Why Your Rockford Pothole Damage Claim Will Likely Be Denied

You couldn't avoid that big pothole and as a result you blew a tire and dented a rim. Find out why that money likely won't be reimbursed by the city of Rockford.

If that scenario is familiar to yours, you should file a claim seeking reimbursement from the city. But before you do that, something else would have needed to happen beforehand.

Some investigative journalism done by WREX.com found out why that claim you're thinking of filing will likely be denied.

In the last two years, the city of Rockford has received 224 claims for pothole damage from drivers seeking reimbursement for the cost of this repairs. In those two years, ONLY ONE CLAIM HAS BEEN APPROVED.

For many of those other 223 claims, they were denied, because the city says it had no prior notice the potholes even existed.

Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara said, “We have to have some reasonable amount of time once we’re aware of it, to fill it. If we do not fill it once we’re made aware of it, then that claim could be substantiated.”

The law says the city needs to know the pothole even exists. Once they know, the city would have 72 hours to fix it. If your car was damaged after that time, you'd just need to prove that the same pothole was what caused the damage to your car.