Pot Hole Damage

[Smet SSV]

Hey guys wondering if anyone on here has had to go through a claim procees for damage from a pot hole. Hit one this morning that was 1 metre long and 20cm deep:vpo:, as you can imagine the damage was pretty bad.

Both the front wheel and back wheel have a crack straight through them and the tyres have blown. Car is in for accessment in the morning, hoping its no damage to the steering and suspension as well.

If anyone has any advice as to the best way to go about it, or a success story I would be glad to hear it.

P.S for drivers in Victoria the Hole is on Heatherton road in Noble Park out side Heatherton primary school, look out for it.

Cheers

[Podge]

Let me know how you get along with this, a friend at work blow the side wall of her tyre out (2500km old SV6 Series 2) and is up for $400 on a new tyre

This pothole is in Abbots Rd Dandy South

[ADAM 26]

there have been heaps of big pot holes around the dandy area latley.

i was told if you take a photo of the pot hole, and the damage, they will pay for the repairs.

[Smet SSV]

I have been told that the only way i can get the noney from them is to take them to court and lodge it that way. There threshold for payment is also only $1350, so when you factor in 3 rims for the SSV and 3 tyres your still out of pocket.

The state of the roads are pittyful at the moment.:vpo:

[ADAM 26]

yeah, the one in abbots has been fixed, that was massive that hole, i drive that road every day, its bloody shit house for pot holes.

[Smet SSV]

Pictures of the hole below and least damaged of the wheels.

http://www-static.sportingpulse.com/pics/00/01/13/95/1139579_1_S.jpg

http://www-static.sportingpulse.com/pics/00/01/13/95/1139578_1_S.jpg

http://www-static.sportingpulse.com/pics/00/01/13/95/1139577_1_S.jpg

http://www-static.sportingpulse.com/pics/00/01/13/95/1139576_1_S.jpg

[feistl]

ouch, doesn't surprise me the rim cracked.

Lots of pics, write down the events while its fresh in your memory. (Its a good idea to hand write it, it holds more value in court than something typed).

Good luck

[sv300 - 75]

mate thats a VicRoads road so you will have to deal with them.

you need to do a couple of things which include photos which you already have, also photos of the damage and an invoice from the repairs place.

VicRoads have a claims department and im sure they will be able to help you out. a pothole that big is definatly above the required size to be considered dangerous, therefore they are liable for the damage and your case should be clear cut.

good luck mate

[VX BY DESIGN]

Gee you blokes in VIC are better off then here in NSW.

Had the same thing happen to me a few years back, sent in photos, quote and a letter to the local council and all I got back was a pre scripted letter about how many KMs of road they maintain, the road was fine when inspected, bla, bla, bla and its not their fault.
Wrote back to them pointing out a few mistakes in their letter and telling them exactly what I thought (*##* & :flipoff: $@@!), then claimed it on my insurance using their letter.

Good thing was it only damaged one rim on my car..

Hope it all goes well and you get yours fixed...

[phat_calais]

if your in vic good luck unless you have a good shire councel. ive smashed 2 sets of wheels in diffrent shires. im still wating 7 months for 1 set to be compensated for and 2 months for the second set. as per the roads vic roads wont do anything they say its the councels responsabilty for fix the roads. al you can do is write a letter with the times and date and how it all happend and with pics of the wheel and pot hole. but i got told by 1 shire if they havent heard about the pothole before you hit it "bad luck" witch i thought was crap.

cheers

[putanna]

I have noticed heaps of pot holes around dandy as well. What about through the main street of dandy with those raised drains?
I'm always on the lookout for these holes as i ride a motorbike everyday. Hate to see what would happen coming off on 1 of these.

[caaf]

Sadly you wont have a snow balls.. Loads of running around and depending how far you want to go, you'll still loose out. After months of running around there hot shots will state that the road is drivable and that's the only standard that need to cover blaa blaa.. Good luck to you.

[TIR33D]

up here where I live in NSW a council employee smashed two rims and tyres, took photos and all the gear, still no result. Even had a statement from the road repair team that stated the area hadn't been patched due to a dangerous crest so they wouldn't do it without traffic control. Needless to say, he is still driving around on 2 stockers 8 months after the fact and he knows he ain't gonna get anywhere.

[D_BLOCK]

I went through a similar excercise recently with my insurer, end result was less head ache to pay for it my self. They would only pay for the one tyre and mag, never mind you cant get the mag in Aus anymore.They said get one that looks similar, and please pay your $400 excess.
Hopefully you get some joy out of vic roads because looking at that hole it could have been a lot worse for an inexperienced driver, Good luck.

[Smet SSV]

Well the basic update is that Vic Roads told me I have no chance of getting anything from them, I have to take them to court if i want anything. My car was towed to Racv Panel shop 2 hours after accident and the POT HOLE had been fixed, I am glad i got the photo`s when i did.

Panel shop had no idea so I have now got the Car at Holden for a quote, not sure why they send you to the panel shop for Wheels, Tyres and possible steering and suspension issues. Oh thats right because there the cheapest option.:flipoff:

[NeishaVESS]

I have been told that the only way i can get the noney from them is to take them to court and lodge it that way. There threshold for payment is also only $1350, so when you factor in 3 rims for the SSV and 3 tyres your still out of pocket.

The state of the roads are pittyful at the moment.:vpo:

Sorry to hear about you bad luck mate, it sucks that the road owners won't own up to there bad roads, and basically just tell you to be on your way as we wont cover it.

Did you damage 3 rims?

[Smet SSV]

Sorry to hear about you bad luck mate, it sucks that the road owners won't own up to there bad roads, and basically just tell you to be on your way as we wont cover it.

Did you damage 3 rims?

2 Rims and Tyres damaged directly from the Pot Hole both on the right hand side. The back left then damged as I slammed in to the gutter. Just glad it was a high gutter, being school time if I had mounted curb there were about 15 primary school kids in the line of fire.

Basically its going to get done through insurance, I will put in a claim to Vic Roads and try and get at least the excess back, see what happens.

[mmciau]

I damaged an 18" alloy wheel recently on one of NSW's finest potholes.

Took the rim to Adelaide Wheel and Rim and they rolled out the flatspot for me.

The Adelaide Wheel and Rim Technician said that all persons buying a new car should be warned that low profile tyres on rims increase the likelihood of sustaining rim damage significantly more than with "standard' profile tyres.

A '45' or less profile does not offer sufficient 'sidewall cushion effect' for the rim to be protected from impact damage.

So, a $143 later, lesson ends!!!!



Mike

[HSVREDSLED]

I went through all this some years ago in NSW. I bent two rims and took photos and wrote a letter to council. Here is how it was explained to me.

If council were notified of the pothole and did not act within a resonable time, then they 'could' be liable. However, if they were not aware the pothole was there, then they are not liable.

So to prove my point, I would have had to apply under Freedom of information to get maintenance records for the previous day and see if there was a job logged and if so, then try to take them to court. End result...too much time and hassle.

[ssv402]

Its amazing how governments/councils use their power to manipulate interpretations of law and liability to GET OUT OF any liability. Where they throw every other Australian in the poop with full liability.

[belly]

Mate I had that happen to me in Kew (vic), took photo's, wrote a nice letter to City Council, incluing quotes from Tyre place (2 x brand new rims and tyres knackered!!). They paid me in full, sent me a letter apologising and all. Mind you this was back in 2000, so it was a while ago.

[bigjohnno]

That's not the only one on heatherton rd last week that rd is crap most of time where james cook drive comes out. A nice big one is forming on m1 right hand lane in bound just before stud rd. I miss it every morning after I found out the hard way after I fitted SSL I reported it to Vic roads via email and they said that due to high level if rain roads are affected every where and it will be corrected shortly. Whatever!

[Bobman]

P.S for drivers in Victoria the Hole is on Heatherton road in Noble Park out side Heatherton primary school, look out for it.

Cheers

Heatherton Road between Westall and Corrigan Roads is pretty bad. As you can see in your pictures they've done a heap of patch jobs but no full reseal of the road for a very long time. These are the same blokes who ramp up registration every year and all the other fees. Then you have the council that fines you significantly if you install a fence or patio. Bunch of idiots!

P.S best of luck and hope you get compensated for everything!

[lyle]

take photos of the hole from close up as you have done, far away so you can see surrounding icons so they cant dispute its location, put a can or something in the hole and take a photo side on showing how much of the object is below ground level. and then go to your local council and hit them up, its worked for me in the past

[dogsballs]

out of curiosity what was the rim/tyre combo?

[RAVENLS1]

Heatherton road is joke!

[berlinwall]

I damaged an 18" alloy wheel recently on one of NSW's finest potholes.

Took the rim to Adelaide Wheel and Rim and they rolled out the flatspot for me.

The Adelaide Wheel and Rim Technician said that all persons buying a new car should be warned that low profile tyres on rims increase the likelihood of sustaining rim damage significantly more than with "standard' profile tyres.

A '45' or less profile does not offer sufficient 'sidewall cushion effect' for the rim to be protected from impact damage.

So, a $143 later, lesson ends!!!!



Mike
About a year ago I took my HSV rim to them and they rolled it round, smooth as silk but they badly damaged the paint work and I asked them to have it fixed like new, they objected till I reminded them of the photos I sent them the previous day asking their advice on what to do about a flat spot, I always take photos and do everything in writing, just in case, it does pay, less/no arguments, no disputes!!

[taztassio]

my uncle (lives in keilor) was driving his merc, hit a MASSIVE pot hole, and the shock actually went through the strut top, damaged the wheels. He went through insurance, but they are chasing i up with the council as it was BIG money to fix that one!

[danielsan]

i hit a massive one this morning on the pacific motorway near springwood (southbound),where their doing the roadworks. must of been an act of god that there was no damage to either the rim or the tyre, unfortunately i can't say the same for the other dozen motorists who pulled over after hitting it.

[VYBerlinaV8]

Is the vehicle that was damaged absolutely stock?

Good luck with this, but frankly I think don't think you stand a chance.

[HSV,_I_GOT_ONE]

I would have thought if you took photos, details, etc. and then put it through insurance they would chase it through the council or road authority for you? If this isn't correct someone let me know cause I would have thought insurance companies would handle this sort of stuff!

[VYBerlinaV8]

I think there's be issues around proving that the pothole in question is the one that caused the damage, and that you didn't damage the vehicle driving it over a kerb or something.

[bladerunner]

just a warning guys, ive just returned from the nsw nth coast back to brisbane. the pac hwy is littered with some pretty monstrous potholes at the moment some of them are HUGE. i saw 2 cars changing tyres coming back if thats any indication. take care.

[Keepup]

I buckled a rim once on the princess hwy in a pothole. the rta said they cannot manage all situations of the road and the only action i could take was my insurance. i asked my insurance co if there was a way i coud get the rta to cough up and they said no.

was a good excuse to get rims anyway :)

[Smet SSV]

out of curiosity what was the rim/tyre combo?

Hey mate, Its just the standard SSV rims with the Bridgestone Potenza`s that come with them.

[Smet SSV]

Is the vehicle that was damaged absolutely stock?

Good luck with this, but frankly I think don't think you stand a chance.



Yeah car is all stock mate, it has been fixed now through in surance so it is up to them to try and get the cash now. I will be trying to claim for at least my excess though.

[Carlin1983]

We gone some massive holes in QLD atm

[HEKYEH]

We gone some massive holes in QLD atm

And so how does that comment relate back to the original post about insurance claims......???

FDC....Fo sho!

[BECAUZ]

Yeah car is all stock mate, it has been fixed now through in surance so it is up to them to try and get the cash now. I will be trying to claim for at least my excess though.

Did you ever get your excess back?

[aussiemuscle308]

If council were notified of the pothole and did not act within a resonable time, then they 'could' be liable. However, if they were not aware the pothole was there, then they are not liable.

So to prove my point, I would have had to apply under Freedom of information to get maintenance records for the previous day and see if there was a job logged and if so, then try to take them to court. End result...too much time and hassle.

that's what they're hoping you will do, just go away. i'm sure they get out of a lot of them this way. regardless, i'm sure they have insurance for this kind of thing.

[Black_vtss]

Good luck with your claim. I hit a pot hole, night time 90km/hr road with no street lights. I had pictures of the road and the damage it did alongside with a note from the tyre place saying what they believed the cause of damage was. VicRoads said I'd have to take it up with the local council, local council basically told me to bugger off and quoted some legal exemption. Wrote to the local member of parliament and nothing..... I gave up in the end and wore the cost myself.