The Brussels-Capital Region faced 155 complaints from citizens in 2018 who felt that the poor state of the infrastructure had caused damage to their vehicles, coming in at around € 371,000 worth of potential compensation.
If a road surfaces in such a state it causes damage to a vehicle then drivers can claim damages from the region, La Capitale reports.
And report they do, according to figures published by Bruzz, with € 75,000 worth of damages in 2017 ( from 148 reports) and € 371,000 worth of damages in 2018 (from 155 reports).
"However, because the handling of cases costs money, the amount may not be paid out in the same year as that in which the case was submitted," Camile Thiry, spokesman for Brussels Mobility explained to media.
If Brussels Mobility refuses the complaint, citizens can also go to court and claim damages.
Brussels Mobility, however, also collects a large amount of money from people who cause damage to the public domain, for example, as a result of an accident or vandalism.
This resulted in 1,891 dossiers in 2017, representing more than € 650,000 and 1,014 dossiers worth just under €670,000 in 2018.
Jules Johnston
The Brussels Times
