Rough road rage: Hamilton drivers filing pothole claims at near-record rate
Peeved Hamilton drivers have already filed 184 pothole damage claims against the city this year - a potential record-setting pace for crater compensation requests.
But if history holds true, only a fraction of those claimants will actually get a payout.
It's not necessarily common knowledge, but drivers who end up with a flat tire, bent rim or damaged suspension after hitting a pothole on municipal roads can make a claim for compensation from the city.
The average number of claims each year hovers between 100 and 150, but a bumper crop of potholes spurred a record 535 such requests in 2018 - by far the highest number since amalgamation.
That year, the city received 202 crater claims by the end of February. The early numbers are similar this year, with 184 claims filed and counting.
It would probably be higher if more people knew they could do it," suggested Hamilton resident Alecia Douglas, who wants the city to pay her $420 repair bill after her Hyundai Elantra bounced through a nighttime Barton Street gauntlet of unavoidable" ruts west of Ottawa Street.
There are so many along that stretch - you can miss some, but you can't miss them all," said Douglas, who ended up with a flat tire and bent rim the next morning. I don't think I should have to pay for that."
Judging from the rut rage on social media, a lot of Hamilton residents feel the same way.
The city, which has already patched 14,000 potholes this year, acknowledges this is a literally rough year for asphalt maintenance thanks to extreme weather and busy plows. But be warned: the city will not pay your repair bill just because you can prove the existence of a tire-eating pothole.
Former city risk management head John McLennan previously estimated less than 10 per cent of annual pothole claims result in compensation - at least in a typical year. For example, only $15,000 was paid in total in 2020 - but in the record claim year of 2018, more than $121,000 was doled out.
Payouts are rare because the province sets minimum maintenance standards for roadways when it comes to pothole patrols and repairs. (For example, on the busiest and fastest roads, city crews must patrol at least three times a week and a pothole that is three inches deep and nearly a foot long must be patched within four days.)
If the city met those standards on the rutted roadway that flattened your tire, you're likely out of luck - although appealing directly to council is also theoretically possible.
The city website urges pothole-peeved residents to first check with insurance companies to see if they have coverage.
Douglas did so, but ended up paying out of pocket for repairs at Canadian Tire because her insurance deductible was higher than the $420 bill.
She then followed the website instructions to submit a letter to risk management services, including a copy of the repair bill and a description of the area where her car bottomed out. Douglas didn't go back to photograph or measure a particular crater, as some would-be claimants online have urged each other to do.
I couldn't point to just one - there were so many in one spot. I basically told them to pick their pothole," she said.
It may be a while before she hears back. The city says an investigation into a pothole claim - including a check of road maintenance records, weather reports and any other complaints from the same area - can take up to six weeks.
Matthew Van Dongen is a transportation and environment reporter at The Spectator. mvandongen@thespec.com