Drive more carefully... what council chief told victim of pothole crisis
A MOTORIST who wrote to a council chief in a bid to settle his claim for pothole damage to his car was shocked to get a reply telling him: “You should drive more carefully.”
Jonathan Symms made a compensation claim against Manchester city council when his £15,000 Mini Cooper suffered £440 of damage to its wheels after striking a pothole.
He sent an email directly to council leader Sir Richard Leese hoping to reach a speedy settlement.
But he was stunned by Sir Richard’s response.
By law, a council is liable for claims from motorists who can prove damage was caused by dodgy road surfaces where maintenance has been lacking.
Gobsmacked
But Sir Richard said paying out for pothole damage compensation was taking away resources that could be spent on vital road repairs.
He said: “The idea that councils have to take responsibility for every bit of people’s activity can’t be right – or the fact council services, including the limited money we have to repair roads, should be put at risk.”
He criticised a “large number of fraudulent claims” and added: “We aren’t going to make it easy for people to take council taxpayers for a ride.”
In his email to Mr Symms, Sir Richard said: “The council should not be liable to claims of this sort as they take money away from council services, including those that fix highway defects.”
Jonathan, 46, who owns a residential home in Hale, said he was left “gobsmacked”.
He said: “I nearly fell off my chair when he said he didn’t think the council should pick up the tab.
“It’s beyond belief. I can’t believe a human being who’s a consumer himself thinks councils ought not be liable for council inaction.”
Mr Symms said he was driving on Stretford Road in Hulme on May 9 when a pothole caused damage.
He said: “I’ve not gone out with a hammer and smashed my own wheel. I felt it – it was definitely a pothole. I don’t intend to give up on the claim. Maybe the courts will have to decide.”
Sir Richard accepted that the council was legally obliged to consider compensation claims.
But he added: “The council has asked Mr Symms reasonable questions like where on Stretford Road he was driving, given half the road is in Trafford that’s a fairly significant question.
Adverse
“I’m also tempted to ask what speed he was driving.”
He said: “What we are not going to do is make it easy for people to put in compensation claims because we’ve had a massive amount of fraudulent claims.
“We are spending £100million extra fixing our roads. We recognise our responsibility to get roads into a decent condition which is what we are doing.”
Transport councillor Angeliki Stogia said: “We judge all legal claims on their merits and pay compensation in cases where sufficient evidence is provided and payment is justified.”
Manchester Council has begun an £80million two-year programme to carry out repairs on more than 300 roads.
It comes as new figures reveal nearly a quarter of all the city’s roads are now in a poor state of repair.
This has been blamed on Government budget cuts as well as adverse weather conditions.