A YOUNG mother who suffered whiplash injuries when her car aquaplaned off the A14 says she is shocked after the Highways Agency lodged a claim against her for the cost of repairing a barrier.

A YOUNG mother who suffered whiplash injuries when her car aquaplaned off the A14 says she is shocked after the Highways Agency lodged a claim against her for the cost of repairing a barrier.

Amy Klimowicz, of Moreton Hall, Bury St Edmunds, still suffers back and neck pain in the aftermath of a single-vehicle crash on the newly opened Haughley stretch of the A14 in which her red BMW car was written off.

The 26-year-old mother-of-two is one of a number of people who have aquaplaned on the A14 in Suffolk in recent months, and the Highways Agency itself has admitted drainage problems in the area - although argues the issue had been resolved before the crash.

But Ms Klimowicz was stunned when her insurance company told her a claim had been made against her by the Highways Agency.

She was told the agency was looking to recoup the cost of repairs to the central reservation.

“I think it is just wrong,” Ms Klimowicz said. “I can't believe they are trying to get the costs for this from me. I think there is a problem with the road. When I had my accident the road was clear. I aquaplaned, lost control, and went into the barrier. Then we watched another car do exactly the same thing.”

The front and back of her red BMW were caved in from the impact, though neither Ms Klimowicz nor her passenger, a friend, were seriously hurt in the collision.

Last year the Highways Agency admitted it had discovered problems with drainage at the Haughley stretch of the A14, where a �32 million improvement scheme has been carried out.

In a letter - seen by the EADT - from the agency's chief executive Graham Dalton, he told Bury St Edmunds MP David Ruffley that: “As a result of the investigation it was found there was a need to bring forward routine maintenance of parts of the drainage and to carry out a further investigation to a section of pipe.

“We have also identified an area of carriageway where surface water appears to be collecting rather than freely draining.”

But the Highways Agency said that problem had been dealt with prior to Ms Klimowicz's accident on December 13 last year.

A spokeswoman for the Highways Agency said it was unable to track down any claims relating to Ms Klimowicz's accident, though did confirm “if there is a repair needed it is Crown property and it is very useful for the Highways Agency to claim costs back through insurance.

“It is very normal for them to claim it back.”

The spokeswoman said it had never acknowledged a link between water “collecting” on the road and driver's aquaplaning on the carriageway.