Personal injuries sustained during a bus accident can be varied, but thankfully so are the injuries covered by personal injury law for claims such as these. You might have only suffered a minor sprain to your wrist as a result of the accident, or you might have suffered serious injuries that have changed your life forever. ALL injuries are covered.

In order to qualify, however, the injury must have been directly caused by the bus accident in question, or at the very least, have been made worse by it.

Some examples of the types of injuries covered by bus accident claims include:

• Brain & Head Injuries: This can vary between severe brain damage injuries to a minor head injury, all of which will be compensated accordingly.
• Psychiatric/Psychological Damages: An accident on a bus or coach can be a harrowing affair, so if you’ve been left with psychological damages as a result, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), then you can claim.
• Injuries Affecting Senses: Accidents that cause injuries such as loss of sight or hearing are covered under personal injury claims.
• Neck/Back Injuries: Common in bus accidents, neck and back injuries ranging from whiplash to fractures are all covered by claims of this nature.
• Knee/Shoulder/Leg/Arm/Wrist Injuries: From breaks and fractures to sprains and burns, any injury sustained during your bus accident can be claimed. The severity of those injuries will impact compensation received.

There are an even wider range of injuries covered by personal injury law and bus accident claims, but the above are some of the most common. No matter your injury, if it was someone else’s fault, then you’re likely to be entitled to compensation.

What Is The Eligibility Criteria For Making A Claim?

Whilst most injuries sustained during a bus accident will be covered in your bus accident compensation claim, there are certain eligibility criteria that must be fulfilled to ensure you have a case:

1. That you were owed a duty of care by the party responsible for your injury
2. That the party responsible for your injury failed in their duty of care
3. That this duty of care breach caused or contributed to your injury

Let’s assess each criterion individually to see how you might satisfy all requirements for a bus accident claim.

1. Owed A Duty Of Care

When claiming bus accident compensation the first thing you have to do is prove that the party responsible for your injury owed you a duty of care. This is easy if your bus or coach accident was caused by the driver.

If the driver is responsible for your bus accident injury, then claiming compensation is made easier, because all drivers owe a duty of care to their bus passengers.

Even if the accident was caused by other road users such as car drivers or reckless pedestrians, then under the Road Traffic Act 1988 and the Highway Code everybody on the road owes each other a duty of care to ensure safe use.

In bus and coach accidents, proving you were owed a duty of care is straightforward enough.

2. Duty Of Care Failure

Proving a duty of care failure is also easy enough, so long as you can prove that the party responsible breached their duty of care.

The best way to prove this is with evidence from one of the following:

• CCTV or dashcam footage
• Photographs
• Eye witnesses

These can all help prove that the party responsible for the accident was negligent in their duty of care towards you depending on what the evidence shows. For example, if dashcam footage shows that your driver pulled out at a red light, causing a crash and your injury, then clearly there was a breach in their duty of care towards you.

3. Breach Leading To Injury

The best way to prove that your injuries were caused by that duty of care breach is with a report from a medical professional. Medical records tell a story, so if you sustain injuries as a result of a duty of care breach, those injuries will tell that story and a medical professional will be able to make that clear.

How Long Do I Have To Make A Claim?

With any personal injury claim, including an accident involving a bus or coach, you’ll have 3 years to file a claim from the date of your injury. If you don’t make a claim within this time, you may be prevented from claiming compensation.

What If I Am Under 18?

If you’ve been injured in a bus accident, but you’re under the age of 18 (the legal age to make a claim of this nature in the UK) then the same 3 year time limit doesn’t apply. You can wait until you turn 18, then after that you’ll have 3 years to claim compensation for your accident, so the deadline to submit a claim will be your 21st birthday.

Alternatively, a trusted family member or guardian can act as a ‘litigation friend’ on your behalf whilst you’re under the age of 18. Essentially, they act on your behalf in court to defend your best interests, but they’ll need to apply to do so. If you need advice on this, you can find it online or contact our personal injury solicitors today.