Helpdesk: Settlement for damaged wheels – after ten weeks of pressure

Q: On 24 November last year my car came off the road near Whitekirk, East Lothian. This happened because the edge of the road had eroded and the verge was six inches lower than the road. Both nearside wheels were buckled and both tyres ripped.

I couldn’t afford to replace them immediately, (Murray Volvo were looking for £800), so I borrowed a couple of spares from a colleague and I was running around on “dodgy” tyres for ten weeks. During this time, I tried to get a settlement from East Lothian Council – I needed the money in advance to pay for my new tyres. They couldn’t understand why I didn’t just buy a new pair – as if everyone has a spare £800 lying around – and send them the bill for the full amount, which, they say, would have been reduced because of wear and tear to the set that were damaged.

After ten weeks of constant pressure by me, I finally received a settlement, although the council seemed to think I was being unreasonable in “harassing” them for the settlement.

I also requested compensation for all the inconvenience – limited use of the car until I borrowed a pair of wheels, temporarily, from a friend – and running around getting estimates and confirmation of the damage from garages.

East Lothian Council is still considering my request for compensation.

IF, East Lothian

A: A spokeswoman for East Lothian Council said: “We received a claim from Mr Fleming on 5 December, 2011. It takes an average of six weeks to deal with matters like this, especially when they are dealt with through our external claims handler – as was the case with Mr Fleming’s claim – although we try to process them as quickly as possible. Mr Fleming received full and final settlement for his damaged tyres on 19 January, so we do not consider this an undue length of time to process a claim. Also, the offices of East Lothian Council are closed between Christmas and New Year.

“Mr Fleming did not raise the issue of compensation with the council’s external claims handler, otherwise it would have been considered at that time. Instead, it was raised after settlement had been made.

Consequently, we are currently looking into his request for compensation.”

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