City Council compensates for tyre damage caused by a pothole

This happened in Australia. I was driving my wife's Mazda 3 & hit a pothole during a right-hand turn at less than 50 km/h.

BHPian kiku007 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Some of you might have read or even robustly participated in the discussions on the accountability of Toll Road operations in this thread.

I think we have accepted the fact that it is a utopian concept to expect accountability from toll road operators in India.

What if I tell you that my local council in Australia paid me for the cost I incurred to replace a car tyre that was damaged by a pothole? Read on.

Day-1

• I was driving my wife's Mazda 3 and hit a pothole during a right-hand turn at less than 50 kmph.
• The on-board TPMS reported a massive loss in tyre pressure in the front LHS tyre.

• Parked the car and called Mazda Roadside Assistance (RSA).
• Within ten minutes of calling them, their RSA partner RACQ had their person next to our car.

• The flat tyre was replaced with a space saver. No sweat.

• Went to the tyre shop to check on the puncture.
• There's a hole in the sidewall and the tyre had to be replaced.

Day-2

• I was talking to fellow mates in our Drive club about potholes and sidewall stiffness.
• I even spoke about it on TBHP here.
• Fellow Drivermasters asked me to lodge a claim with the Council and ask them to pay for the new tyre.
• So I gathered all the evidence and that includes pictures of the potholes and the invoice.

• I lodged a damage claim with the City Council on a Sunday night.

Day-3

• I get an e-mail and a call in the morning from the Council! That kind of response time beats several private companies.

• They had assigned a person to check and fix the pothole. The Council has engaged a company to process their liability claims and they gave me the contact details.
• I contacted the Insurance/Liability processing company and lodged my claim (again).

Day-5

• They assigned a Case officer to assess my claim.

Day-11

• Claim processed. They offered to pay for the tyre.
• There's a clause that, "no admission of liability basis" but that's fine.

It is an understatement to say that I'm impressed with the outcome. Accountability exists.

Is this the norm or an exception in Australia? Anecdotal evidence from speaking to several friends here indicate that it is quite common here. The key is to have access to the right information, present a strong case and be polite. I prefer that to the social media vilification approach that some people take.

The city had heavy rains the previous week and that possibly explains the appearance of the potholes. I'll try to get a picture of how they've fixed the pothole.

I don't know how relevant this is for the councils in India but it'll be interesting to know if they also have similar claims processing systems. Maybe they'll go bankrupt if they have such processes. However, what's the excuse for toll road operators?

Here's what BHPian akshay4587 had to say about the matter:

I drive an Alfa Romeo 159 with 235/40/19 tyres in Melbourne, and I am waiting for the day, I have to run after the council for such a claim since some roads were terrible; hopefully, they have improved, since I am away from Australia for a year now.

Such claims aren't uncommon; a few years ago, a signboard on a freeway towards Melbourne airport fell on a Kia Carnival (Or some other MPV), it could have been fatal as well. The car was replaced free of cost, I cannot recall if the recipient got some compensation for the trauma.

Here's what BHPian Gansan had to say about the matter:

Doesn't look like much of a pothole! I wonder how it totally damaged the tyre at 50 kph.

Here's what BHPian ABHI_1512 had to say about the matter:

The city council in Australia must have some real sympathetic people there. They have compensated for almost a non-existent pothole whereas folks here break their axles and still can’t convince the insurer, let alone any city corporation or council. The magnanimity shown here is in complete contrast to our country where we keep paying tolls for non-existent roads even!

Here's what BHPian CarNerd had to say about the matter:

That's one of the advantages of living in a developed country with less population and efficient public administration. I don't think we can even dream of something like that happening in India. Here, As soon as a new road is laid, we can measure the time taken for the first pothole to appear using a stopwatch!

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