Pothole injury claim - Can I sue the council for a pothole accident?

Case Study: Claim against London Borough of Southwark

I recently acted on behalf of an art student in London, who was cycling home one evening after football practice with some friends.

His journey home took him past a supermarket, down an access road, and onto a main road named Hanover Park, where he had to give way.

Exactly at the spot where the double white lines marked the junction with the main road, the front wheel of his bicycle suddenly went down a large pothole.

Despite the size of the pothole (shown on the right), the local council had done nothing to guard the defect, or draw attention to it in any way.

My client was thrown over the handlebars of his bicycle, and onto the road surface.

As a result, he suffered a dislocated elbow. An ambulance took him to hospital.

The accident came at a particularly awkward time, because my client was in the final year of his degree course, part of which involved creating sculptures. Because of his injury, he was unable to sculpt.

We made a claim against the local council for failing to fix the pothole. They denied liability, saying that the road was not their responsibility. They blamed the supermarket, which they said owned the access road.

So we redirected the claim against the supermarket, Morrisons.

However they produced a copy of the title deeds, showing that the section of roadway where the pothole was located was not within their ownership.

Faced with a denial of liability from both potential defendants, preparations were made to issue proceedings. At the last minute the local council made a complete about-face and conceded liability for the pothole.

Appropriate compensation was negotiated soon afterwards.

As a cyclist myself, it is very obvious that the state of the roads appears to be deteriorating year on year. Some cities such as Southampton appear to be particularly bad.

If you would like an initial free assessment of your potential pothole injury claim, please either: