Witnesses Required from Lakeside 17/02/07 meet

[M5pilot]

On the lakeside meet on the 17th of February alot of people witnessed my Avus Blue BMW E34 M5 reg M440 XPP come to the lakeside meet in the Mcdonalds car park.

My car arrived looking as it usually does with very clean paint work.

I went out for a small drive and came back with white road paint all over the car.

Many of you witnessed this.

Ant witnessed this as he was in another car behind mine.

Unfortunately the damage to my car is permanent and the road paint cannot be removed without damage to the car paint.

I am in the process of claiming through Thurrock Council's insurance department.

I need as many witnesses as possible and would highly appreciate any help in this matter.

I am facing a £2000 bill to repair my car, nearly every panel is damaged. I could use my own insurance but I do not want to tarnish my claim free record and have to pay an excess when this is solely the responsibility of Thurrock Council.

Ant has already volunteered as eye witness. I suspect Dimmy and his friend will also be eye witnesses of the paint actually tranferring and at what exact location.

The more people I have as witnesses the more the chance of winning my claim which is 100% legitimate.

Thanks
Sal

[stuartgallafant]

whats it worth???

[jonb]

Sal. You clutch those straws too much sometimes.

[M5pilot]

I don't know what that is meant to mean Jon.

My car has to undergo a full respray because of this and I am sure some of the members on here would be willing to help.

I have successfully in the past claimed off the council when my touring was damaged from a massive pothole in West London a few years back.

Why let these people off when it is their fault? I'm sure you wouldn't like one of your cars to be covered in road paint and you face a huge bill.

My car was in excellent condition before this.....and you have seen my M5 on many occassions.

[e30bmlover]

sorry to hear it sal. the Council around here dont give a hoot. i hope you get your money out of them. she will be real mint then the respray is done!

[ian332isport]

Sal,

Sorry to hear about the damage. What makes you think it can't be removed though ?

Ian.

[E30BeemerLad]

Sal

My only question here is do you have an idea where the new white lines (toot toot) were?

My reason for asking is what's to say the new white lines were not on a private land area and not council controled? So have you an idea where there was some fresh paint? I'm just thinking ahead for the likely response from the council.

If you have motor legal protection then use that, it does not go down as a claim on your policy and in any event you would have to disclose this incident and any claim against the council on any future insurance quotes as it still counts as a claim and once the council pay up (if at all) a record goes on the insurer database CUE.

[OllieB]

How come Ants car didn't get any paint on it if he was following you?

[e30_Turbo]

Having claimed from the council myself over some sqaure wheels there pothole gave me they will need you to send proof, i.e. picture or pictures showing the offending area, along with witness statements and as many pics of the damage as poss.

Having spoken to many of the people who worked my case for me, they changed three times in three weeks! they explained that as I had all the info and the potholes had been noted by the companies engineers I would be paid the agreed amount.

I'm gonna watch this thread very closely as my white 316i has road tar marks on the doors and front wings, caused by our cheap council only laying half an inch instead of doing the job properly!!!!! W@nkers......

[320Touring]

Sal, fozzymonster. Firstly, you have my sympathies with regards to the damages your cars have recieved...

however,

Sal- road paint is effin thick stuff- highly unlikely to detatch itself from wheels unless they are spinning rapidly? Were you nailing it at all? (i would in an m5 )

Fozzy- I've been driving for 7 whole years now and been all throughout the UK- never really seen a pothole that couldnt be avoided if noticed.were you giving it some with the turbo?

Only place I've seen with bad potholes is eastern Europe, where they cut out whole sections of road and backfill with gravel to 6 inches below the surface.

Cant go round them-gotta go over them

[march109]

Sal, fozzymonster. Firstly, you have my sympathies with regards to the damages your cars have recieved...

however,

Sal- road paint is effin thick stuff- highly unlikely to detatch itself from wheels unless they are spinning rapidly? Were you nailing it at all? (i would in an m5 )

Fozzy- I've been driving for 7 whole years now and been all throughout the UK- never really seen a pothole that couldnt be avoided if noticed.were you giving it some with the turbo?

Only place I've seen with bad potholes is eastern Europe, where they cut out whole sections of road and backfill with gravel to 6 inches below the surface.

Cant go round them-gotta go over them

Come to Swansea, swerve to avoid a pothome here and you end up in a ditch or another pothole or both.

[320Touring]

Come to Swansea, swerve to avoid a pothome here and you end up in a ditch or another pothole or both.

pothome?so the dudes who are supposed to repair them are too stoned???

with regards to swansea, thats why I sate I have never really seen a pothole that couldnt be avoided. personal experience.others have different ones

[jamesh1977]

my mate put a claim in to the local council as when he was going into a parking bay outside the shops the lowered kirb came out and wreked his exahst and bent the track rod end few weeks went by and he hadnt heard nowt phoned them up for them to say hed never claimed as there was no record of it ...

[march109]

Pothole then, Swansea roads are utter shite, and areas of Bournemouth are too, I live in queens park and we have a few roads round here which are falling apart at the seems, especially the ones around the crem.

Swansea is littered with potholes with spray paint circling them , but no-one seems to come fill them in, and if the do they only last 5 mins before theres a hole again. Sounds like eastern Europe round here!

as for council road laying I parked my old motorbike bike outside my house once while i popped in on some 48 hour old tarmac, and the stand sunk so deep when I came out the bike was leaning so far it looked like it was lying on the floor but wasnt!

[Cotty]

Sal I remember your car having paint on it, in fact I think I was the one to point it out to you. no worries about being a witness

[boomer]

White lining (roadmarking) paint is designed to stick like sh*t to a blanket and dry very quickly after application.

If you contact the streetworks dept of the council with the date and location of the works they will be able to tell you which contractor had applied for the opening notice.

Unless, as Lee said, it was a private job on private land.

How did you get paint all over the car? - the stuff is dry within a minute - was it machine or hand work that was being carried out? Were there any advanced warnings signs in compliance with NRASWA or any one to stop you driving over the area?

[daimlerman]

Sal,sometime ago a local road had surface dressing applied.The contractor failed to sweep up properly.A passing car spat a chipping into er indoors face,breaking the lens of her specs.I had to issue a County Court summons against the County Council Highways Department.They argued until 3 days before the hearing,then agreed to pay up,without admitting liability.Good luck!!

[jacko]

Sorry, but what were the council thinking of eh? Fancy white lining on a saturday evening

[M5pilot]

Hi Guys and thanks for the support on this.

I phoned my insurance company and they have agreed to pursue the case for me as long as I give them enough evidence.

Car is going to booked in for a both sides, fornt and rear bumpers to be resprayed and full removal of paint from wheel arhces and underside. I will pay the garage extra to repaint the bonnet, roof and bootlid.

They were very understanding and have dealt with these kinds of cases before with the council.

All sorted!

Thanks to all those who PM's with their offers to be witnesses.

[ian332isport]

What makes you think it can't be removed though ?

Ian.

[d6dph]

Sal, I will gladly help, i believe i have a picture of your car from that evening, a very dark picture but one none the less.

You have my phone number dude.

[Cotty]

Good luck Sal

[M5pilot]

What makes you think it can't be removed though ?

Ian.

Hi Ian,

sorry for not replying to this earlier.

This stuff is well sticky and settles fast. I spoke with a few bodyshops and they all said it would be very hard to remove without damaged the laquer.

I tried removing the paint very carefully and indeed the damage did occur.

Did you have any ideas?

[jonb]

If your asking for fake witnesses then im happy to be one sal.

On one condition bruv...

Got any pictures?

[ian332isport]

Did you have any ideas?

It's hard to say without seeing it, but I'd be surprised if it can't be removed without damaging the paint. It may take a while, but surely it's better than having it painted (unless this will fix other marks/damage).

Ian.

[jaistanley]

Is it the white line paint they use in the middle of the road?

They apply it by melting the paint which contains loads of glass. I imagine trying to get it off the polished surface of a paint job would wreck it. If it was this type of paint, I'm at a loss as to how it got onto your car. It's really thick and sticky. They must have just painted it before you drove on it, very un-lucky. They should have had warning signs out!

Good luck mate.

Jai

[Templ8e30]

I used to work on the motorways around Manchester so have first hand experience of this stuff, that white line paint is evil gear. Jaistanley is right, it contains glass mixed with titainum dioxide and other chemicals.

I got some stuck to the side of my van whilst moving from one area to another, during a lack of concentration i drfited over the white line. After a bollocking from the guys who'd applied it I tried to get it off, no chance. The van stayed like that until I left the company.

If you've never seen contractors removing the stuff they have to burn it off with a propane lance, it's designed to stiack to the road for decades whilst being driven over by thousands of vehicles a day. No way that's coming off Sal's car without serious paint damage.

Cheers,

Iain T