INDIANAPOLIS -- Pesky potholes are popping up all over central Indiana, and they're causing pricey damage to vehicles.
Call 6 Investigates has learned it’s not easy to get money from the City of Indianapolis, even if you file a claim.
Valery Delong of Carmel hit a pothole on May 13 at Pennsylvania and St. Clair.
“I was working late and going to the Chatterbox to hear my favorite jazz singer,” said Delong. “I heard this bang.”
The pothole blew out two of her tires, costing Delong $225.
She filed a claim with the Indianapolis Office of Corporation Counsel, but months later, received a letter denying her claim.
“They said they didn’t know about the pothole,” said Delong. “It’s very frustrating.”
Valery Delong is not alone.
Records obtained by Call 6 Investigates show the city denies about 95 percent of pothole claims.
“Are you serious?” said Delong. “That does surprise me.”
From January 2015 to mid-2016, the city granted only 17 settlements with drivers, for a total of $7,948.
Call 6 Investigates Kara Kenney filed a public records request earlier this week asking for the most up to date figures on pothole claims.
To win your case, you have to be able to prove the city knew about the pothole you hit and had a reasonable opportunity to fix the pothole.
“Claims get denied because the city does not know about the pothole and does not have a reasonable time to fix it,” said Jennifer Hashem, spokesperson for the Indianapolis Department of Public Works in a 2016 interview with RTV6. “In some cases, they do know about the pothole and they do have a reasonable amount of time, and in that case, the claim would get approved.”
Valery Delong said that is something she wasn’t able to do, because she didn’t know about the city’s pothole viewer where you can check which potholes have been reported.
“I find even now there's big potholes as I am driving into work and I keep thinking ‘well surely someone else has reported this’ and I haven't done it yet,” said Delong. “So, this is a good reminder that I need to go on and report some of those I've been looking at."
What is “reasonable” depends on the weather conditions, how many other pothole requests there are, as well as how many DPW workers are on hand at the time.
You can increase your chance of getting money by following the directions and submitting all the necessary documentation, including invoices for the damage and photographs of the pothole and damage.
MORE | How to file a tort claim in Indianapolis | Indianapolis pothole viewer
When city Office of Corporation Counsel receives a claim, it goes to a tort claim investigator who looks at documents submitted.
By law, the city has 90 days to process a tort claim.
The city recommends you submit invoices for work completed on your car, not estimates.
Records show the amounts paid out for pothole claims vary greatly from year to year.
In 2014, the city approved 70 claims out of the 1,239 filed for a total of $30,916.
In 2011, after a harsh winter for roads, the city received 1,247 pothole tort claims and paid out $152,848.
Indianapolis received 33 inches of snow in 2009-2010, 37.4 inches in 2010-2011, 9.8 inches in 2011-2012, 34.5 inches in 2012-2013 and 55.7 inches in 2013-2014.
In 2014-2015 Indianapolis received 25.6 inches of snow and only 13.3 inches in the 2015-2016 winter season.
