Shot in the dark here. Has anyone had any experience positive or otherwise with getting reimbursed for damage caused by potholes? More specifically in NJ, but curious if anyone has data points for anywhere.
Hit a pothole yesterday blew out two tires and rim. Over $2k in repairs.
Took place on the NJ 495 which I believe is a state road. Accordingly this should qualify for being reimbursable by the state. I know they are notoriously stingy with these claims, curous if there are any success stories.
My friend got his tire replacement reimbursed in the City of Kansas City. Hit a pothole and submitted a claim. Check showed up after a few weeks to his surprise. No rim damage though.
Our state (Indiana) requires you to go online and file a claim. They then determine if you are going to be reimbursed based on if the pothole had previously been reported and if âa reasonable amount of time has passed for it to have been repaired.â The usual outcome is 98% of all claims are denied and their âreasonableâ amount of time is not defined anywhere, so they can pretty much just deny it and point to that.
Yup, the chances of getting it accepted is very low, but itâs worth a shot. Most likely they will say they were unaware of the pothole, or that there wasnât sufficient time given to get it repaired.
I had two rims and tires smashed by a pothole on my Tesla Model 3. When I applied for reimbursement in California, I was told to kick rocks or to bring them to court.
Ultimately, I replaced all four wheels with 18" forged rims and Michelin Pro Sports, as the weight of these cars was too much for cast wheels.
Same in NY, but they could not âverifyâ my potholeâs existence. Like I was supposed to stop on SI highway in the dark and take a picture in the middle lane.
I hit a really bad pothole in SoCal 5 or 6 years back, city of Carson paid for my new tire and alignment. I feel like I only got reimbursed because I wasnât the only one that pothole took out that day. Passed by the same pothole a day later and it was already patched up.
On a related note, my first new car as an 18 year old, cop shows up at my door one stormy night, looking for me. Started panicking until I realized I donât have an interesting enough life for this to be a problem. Dude just says âtree fell on your car.â Told me itâs hella windy and the city likely wouldnât pay for it.
Contrary to what Mr. insurance adjuster said, my insurance was able to force the city to pay for all of the damages. It was a fairly large tree, and the city had no recent records of ever trimming it. Even though it was a windy night, the branch that broke and fell was huge, and looked like it weighed a few hundred pounds.
Just receipts of the damage repairs, registration, approx location of the pothole. Canât remember how long it took, def wasnât fast. Maybe a couple months, this was in the early 2000s.
insurance adjuster said, my insurance was able to force the city to pay for all of the damages. It was a fairly large tree, and the city had no recent records of ever trimming it. Even though it was a windy night, the branch that broke and fell was huge, and looked like it weighed a few hundred pounds.