Pothole damage top concern for drivers, says RAC

Richard Broadbent from Cirencester put a claim in to Gloucestershire County Council after the wheel of his Volkswagen Golf was damaged in May last year when his wife was driving his daughter to school.

A bent wheel and split tyre cost the family £189.60 to repair.

The legal battle lasted more than a year before the out-of-court settlement was agreed, in which the council paid for the damage to the car and Mr Broadbent’s legal costs, with no admission of fault.

After being rejected twice for compensation by the council, Mr Broadbent, a former Metropolitan Police officer, submitted a claim to the county court.

He said he thought he should be compensated for the damage because the condition of the road was “unacceptable” and because it became clear the council had been told about the pothole but had failed to repair it.

Mr Broadbent said he was extremely surprised by how strongly the council fought his claim, given the weight of evidence he gathered.

“They continued to defend themselves on the grounds they had met their obligations in terms of the road.”

He said he submitted about 150 emails to the council, his local councillor and MP, along with 13 Freedom of Information requests.

“It’s been a very long process for the amount of money involved,” he added.

Gloucestershire County Council said it was “very sorry for the distress caused” to the Broadbent family over the issue, but said its policy is to “defend claims robustly and fairly to protect the public purse”.

“In this case, despite our strong defence new information provided questioned the original decision and our contractors made the commercial decision to settle this case,” a statement added.