The dangers of raised manholes

[IBD]

After my girlfriend took the Leon out to meet me in Manchester she hit a raised manhole on our new estate as they were resurfacing. I have had the sump replaced at a cost of £165

Well I have had that repaired but it seems the damage is a bit more extensive than first thought.

Its not just the sump that has taken the damage but the subframe is torn and bent next to the drivers side wishbone mount. Anyone know where to get a new replacement as I am looking at claiming the cost back from the housebuilder who left the roads practically unpassable.

On an other matter the battery has taken a jolt and is now discharging!

Called in at Halfrauds for a replacement and was shocked to see there cheapest battery at £89.99!

Gutted looks like I've got another big bill to come

Just made a phone call to SEAT for a prce for the subframe

£432.81 +VAT
3 hrs labour to fit at my local garage £105+VAT
Alrerady spent £165 on sump, oil, filter and silicone gasket

Grand total of hitting the raised manhole £796.96!

plus a battery £65 from euro car parts

£861.96!

Its only lowered about 45mm

 

[Brummy]

ouch!!
hope you get it sorted

 

[IBD]

I have put a letter in to Persimmon homes who left the road a complete mess after removing the benching from the manholes over night. The sign saying raised ironworks were twisted and pointing away from the direction we travel out of the estate.
The should have left a traffic cone on the manhole to prevent accidents like this happening

 

[Brummy]

did you get pictorial evidence of this ?

 

[Deleted member 20482]

ouch!!!!!!!...... must of been a high man hole cover....

why don't you make a claim of insurance? or speak to local council about damage to car... they have a fund set aside for damage to cars by things like pot holes speed bumps etc.... may be worth a shout...as thats what i did when a pot hole buckled my wheel...
my battery cost £39.99 for A1 motor spares and comes with 4 yrs warrenty..

 

[WeeJase]

I have put a letter in to Persimmon homes who left the road a complete mess after removing the benching from the manholes over night. The sign saying raised ironworks were twisted and pointing away from the direction we travel out of the estate.
The should have left a traffic cone on the manhole to prevent accidents like this happening

if it wasn't signed and guarded properly you have a good case,if the iron works was raised enough to prevent you going over it properly then it should have been barriered off,not just a cone on top.
I hope they don't find out about your lowered car,they will try and use that against you.
we recently paid out 300+ quid for a sunken manhole,2 new dampers and tracking on an old mondeo. it had sunk not much below road level,but the fact it hadn't been repaired for nearly 2 weeks,meant we were banged to rights.
it was in a 20 mph zone next to a speed hump.i called shagged dampers. but its just not worth going through a court case you may loose and get bad publicity from.

edit: btw the benching is inside the manhole,if you have hit this you are in big trouble

 

[RikH]

best make sure you have pics of the road

 

[DPJ]

Hope you get this sorted.

........ the benching is inside the manhole,if you have hit this you are in big trouble

 

[1835harri]

i was sitting here thinking about sueing there assess, but then thought well, they would come back with the fact that your car has been lowered and it doesnt casue a probem to all standard car.s

 

[james_tiger_woo]

It's irrelevant as to whether your car was lowered - what if someone drove a standard Lamborghini over it. That's standard and it's pretty low.....

Or what if a child had cycled through it and there wasn't a warning?

The company that left the road like this have a duty of care to those that would be using the road and it is their responsibility to ensure that all precautions have been taken - If the sign was out of place, then it's their duty to ensure that it's either put back or that some kind of warning is in place.

Your best bet is to go through the small claims court, you usually get someone sympathetic if you pitch it to them correctly and coherently.

Get witnesses and photos too.

Make sure you tell whoever that you will be speaking to the local paper too to raise the profile of the state of the road - make sure that you state this as a fact and NOT as a threat otherwise they'll really have their back up.

 

[WeeJase]

you say new estate? you are going to have to go through the developer then iirc. highways won't have adopted the road yet .
and if it was at night,was the signing and guarding well lit?(was there any)
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1991/Ukpga_19910022_en_1.htm
basically it should be covered here,but as above if its not adopted,you're more likely going to have a row with just the developer,as i assume its still under their ownership.

 

[si-mate]

I should think the developers are more likely to cough up than the council. If they show resistance then threaten to go to your local paper. They won't want any bad publicity.

 

[IBD]

Haunching then, my mistake.

I am trying to go through Persimmon not the council. The thing is we have lived in the house for almost 18 months. For the past 5 months the manholes had been raised. But the day before Lou hit it, they raised them further for the top coat to be done. I think there subcontractor should have left more visable signs and placed o cone on a couple of the extra high manholes.

I do know a bit whats involved as I am a QS for a Construction company, so I know it shouldnt have been left the way it is.

 

[Mike Green]

We have had since moved in to a new estate a year ago raised manholes that have still not been surfaced and just stick up - I can only imagine what driving 20mph+ over these would do.

As said above get pictures if you have not already - this will be a huge bonus in back up.

 

[m0rk]

After my girlfriend took the Leon out to meet me in Manchester she hit a raised manhole on our new estate as they were resurfacing. I have had the sump replaced at a cost of £165

Well I have had that repaired but it seems the damage is a bit more extensive than first thought.

Its not just the sump that has taken the damage but the subframe is torn and bent next to the drivers side wishbone mount. Anyone know where to get a new replacement as I am looking at claiming the cost back from the housebuilder who left the roads practically unpassable.

On an other matter the battery has taken a jolt and is now discharging!

Called in at Halfrauds for a replacement and was shocked to see there cheapest battery at £89.99!

Gutted looks like I've got another big bill to come

Just made a phone call to SEAT for a prce for the subframe

£432.81 +VAT
3 hrs labour to fit at my local garage £105+VAT
Alrerady spent £165 on sump, oil, filter and silicone gasket

Grand total of hitting the raised manhole £796.96!

plus a battery £65 from euro car parts

£861.96!

Its only lowered about 45mm

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MK4-GOLF-FRT-...oryZ9889QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

£175, so that's £250 saved.

 

[The MoffMeister]

i brought a sub frame from dealer wasnt that much at all more around the 300 mark maybe less phone about

 

[olaf]

Tell Persimmon that they should get some Elevata castings from Wrekin!
Designed to stop the problems of having to break out and raise man holes.

There is no excuse for them leaving one in such a dangerous state though.

I didn't think you were allowed to leave raised iron work now for any decent amount of time?!

 

[Smart22186]

Tell them if they refuse to pay up; that u gonna go and get your bugatti veyron and drive it over the works and thats gonnna cost them a house to repair it. plus the fact it will make worldwide news if you end up with a nearly written of veyron?!

Lol worth a try.

on a serious note mate sorry to hear of the problems you got. cant do much more to help out. other than dont forget to take pics of your car as well as the road.