General Road and Highway Discussion

[ookpik]

I hit one several years ago that blew off my side air bag! That was an expensive endeavour. Potholes are nothing to sneeze at.

Ouch.   Did you apply for reimbursement from the city or Region?   And were you successful?

Good luck with that: Cars dodge potholes, cities dodge blame 

Facing a hefty repair after hitting a pothole? You can try to bill taxpayers but most likely will fail.

 • Local motorists have filed 567 pothole claims since 2010. Local governments have rejected 482, citing a provincial law that allows them four days or longer to repair potholes once they learn of them. Basically, five in six claims are denied.

 • The average payout if you succeed is $456.

 • Kitchener has settled 22 per cent of pothole claims since 2010. Waterloo settles just seven per cent of claims. Cambridge settles 10 per cent of pothole claims. Regional government settles 12 per cent in rural areas.

 • You have to file a written claim within 10 days with the clerk of the municipality with jurisdiction over the road. Say where, when and how it happened and the damage it caused. Your claim will be processed after insurers get an internal report providing details of the pothole, when the municipality learned of it and the steps it took to respond.

 • If denied, you could take your dispute to small-claims court, file a claim with your own insurer or just drop it.

Source: Waterloo Region Municipalities Insurance Pool.

How to report a pothole
In Kitchener call 519-741-2345
In Cambridge call 519-621-0740
In Waterloo call 519-886-2310