Bus accidents are fairly common, and we represent victims making claims for personal injury compensation from bus companies all the time. I myself have had a successful claim against a bus company for the driver not paying the attention he should have been doing and causing an incident!
One example of a common scenario is people being injured by bus doors. It’s actually a lot more common than you might think. So if this has happened to you, read on for some vital advice about your rights to claim for any injured suffered.
Your Rights
If you have been hit by some closing or opening bus doors, there may be a valid claim to make against the bus company. If the driver wasn’t paying attention and didn’t notice you, accidentally closing the doors on you, you should have a very strong claim. Another common one is when doors automatically shut on people.
There is of course a clear duty for bus companies to look after their passengers and make sure they are not injured when using their bus service. So they are insured for incidents like this.
We’d certainly be able to look in to this for you on a No Win, No Fee basis.
How to claim
It’s dead simple really.
If you reported the incident, that’s a good start. If not, it’s worth contacting the bus company to make a report. One very important thing to do is make sure that CCTV footage is retained as this could be absolutely vital in proving your claim. Most buses have CCTV nowadays but the companies only keep the footage for a few short weeks.
So, when you report the matter, it’s best to do it by email and phone so you have a solid record of your report. Specifically ask that they keep the CCTV footage. That way if it is prematurely destroyed, we can argue that we gave them reasonable notice to retain it. It’s also worth getting a lawyer ASAP because we can take steps to protect the footage as well.
The claims process
This is classed as a road traffic accident and falls within the realms of the road traffic accident protocol. To be honest, we find this a little daft as it isn’t a road accident at all! But the rules clearly indicate that a bodily injury caused by a motor vehicle is classed as a road accident.
What we do is submit a Claim Notification Form directly to the insurer of the bus company and ask that they accept liability within 15 working days from submission. If they agree to pay you, we will get you assessed by a medical expert to allow us to value the claim and settle it on the best terms possible.
So if this has happened to you, get in touch now for advice about starting a claim today.
