anyone good with legal stuff?

[turbo-fever]

basically i am tryin to claim for damage to my car after i drove down a manhole which led to my car sucking in a load of water and destroying the engine. for some reason the cover was down the manhole unknown to me as why think maybe the water may have lifted it (also it was sewage water aswell) so wanna know were i stand.

was wondering if anyone on here could help me as i would like to know if some one else is at fault, should the manhole cover have been made more secure? surely it shouldnt have lifted off in the first place.

any info would help cheers

 

[sx_turbo]

your car is modified they will argue that if it wasnt then this wouldnt have happened.


also you dont know what the cause for the manhole being lifted/taken/moved was, it could have been pikeys that moved it then decided to leave it or something etc etc etc.

best person to ask is starlet_sam, he's good with the legal stuff, he just won a case against dna cars

 

[pallett]

Orite fella, try bourkey on uksc pretty sure he works in that sort of sector

 

[Gryzor]

try jodielocks if shes still on

 

[turbo-fever]

cheers people maybe they will see this post lol

 

[Cornish-Glanza]

your car is modified they will argue that if it wasnt then this wouldnt have happened.


also you dont know what the cause for the manhole being lifted/taken/moved was, it could have been pikeys that moved it then decided to leave it or something etc etc etc.

best person to ask is starlet_sam, he's good with the legal stuff, he just won a case against dna cars

I dont quite understand what happened (how can your car drive into a manhole cover and suck water up?) so I may well be wrong with what i say below...

They can't argue that if his car wasnt modified it wouldnt have happened. Modifying isnt illegal, same thing would have happened with a ferrari (i assume the issue is with the fact the car was lowered?)

Doesnt matter if some chav took the drain cover off, it's the councils responsibility to ensure they're safe and installed correctly.

I think you should be entitled to be reimbursed for any damage caused...

 

[turbo-fever]

I dont quite understand what happened (how can your car drive into a manhole cover and suck water up?) so I may well be wrong with what i say below...

They can't argue that if his car wasnt modified it wouldnt have happened. Modifying isnt illegal, same thing would have happened with a ferrari (i assume the issue is with the fact the car was lowered?)

Doesnt matter if some chav took the drain cover off, it's the councils responsibility to ensure they're safe and installed correctly.

I think you should be entitled to be reimbursed for any damage caused...

basically i drove through a puddle which wasnt that deep but cos there was no cover over the manhole my front wheel went down it tilting the car which somehow sucked water into the engine, seems a bit strange i know but wat i do know is that if the cover was on the manhole then this wouldnt have happened.

what would have happened if a little kid went jumpin in the puddle and fell down the manhole would have been a whole different story then, lucky no one was hurt

 

[Phil]

if this was in flood conditions then yes the manhole lid could certainly have been lifted etc due to the weather they arent going to be able to say that this was a pikey or your fault. IN FACT you could argue that they should have know this area was prone to flooding and welded/locked the manholes shut.

Phil

 

[Texx]

Doesnt matter if some chav took the drain cover off, it's the councils responsibility to ensure they're safe and installed correctly.

I'd think it would be more likely the responsibility of the utility company rather than the council.

TBH, I'd think your unlikely to get any compensation unless the defective manhole cover had already been reported and whoever responsible for maintaining it had not acted to make it safe.

 

[Cornish-Glanza]

basically i drove through a puddle which wasnt that deep but cos there was no cover over the manhole my front wheel went down it tilting the car which somehow sucked water into the engine, seems a bit strange i know but wat i do know is that if the cover was on the manhole then this wouldnt have happened.

what would have happened if a little kid went jumpin in the puddle and fell down the manhole would have been a whole different story then, lucky no one was hurt

Ah ok, yea that makes sense. Still can't see how having a modified vehicle would have caused the problem though...

I think you've got every right to complain, one thing you really should have done, hopefully you did? was take photos of absolutely everything at the time this happened. If you haven't, then it will be hard to argue your case.

 

[Cornish-Glanza]

I'd think it would be more likely the responsibility of the utility company rather than the council.

TBH, I'd think your unlikely to get any compensation unless the defective manhole cover had already been reported and whoever responsible for maintaining it had not acted to make it safe.

Ah ok, thought the council looked after the roads which i assumed included the man hole covers too, but as for the responsibility side of things....surely thats not right texx?!

As turbo fever said, if someone had fallen down it and drowned, surely they wouldnt get away with saying, sorry, no one had reported it to us first...

Thats like saying, companies get one free f*ck up?? The utility company 'imo' should have ensured the safety in any 'realistic' situation.

 

[turbo-fever]

didnt manage to get many photos as my battery died and was dark which made it hard, but got 1 of the manhole and 1 of the scene (my car, cop cars, road closed etc) but was outside someones house and they saw it happen to hopefully they will be witnesses if need be

 

[Cornish-Glanza]

ahhh mate, you should be fine I would have thought. especially if police were involved. Just kick up hell of a fuss, might take a while but i think you'll get some sort of compensation out of it.

As you said, the company should have procedures in place for floods to stop the drain water pushing the cover up and off. I mean, if theres one situation you should plan for as a drain/sewer company, its flooding lol?

 

[turbo-fever]

well thats what i am hoping for (just not getting my hopes up to much) as i know its a long shot but feel that because its not my fault it has to be someone else's right?

 

[Texx]

I'm not suggesting it's not worth trying to make a claim, just don't get your hopes up too much.

The first thing I would do is submit a complaint to the council that includes the date, time and details of the incident, include any photos you have and any eye witness statements you can get. Also explain that your car is no longer road worthy due to the defective inspection cover and if possible include an independent estimate that shows the cost of the repairs required.

I would expect the council to reply pointing you in the direction of the organisation responsible for the maintenance of that particular inspection cover, but at least you'll get the ball rolling sooner rather than later and have something in writing that confirms your complaint.

 

[Sharkman645]

The responsibility is with the water utility company it may be a lengthy process to get resolved but dont let it drop, getting in touch with your local mp/ councilor may help speed things up as other utility companies repsond quicker when it mps rather than the general public complaining. You have a pic of the manhole with the cover missing so they cant deny that it not there problem.

 

[gv1.3]

I know in Ireland you can claim against the local council if you damage your car due to poor conditions/maintenance etc. Not sure about a manhole cover though. As the laws between UK and Ireland are usually pretty similar you might be surprised.

I would put a call in to the local council office and ask them for advice on what the process is to claim if your car is damaged due to dodgy roads.

Also you need pictures of the road conditions at the time etc to support your claim.

 

[Cornish-Glanza]

Some good advice from Texx and Sharkman there!

keep us updated turbo fever

 

[rb69]

Definitely don't let it go mate. You were driving down the road minding your own business, you should be able to do that safely without having your car damaged due to poorly maintained manhole covers. It is the company who owns it's responsibilty to make sure water doesn't push them off or make them unstable and they should pay you fairly.

 

[sacodetoro]

you'll be able to get the car repaired at the cost of whoever is responsible for the manhole.

Here in NI if you were to claim after hitting a pothole this is what you would do, advice from someone has done it successfully a few times

The form- http://www.drdni.gov.uk/index/compensation_claims.htm

fill it in and attach a letter requesting a copy of -



*all the inspection records for the previous 6 years on that stretch of road,

*all the complaints/correspondances/Councillor enquiries for that stretch of road and for the pothole you struck if relevant for the last 6 years,

*the job card relating to the repair of the exact pothole you struck and a detailed specification of how the pothole was repaired and the relevant "specification of Highway works" that was adhered to,

*ask if the pothole you struck was a previous repair and ask for all paperwok relating to it,

* and ask if there were any potholes within 1m of the pothole you struck in the last 6 years and were each of these repairs cut back to solid material in acordance with the relevant "specification of Highway works" , ask for tal paper work relating to them.




It would take me a while to explain all of what i wrote but the Devils in the detail

http://jon44w.co.uk/forum/viewthread.php?tid=222415&page=1

modified car has nothing to do with it, that's balls.

Also go to your http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/ they will be able to get you everyhting you need