close
close

Ourladyoftheassumptionparish

Part – Newstatenabenn

Alvaston driver ‘frustrated’ by delay in pothole compensation
patheur

Alvaston driver ‘frustrated’ by delay in pothole compensation

John Tagg A person in wellies stands in a pothole on the side of a Derbyshire road in March. The water is gray and the surrounding path black and the water level covers the top of the foot part of the boots.Juan Tagg

The pothole on Littlewell Lane, Stanton, which damaged John Tagg’s Mercedes in March

A man who damaged his car when he hit a pothole says he is still waiting for compensation from the council six months later.

John Tagg, 54, from Alvaston, hit a water-filled pothole on Littlewell Lane, Stanton by Dale, Derbyshire, on March 28.

His Mercedes C220 AMG Sport Plus suffered almost £600 worth of damage, and needed the front tires and most of the exhaust replaced, he said.

Derbyshire County Council apologized for failing to address Mr Tagg’s claim until now and a spokesman said they were dealing with a backlog of compensation claims due to a “particularly wet winter and spring”.

John Tagg The exhaust pipe of a car with part of the pipe dislodged and showing a gap between the parts under the car.Juan Tagg

Damage caused by the pothole to the Mercedes exhaust, according to Tagg

The three-foot-wide, 20cm-deep pothole was repaired in May, but Tagg said he had yet to receive a response to his complaint in April.

More than six months since the claim, Mr Tagg told the Local Democracy Reporting Service of his “frustration and annoyance.”

“I feel like the city is just taking liberties when it comes to paying,” he said.

“If they had fulfilled their duties and maintained the public road, I would not still be waiting to be reimbursed for my repairs.

“Now I can’t even contact them (the council) directly because they seem to have put the highways complaints department in a protective bubble. “It’s a farce.”

As council staff try to deal with the backlog of applications, they were not answering phone calls seeking updates as it could delay their work, a county council spokesperson said.

“We realize this is frustrating, but stopping taking calls means we will ultimately be able to access all apps more quickly,” they added.

“The process for submitting an application is online, so once someone has submitted an application they can be assured that we have it and will process it in a timely manner.”