DEAN DUNHAM: How can I force council to pay for pothole damage to my alloy wheels?

I burst my tire and damaged an alloy wheel after driving over a pothole.

I called the council but was told that although I have a legal right to make a claim, it is unlikely to be granted.

What can I do to increase my chances of winning?

JP, via email.

Dean Dunham replies: Local authorities do not like pothole claims and therefore often deny and dismiss liability.

For this reason, it is important to know what your rights are and the law underlying them before filing a claim.

The law relating to potholes and liability for road maintenance is mainly contained in the Highways Act 1980.

The law outlines the legal responsibilities and duty of care of road owners (normally highway agencies and local councils).

They must ensure that roads are safe and passable, to prevent those who use them from causing injury (or property damage).

However, it is important to note that Article 58 also provides authorities with a defense (also known as statutory defence) to claims.

This allows a municipality or highway agency to defend claims on the basis that they have taken reasonable steps to ensure that problems such as potholes are quickly identified and addressed.

All municipalities should have a system in place to regularly inspect and, if necessary, repair roads.

Provided they have followed their system properly and can prove that the pothole in question has not yet been reported to them, they may be able to deny your claim.

However, if you can prove that this is not the case, or that their system deviates from nationally recommended standards for highway maintenance, you may be able to make a claim.

So you can see that in order to make a successful claim you will first need to do some homework so that you fully understand the steps the authority has taken in terms of maintenance and what it already knew or didn’t know about the ditch.

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 give you the right to information held by a council or highways agency about a road and its safety inspections.

When you make your claim, you must include photos of the pothole (showing its location on the road and the width and depth of the pothole) and the damage to your vehicle; and a quote to reflect the repair costs.

You must also provide details of the date and time of the incident.

Ultimately, you will have to state that after your investigation you have clearly concluded that the authority has no defense under section 58 because it has failed to properly maintain the road in question.

Holiday was a failure – where is my compensation?

My stay in Cornwall was canceled due to flooding after Storm Ciaran. Am I entitled to my money back and can I claim compensation?

EW, via email.

Dean Dunham replies: Where a consumer books a service or pays for goods but does not receive what he paid for because it cannot be delivered (as here), there is an automatic right to a refund under the Consumer Rights Act.

However, it is very unlikely that you will be entitled to compensation as the terms and conditions are likely to contain a so-called force majeure clause.

This means that the owner of the holiday accommodation is not liable if the holiday accommodation is unavailable due to ‘force majeure’: a circumstance that could not be avoided and that was not caused by them, such as a storm or flood.

• Write to Dean Dunham, Money Mail, Scottish Ny Breaking, 20 Waterloo Street, Glasgow G2 6DB or email d.dunham@dailymail.co.uk. The Ny Breaking cannot accept any legal liability for any answers given.