Have you hit this pothole too? Elgin man Daniel Rudland pleas for others who damaged their cars on Shore Street, Inverness to contact him
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An Elgin man says he will think long and hard about another visit to Inverness, after a 'nice day out' cost him £174 after his car hit a pothole.
Daniel Rudland (34) says when he went to Highland Council asking them to foot the repair bill, a roads engineer told him "we can't pay out for every pothole".
Mr Rudland, who was in the city to attend an appointment at American Golf, said he now wants to hear from anyone who has hit the same pothole opposite Majestic Wine on Harbour Road, in order to have his money refunded to him by the local authority.
Mr Rudland said: "I was meant to be having a nice leisurely day out, and it ended up that I spent hours in a garage waiting for them to fix the damage to my car.
"I am used to driving on country roads, but this city centre road is worse than I could have imagined."
He continued: "I hit a huge pothole on Harbour Road on Sunday August 8 2021 at around 1.50pm
"The council has rejected my claim, as they said it was the first time anyone had hit it, but after a little bit of research I can see that people have been hitting potholes on Harbour Road since 2009, and I would really like to know if I was actually the first person to hit this one.
"My claim to Highland Council has been rejected as they claimed there were no other reports and no knowledge of this pothole until I reported it to them. The officer told me that this was just unfortunate on my behalf, and that the council is not liable.
"I reported it to the police at the time, as I was concerned for the safety of any cyclists or motorcyclists.
"When I was taking photos of the pothole a few cars went through it and one looked like it almost lost control. They must have felt it was dangerous considering they fixed it within three days as I was back through on the Thursday of that week and took a photo of the repair which you can visibly see a hole starting to form in it already.
He added: "I asked the council officer if there was any appeal process, which he declined and said 'the buck stops' with him and the council 'can't pay out for every pothole hit'.
'I felt that surely within the council budget they could afford to reimburse me for the damages caused on a day which was meant to be a pleasant day out. I have driven that road numerous occasions over the years and it's always been in rough terrain and I wouldn't purposely drive through a pothole."
A Highland Council spokeswoman said it was unable to comment on individual cases, and said: “Potholes and other issues can be reported to the Highland Council 24/7 using the online form on the council’s website at www.highland.gov.uk/report.”
To get in touch with Mr Rudland, contact newsdesk@hnmedia.co.uk
