Suing council

[coomo]

Yeah I know its OUR money,and ultimately, the taxpayer coughs up not the fuckwitted jobs worth hand shandys who run our council(Did I say im not a fan) The boss of Essex council is paid more that PM May.Yet try and get them to actually do what they are paid for.........
Anyway I digress.i took out my new Bike last week.Riding gingerly on new tyres as you do.I turned into a local country lane and the front went.Happened before and you
generally realise the cause.This time I was perplexed.Dry, very low speed no angle etc.Not until I pulled my leg out,did I notice the two nich trough of gravel.Nicely disguised
that for some inexplicably reason was covering the apex.It wasnt freshly laid.Yet a perfect "gravel trap" of two inches.Marquez would have lost it, let alone me.
Ive repaired it, and am contemplating sending the bill (about £650) to our local council.Surely they have a responsibility to maintain/remove hazard
https://i.imgur.com/rBPcX96.jpg

[christaylorsound]

Marquez would indeed have lost it, good luck in getting your cash back, may be a battle..... Gravel looks like the leftovers from cheapo road resurfacing; pour tar down and sprinkle gravel on top, forget to sweep up excess gravel. Hey presto road faults hidden....
Chris

[wildtexas]

Our local council is a great fan of top dressing our roads with tar and chippings, usually without warning and blocking the road entirely. Recently they did this on our local lane. 3 weeks later a road sweeper came and swept up all the loose chippings. Good job I thought, recycle the excess chippings and use elsewhere.

Nope, drive onto my brother in laws land where he stores his silage bales and dump 5 huge mounds of chippings blocking access.

Still we have lots of 10mm gravel now.

Matt

[Winston Teague]

You will need the pictures that i hope you took at the time! Write a dossier, lots of pics, of road, gravel, blood, damage etc. Polite but firm letter explaining saga, report from bike fixer and receipts. Send it signed for to chief of highways dept. Keep copy and and proof of post. Well worth a try. Good luck. W

[coomo]

Thanks for input guys.I will pursue this and report back.

[MikeB]

We’re there any Loose Chippings signs on the road you turned off?

[coomo]

We’re there any Loose Chippings signs on the road you turned off?

Nope.Nothing at all.

[Flat 6]

The roads are so bad in rural N.Ireland that the local councils have a fairly simple process of claiming damages. They pay you roughly the amount you claim provided you confirm no liability. Takes about three months but I've used it three times now over a 15 year period.

I'm sure GB councils must have something similar.

Good luck,

Al.

[smallspeed]

i know there's a specific process for pot-holes (and its rife with rules, requirements and hoops to jump through) but would be interested to hear if there is a similar process for road conditions like this. I nearly spannered one of my bikes earlier in the year on a similar surface - the council had dumped a huge pile of chippings on the side of the road which had then spread everywhere by cars driving across the edge of the pile. You get zero notice when its black chippings on a black road, and its not a pleasant experience! Still can't get the smell out of my leathers..

[Tosh]

Write a note to Philip Hammond, I am sure he'll put aside a few quid for your pothole

[sisu]

I know this is the wrong time to gloat, I even feel guilt not just about them resurfacing my road but the level it went to.
But this is one of the little things I love about living in Finland. My wife messaged our council to lower the angle of the curbstone 2cm on our driveway last year "As we have a low car with firm suspension" I just raised my eyebrows and said "Really?"thinking this was a prank it wasn't scrapping or or anything and we lived in London so know your pain.
They messaged back saying they would increase the thickness of the asphalt from 5cm to 8cm gradually over the 20m around our driveway they even appoligized that we would have to wait til July as they would do the whole street on its decade resurface with a new quieter type of asphalt. Over 3 days this Summer they removed the old asphalt, put new drains and yes the driveway is now 3cm thicker just for me to enjoy my car.

[Sam]

Yeh. But you have to live in Finland. With weird Finnish people. I had cause to meet some Finnish people recently, up until then I thought Kimi Raikkonen was surly, uncharasmatic and inarticulate. Turns out he’s actually quite exciting and chatty for a Finn.

[Tosh]

They were not yet pantsdrunk

[PorscheBarry]

My recent experience is, forget your principles they will cost you and move on, the Councils policies make them Teflon coated for 99% of road deteriation / condition claims. B######s.