Car damaged due to flood damage - Insurance questions

[fuzz62]

Hi i would like advise about claiming against the council.Basically, during mondays (24th) heavy rain,at a flooding black spot asda roundabout wigan, loire drive. i had to drive through approx 12 inch of water round the roundabout due to on coming traffic, some how this water gained entry into engine from the air filter/box. although i was only traveling at around 15mph. i have been informed that the car is a total loss due to hydrolocking in the engine! Can i claim against the council as this flooding is regular in which they have tried to repair the drainage a few times over the year, the latest was less than 6 months ago in which they dug out the centre of the roundabout for over a week. now this is a small roundabout which allows traffic into 3 key locations in wigan,1 a retail park, 2 a sports centre & football stadium and 3 the towns largest supermarket. from the direction i was travelling and time of day the rain water was not visable due to it raining, the whole road for around 100 yards before looked wet,not flooded. the lighting was poor (i had my lights on), on entering the area the water looked the same colour as the road. as one side of the roundabout is lower than the other it is almost impossible to judge a depth of the water until you had driven into it, there was no warning signs around this area although the council was aware this site was flooded (i spotted this on twitter once i got home!). No one was visable from the council advising drivers to avoid the area, no fire or police. i watched as storm water came spuing out by about 1ft from 2 drains that was submerged, deffinatley inadequate measures by the council to control storm water at this key area. As i waited for the aa to recover, for the 3 1/2 hours i waited no one showed from the council, no signs or fire to drain the area, i watched as car after car drove into the area even though the water was getting deeper and deeper, those motorists that ignored pedestrians trying to stop them all ended up stranded in the water or just passed the water they had drove through. it took 2 days for this road to be closed in which over 20 cars had to be collected. 25th (day the road was clossed) i emailed the council in the morning complaining and insisting this was danger to life given the right conditions, low and behold a disabled OAP drove into this water with her car stalling in the deapest part,by now a whopping 3 1/2ft. Luckily she was rescued by a passer by, this is what made the council close the road. i took pictures of the road the day after the flodd caused the damage to my car at the lowest point it has been this week. do i have a chance to claim against the council?cheers for the rantMarkPs sorry for the English and gramma, typing in a hurry on a small netbook before a meeting!

[MARTIN3030]

As this is an Insurance issue I will move your thread to Insurance forums.

[unclebulgaria67]

Speak to your Insurers. You won't have any luck against the council. Any action against them will result in a large legal bill.

[Surfer01]

We had a similar issue, however we waited until a larger vehicle came through indicating the depth before we proceeded. To travel at 15mph through water even if it is only a few inches deep is asking for trouble. Have a read through your car owner's handbook and see what it says about travelling through water. I have a 4 x 4 Jeep and the handbook clearly states that I should not travel any faster than 5mph if I wanted to avoid any issues. The council insurance company will have these facts available to them so be prepared.

[Andy01424]

had same prob 10yr ago came round a bend to cross railway bridge it was flooded, hit the water hard,snapped cam belt,Council wouldnt do a thing,lucky only 2 valves bent and no other damge ,still lovely £400 repair bill, now at work everyone is warned of flooded areas

[Mwynci]

I doubt it. I'm not sure how negligence can be attached when the cause of the incident is you driving through flood water, regardless of flow of traffic etc, nobody made you do it. Leave this to your insurers, but don't expect too much when it comes to reecovery. Nightmare though, give it a go, Keep us posted please.

[Ganymede]

I doubt it. I'm not sure how negligence can be attached when the cause of the incident is you driving through flood water, regardless of flow of traffic etc, nobody made you do it. Leave this to your insurers, but don't expect too much when it comes to reecovery. Nightmare though, give it a go, Keep us posted please.

 

 

 

Exactly, the OP drove too fast. Also the flooding was an act of God and not the Council's fault...

[fuzz62]

Council have still not contacted me, but i have witnessed the road surveying team at the incident spot. -

 

Act Of God?

 

it was hard to see the water, on entering the roundabout it was dull due to cloud cover, raining all this with no traffic .. you just move at a speed that is justified by the situation, if the water was visible i wouldnt of drove through it! -

 

 

i have sent in a freedom of information request to see how many times this has been indicated as a problem in council meetings, as i have found evidence that the council have been aware of it since 2005, built on a flood plane , with money to spend on repairing it. - will let you know of the out come! - if its any help i read that a council paid out on flood damage to people cars whilst they used a park and ride, that was storm water too.

 

 

mark

Edited October 2, 2012 by MARTIN3030

[Ganymede]

Act of God is a commonly used figure of speech and you know it.

[fuzz62]

Please dont take this the wrong way, but as i have read in numerous articles over the last week in indemnification circumstances "act of god" is no excuse.

 

how can you use it in defense at a roundabout where a 25000 football stadium/ leisure center meet a retail park and a food supermarket?

 

whats the defense? it is impossible foresee such risk, yet its on a flood plain with 1/1000 chance per year to flood or impracticable to install such measures to stop this from happening?

 

i emailed them that night and yet the day after this happened.http://www.wigantoday.net/news/local-news/disabled-pensioner-rescued-from-flood-1-4964840

 

now would act of god covered the council from HSE if this lady had died at the same roundabout?

 

As said, please dont take this the wrong way but it seems you think im trying to blame someone else for my fault, this is a built up area with too much through traffic to be looked upon the same as a road at the side of a river.

Edited October 2, 2012 by fuzz62

[INSURANCEGUY]

I know this thread has quietened down but having dealt with several flood claims recently I can assure you that you will not have any joy with the council. Flooding is an act of god, however that doesn't mean that no one is negligent, as in this instance.

 

The issue here is that the flooding didn't damage your vehicle, you did by driving through the flood. If something (water) is there to be seen then you don't really have any hope- even if it was difficult to see, it was there and you drove into it, it didn't just appear from no where. Sorry that these answers weren't what you were looking for.