Dear Aimee,
I hit a pothole near Troost last week and blew out my tire. Can I sue the city to get my money back?
– Frustrated on the East Side
Dear Frustrated,
Sorry to hear about your tire. It’s bad out there! The city’s repair crews are definitely stretched thin and potholes are everywhere. In terms of suing, you know what they say about fighting City Hall. Let’s talk about what you can realistically do when your tire gets taken out.
Step one: file a claim with the city.
Kansas City does have a formal process to ask for reimbursement. You’ll need to submit photos of the pothole and the damage, a repair bill or estimate, plus the exact location and time it happened. You can do that here.
When is the city actually responsible?
The legal standard is this: the city must have known about the pothole and failed to fix it in a “reasonable” amount of time. If no one had reported it yet, your odds of getting reimbursed are slim. But if it was already flagged and sat there for weeks, your claim has a shot.
Can you sue? Technically, yes. But…
You can file in small claims court, but it’s an uphill battle unless you can clearly prove negligence. The claim process is usually the smoother route, and the one I’d recommend.
Bottom line?
File the claim. Keep your receipts. And don’t be afraid to follow up. You’re not the only one dodging craters out there. Sometimes the loudest thing we can do is just speak up and keep the pressure on!
Aimee
