Re: Pothole claims

[disneydreamersx4]

I drove over a very large pothole on Friday and my steering wheel is all shaky. My SIL boyfriend said I should look into the Department of Transportation reimbursing me for damages. I called DOT who referred me to my County's insurance company and they are sending me a claim form which must be submitted within 90 days. Just wanted to pass this along to anyone who may have these damages too.

 

[Leajess99]

I drove over a very large pothole on Friday and my steering wheel is all shaky. My SIL boyfriend said I should look into the Department of Transportation reimbursing me for damages. I called DOT who referred me to my County's insurance company and they are sending me a claim form which must be submitted within 90 days. Just wanted to pass this along to anyone who may have these damages too.

Just be aware that your claim could very well be denied as you have to prove it was in fact the pothole that caused the damage. There was a story locally about it and the burden of proof is on the driver. This is to keep people from scamming the state/county. It sucks for those who truely do have damage too.

 

[disneydreamersx4]

I really hope that since I can prove I was on that road that day.....took my daughter to a Brownie event and that I can show a photo of the pot hole I will be approved this claim.

 

[Schachteles]

WOW, I have heard people talking about trying to go after the DOT because of it, never heard of someone who was successful. I live in Minnesota, land of the potholes and have done damage to my car because of the potholes and have never thought about going after anyone to cover it, I take it as the cost of having a car. GOOD LUCK, I would be interested to hear how this turns out for you.

 

[allison443]

I really hope that since I can prove I was on that road that day.....took my daughter to a Brownie event and that I can show a photo of the pot hole I will be approved this claim.

How much was the repair estimate for?
Good luck!

 

[jjohnson]

I went over one & cracked my rear axle. Didn't think of calling the county but it was covered under my auto insurance to replace the axle.

 

[marius97]

It is all but impossible to get reimbursed. I believe that MI paid one claim in 2009. Not only do you need to prove that the particular pot hole caused your problem, but (at least in MI) you have to prove that the local authorities knew about the pot hole for a certain number of days...as in, someone called on monday about a very bad pot hole, the city did nothing and on thursday you hit the pot hole. Good luck, but don't get your hopes up.

 

[woodkins]

My friend works for the DOT and says that it is very rare that DOT would pay out for a pothole claim. I think she said they pay out to only about 3% of the claims & we are in Long Island NY so there are Lots!!

 

[cm8]

It is all but impossible to get reimbursed. I believe that MI paid one claim in 2009. Not only do you need to prove that the particular pot hole caused your problem, but (at least in MI) you have to prove that the local authorities knew about the pot hole for a certain number of days...as in, someone called on monday about a very bad pot hole, the city did nothing and on thursday you hit the pot hole. Good luck, but don't get your hopes up.

I heard about that happening before. Someone posted ( here I thought) that they tried to get it paid for via the dot and the claim was denied. Said that they would have had to have reported the pot hole the day before they hit the pot hole to have it covered, I was like, maybe they could hang up call back report the pot hole and then call back to make a claim, it is not like they knew the pot hole would attack their car, Op, I wish you good luck getting it covered!

 

[kmccain]

I heard about that happening before. Someone posted ( here I thought) that they tried to get it paid for via the dot and the claim was denied. Said that they would have had to have reported the pot hole the day before they hit the pot hole to have it covered, I was like, maybe they could hang up call back report the pot hole and then call back to make a claim, it is not like they knew the pot hole would attack their car, Op, I wish you good luck getting it covered!

You have to show that they are negligent

My state will not pay for them either. Never have.

Good Luck!

 

[mjkacmom]

Never heard of anyone getting paid here in NJ. Our town is hundreds of years old, so I'm weaving in and out of them on a daily basis!

 

[Evi]

it all depends on your city and how it regulates its roads some may be considered city roads some may be state roads. To start off with this may sound really odd but I'd take a picture of the hole the road and measure how deep it is. Because if they fill it before you put in a claim forget about it. Second you may get nothing but you just never know.

 

[tinkarooni]

Sorry about your damage. The government has immunity. That includes police, municipalities, dept of transportation. Can't think of the exact name of it right now but essentially if a government entity causes you damage they will deny it claiming immunity. They maybe will pay your deductible but even that is rare. Also the argument will be, why didn't you avoid the pothole, it was right there.

Sorry, claims adjuster here for 15 years.....this is just the way it is. It's a reasonable law in some ways, it's meant to keep small municipalities afloat. They couldn't possibly pay every claim for every pothole, especially in colder climates. Sorry it happened to you though.

 

[it's kelly]

I know here in NYC one of the (major) highways is terrible. It's like driving in one big pothole. They had on the news there were many claims going on for damages to cars and they were paying out.

 

[Mickeypooh99]

Sorry about your damage. The government has immunity. That includes police, municipalities, dept of transportation. Can't think of the exact name of it right now but essentially if a government entity causes you damage they will deny it claiming immunity. They maybe will pay your deductible but even that is rare. Also the argument will be, why didn't you avoid the pothole, it was right there.

Sorry, claims adjuster here for 15 years.....this is just the way it is. It's a reasonable law in some ways, it's meant to keep small municipalities afloat. They couldn't possibly pay every claim for every pothole, especially in colder climates. Sorry it happened to you though.

The county I live in bought me a new tire one time. I had drove across one of those things they put across the road to count how many cars go by. I don't remember what it is called. It wasn't staked down good, and it got wrapped around my tire until the stake popped a hole in my tire. They didn't even argue it. We just filled out the forms and they sent us a check. We didn't go through our insurance company.

 

[nunzia]

Good luck..my son was driving down a wet city street after a rain and lo and behold a sinkhole sucked down his car! He had to scramble to get out,, water rising in the car, etc. A water pipe had broken and the road collapsed The city refused to pay..somehow this is not their fault. He has an out of town lawyer pushing it..saying it IS their fault, but this was a year ago and nothing..meanwhile, he is stuck with medical bills, towing, car that was totaled but not paid off...so..maybe your area is better than my area.