Pothole damage leads to fight with Charlottetown city hall

A Charlottetown woman is in a battle with city hall because it won't pay for damage to her car after she hit a pothole.

Tina Ellsworth hit the pothole while driving on North River Road on a rainy night in late March.

"I just thought it was little puddle. I just kept on going, like a normal person would," Ellsworth told CBC News.

It wasn't just a puddle. Ellsworth said it was a large pothole, and the damage to her car was around $4,000.

"I had to go finance a whole new car that I shouldn't have had to because this car was paid off," she said.

Ellsworth filed a damage claim with the city. The city has forms for that, but the city decided it wasn't liable and wouldn't pay in her case.

Ellsworth further argued her point, sending two examples to the city of other cases she heard about where the city did pay for the damage. The city argued those cases were different situations, at different times of the year, and still refused to pay.

In an email to CBC News, the city said each case is assessed on its own merits.

Public works manager Paul Johnston won't talk about any specific case, but he said if an incident happens outside pothole season, when work crews are normally not expected to be out, then the city is not liable.

Johnston didn't give specific dates for the beginning or end of pothole season. Ellsworth's incident happened on March 29.

Ellsworth said she will be taking her case to small claims court.

For mobile device users: Should the City of Charlottetown be paying for pothole damage to cars?