Firstly, we must show that the defect is bad enough to be considered a clear hazard to people using the area. The guideline marker for defects on the pavement is that the trip must be 1-inch either, sticking up, or deep, into the pavement. There is no equivalent guideline for defects in the road, but the inch depth is a useful guide.

It is important that you obtain some photographs of the defect BEFORE it is repaired. Once the council (or other body responsible for the area) becomes aware that there has been an accident, they will normally be very quick to carry out repairs! If you are able, try to obtain photographs, preferably using some sort of measure against which to compare the size - e.g. a rigid ruler, or some other identifiable object.

The second thing we must show is that either the local authority with responsibility for the road either, knew of the defect and did not repair it or that they did not carry out regular inspections of the road. This should usually be done at a minimum of 6 monthly intervals, but what is considered reasonable will vary according to how major the road is.

These claims may be more difficult to prove. If your accident has been caused by something spilled or left by someone unknown, unless the council were made aware of the spillage before your accident (and did nothing about it within a reasonable time), then you will have difficulty in claiming against the highway authority.

You should be able to claim if we can identify who was responsible for the spill, then you will be able to make a claim against them. The most common example of this type of claim is where work has been carried out and the contractors have failed to clean up properly, or have left their materials on the road causing a hazard.

The most important thing that we need to advise you of with these claims is that they can take some time to settle - on average 12 to 18 months - due to most local authorities' or contractor's delays. However, you have our assurance that any delays will be due to factors outside our control and that we will deal with your claim as quickly as possible.

Provided work has been carried out on the road by the highway authority or someone contracted or authorised by them (i.e. someone unknown hasn't just come along and done something without any authority), these types of claims may be easier to prove. The important thing is that you obtain photographs of the poor surface before it is repaired, so that we have evidence of its condition. The fact of the poor repair will usually be evidence of negligence and we will then usually only have to show that the defect is sufficiently poor as to be a hazard to road users.

Accidents can be caused where drain covers with slots are inserted with the slots running parallel with the direction of the traffic instead of perpendicular to it. Again, you should seek specialist advice, as the general rules which allow the highway authority to escape liability may not apply here.

This is known as 'product liability' and can be quite a complicated area of law. You may have a claim against the manufacturer for negligence in production.