficult to prove that the hole in question hadn't been there at the time of the inspection (I would refute strongly the possibility of it appearing over 16 days in August) but it wasn't worth the effort really. I got the rim straightened for about £65 in all.
The council has a legal duty to repair a dangerous defect once it has been reported to them. One of my mates "with the roads" says that in previous years they'd have paid up without arguing, but since the harsh Winters of the last couple of years they've tightened up considerably and now their policy is to dispute every claim in the hope that the plaintiff will give up and walk away - they just give the standard answer of "wasn't there when we looked", which is difficult to disprove. If you were to say "it's been there for months" it's your fault for not reporting it, simple as.
For this one, you'd better put it down to experience Ash, bikes can be fixed and people heal, hopefully a little wiser next time around. The true moral of the story is: If you see a pothole or a dangerous defect, REPORT IT!