School Bus Accident Compensation Claims

If you or your child has experienced a bus accident injury as a result of an accident, you may be able to claim compensation. Accidents involving buses can lead to serious injuries, and cause you to lose money if you need to take time off during your recovery, or care for an injured child. Whatever the nature of your injuries, you will often be able to make a bus accident claim that will cover your pain, suffering and financial losses.

The experienced team at JMW can help you to claim against the bus or coach company that was responsible. We will represent you at all stages of the process and seek compensation that meets the full extent of your needs and the injuries sustained. Bus companies have a legal duty to protect schoolchildren, parents and teachers, and any failure can lead to a coach accident claim.

Learn more about how JMW's road traffic accident solicitors can help you to claim following an accident, whether that means a serious bus crash or a slip and fall caused by driver negligence. Call us on 0345 872 6666 or complete our online enquiry form, and we will give you a call back.

How JMW Can Help

JMW has a strong track record of success in claims for road traffic accidents, including those involving school coaches or buses. During an initial consultation, we discuss your experience and offer free legal advice on whether you are able to claim. If so, we can start the process on your behalf by gathering evidence and negotiating to secure a fair compensation amount based on your experience.

For most school bus accident claims, we work on a no win, no fee basis. This means that there are no upfront legal fees, and nothing to pay if your claim is unsuccessful, so you can focus on caring for your child or recovering from your own injuries with no financial risk. While most claims are settled out of court, we are also ready to represent you during court proceedings at no additional cost, so you can rest assured that we will take on the bulk of the legal responsibility for your claim.

With decades of experience in personal injury law, JMW has been recognised in the Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners guides alongside other legal directories, and members of our team are accredited by the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers. These accreditations reflect our commitment to claiming bus accident compensation for children who have been injured due to negligence that should have been avoided.

Meet Our Team

JMW's personal injury solicitors have a wealth of experience in road accidents involving buses and coaches. We believe that passenger safety is paramount, and especially where school children are involved. We specialise in taking action against negligence that has led to harm, and delivering compensation when anyone is injured on or by a school bus.

Can You Claim Compensation After a School Bus Accident?

To claim compensation for a school bus accident, you must show that you or your child were injured in an accident that was caused by someone else. If your child was injured in a bus accident, we must gather evidence to prove that another party was negligent, and that this led directly to the injuries. There are three key parts to this process, and our expert legal team can help you to gather the evidence you need to prove each of the following.

• The bus company owed your child a duty of care. Bus drivers and companies have a legal obligation to drive safely, maintain buses to a high standard and follow safety regulations carefully. This amounts to a duty of care to passengers and other road users.
• The driver or company breached their duty. Company negligence may include failing to repair buses or address known hazards, while driver negligence will often involve a poor standard of driving, such as speeding or taking sharp turns.
• The actions of the driver or the driver's employer led to your child's injuries. We will usually seek medical advice from an independent expert, who may conduct a medical examination to show that a particular accident was the direct cause of your injuries.

This means that it is possible to claim in a range of circumstances, including accidents involving a dedicated school bus, school-arranged bus transport, or another vehicle colliding with a bus carrying children to or from school.

The right to claim does not only apply to bus crashes. A bus company has a duty of care to make their vehicles safe for children and other passengers. Safety failings like poorly maintained seats or interiors, uneven flooring, spills that are not addressed, or reckless driving can entitle you to claim. Even an injury in a slip, trip or fall that takes place on a bus outside the context of a road traffic accident can be enough to secure compensation for your child.

You can also make a claim if you were injured as a pedestrian in a bus accident, as the company and driver have the same legal responsibility to other road users, pedestrians and the drivers of other vehicles as they do to their own school bus passengers.

Who Can Make a School Bus Accident Compensation Claim?

Anyone who has been injured in a bus or coach accident, whether they were on the bus or not, may be able to claim. If the injured person was a child under the age of 18, their parents may be able to claim on their behalf. As a parent, you will act as the child's 'litigation friend' and represent them at all stages of the legal proceedings. When the claim is successful, compensation will usually be held in a trust on the child's behalf, with interim payments made to cover any immediate medical or financial needs.

Alternatively, children can make a claim on their own behalf after they turn 18. A three-year time limit begins from the point that the child turns 18, which means that they will have until they turn 21 to start the claims process.

Who Could Be Responsible for a School Bus Accident?

In most cases, a bus driver or their employer is responsible for an accident. They have a legal duty of care to protect passengers and other road users, and any failure could see them held liable. However, it is not always the case that school bus driver negligence was the cause of an accident. A pedestrian, cyclist or another driver may be considered at fault, particularly if the bus crashed as a result of their actions. If the accident occurred on a poorly maintained road, a local authority may be found responsible instead.

The team at JMW will advise you on who we believe is responsible, and who will be the defendant in your claim. In most cases, it is possible to claim from the insurance provider of a road user or of the coach company responsible. In cases where the liable party cannot be identified, it may be possible to claim through the Motor Insurers’ Bureau. Call us for advice based on your specific circumstances.

When Can I Make a Bus or Coach Accident Claim?

There are a range of circumstances in which you may be able to claim for an injury. Any of the following factors, if they caused or were partly responsible for the accident, could result in the bus driver, school bus company or local authority being found liable for the incident, which would entitle you to compensation.

Accidents may be caused by:

• Negligent driving, whether because the driver is distracted by talking on the phone or using a sat nav, feels too tired to drive safely, chooses to speed or otherwise exercises poor judgment.
• Drivers with inadequate training or experience. Driving a school bus requires special skills beyond driving other types of large vehicle, including managing children and reacting to emergencies. A lack of training could increase risk and result in the bus company being found liable.
• Mechanical failures like brake issues, tire blowouts or steering problems could be caused by a lack of proper maintenance and lead to an accident. Failures in maintenance can also result in the interior of a school bus becoming unsafe, which could lead to accidents outside of a crash.
• Reckless behaviour by other drivers.

School bus accidents can be caused by a mix of human error, environmental factors and mechanical issues, but any of the causes listed above can mean that another party is liable for the accident, which would enable you to make a claim for your injuries.

What Injuries Can Be Claimed for After a School Bus Accident?

You can claim for physical or psychological injuries caused by a bus accident. The compensation you will receive is based on the extent of your child's injuries, and their impact on the child's day-to-day life. This means that a spinal cord injury will result in more compensation than a broken bone, but the team at JMW will work to secure the maximum amount of compensation possible no matter the types of injuries your child is dealing with.

The nature of bus and coach accidents determines the most common injuries, but some of the injuries we typically see and claim compensation for include:

• Head injuries
• Fractures and soft tissue injuries
• Facial injuries
• Back, neck and spine injuries
• Cuts and scarring

Alongside these physical injuries, there are often psychological or emotional after-effects to a bus crash. Any diagnosed travel anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, or other psychological after-effects following the event can also be included as part of your claim.

How Much School Bus Accident Compensation Could I Get?

How much compensation you will receive after a school bus accident depends on the specific injuries involved. Compensation payments are usually split into general damages and special damages to cover different kinds of harm.

General damages compensate for pain and suffering from physical injuries, psychological harm, and loss of amenity. This refers to how the injury affects the child's life - if they find that they can’t play sports, struggle at school, or lose independence, this will be factored in. We will rely on Judicial College injury tables to establish a fair compensation amount.

Special damages cover financial losses and expenses caused by the accident, both past and future. These must usually be supported by evidence, but may include:

• Medical costs for private treatment, physiotherapy and medication
• Travel expenses to hospital or GP appointments
• Care and assistance (whether paid care or the time parents spend looking after their injured child)
• Loss of earnings, if a parent had to take time off work
• Future losses (such as any long-term care needs or impact on the child's future earning capacity if they are seriously injured)
• Damage to personal items

JMW will help you to gather the evidence you need and work to maximise the compensation you receive, to make your child's recovery more comfortable and help them to adjust to any new circumstances.

How Do I Prove a School Bus Accident Claim?

To prove a school bus accident claim, we need to establish that the school bus operator owed your child a duty of care, that they breached the duty of care, and that your child's injuries were the direct result. While the duty of care is often fairly straightforward to establish, we will gather strong evidence to demonstrate the extent of your child's injuries and the circumstances of the accident in which they occurred.

Evidence that we will use includes:

• Accident reports made by the school, bus company or police
• Witness statements from students, teachers, passersby, and the drivers of any other vehicles involved. If you can gather contact details from any witnesses at the time of the accident, these can be key
• CCTV or dashcam footage
• Photographs of the accident scene
• Driver details
• Vehicle maintenance records
• Medical records regarding the injury. It is vital to seek medical attention following an accident, as evidence regarding medical treatment can be used to connect your child's injuries to the accident. We will have an independent medical expert review these records and produce a report to confirm that the accident was the cause
• School records, to show absences or any impact on your child's education
• Psychological assessments

We will also gather evidence showing travel costs, lost earnings, or other outgoings to enable you to claim these back as special damages. This includes receipts, invoices, wage slips for the child's parents and even bus tickets, where available.

How Long Do You Have to Claim Bus Accident Compensation?

The limitation period for personal injury claims in England and Wales is three three years from the date of the accident. If injuries were not apparent immediately, this time limit may begin from the date that you realised the connection between the accident and your injuries.

When the injured person is a child, the rules are slightly different. There is no time limit until the child turns 18, meaning that they have until their 21st birthday to start the claims process. If the person lacks the mental capacity to make their own decisions and needs someone to claim on their behalf, there may be no time limit in which for the claim to be made.

How Does the School Bus Accident Claims Process Work?

A school bus accident claim begins when you contact an experienced personal injury solicitor. The team at JMW will discuss the circumstances of your accident, advise on whether you are able to claim and estimate how much compensation you could be owed. If you decide to move ahead, we will gather evidence and contact the bus company, their insurance provider, or another liable party to inform them about your claim.

In most cases, claims are resolved at this stage through negotiation. Where necessary, we will take claims to court to secure a fair compensation amount, and pursue interim payments if you have urgent financial needs so that you can receive part of your compensation before the process concludes.

Find out more in our step-by-step guide to a personal injury claim.

Q

Can I make a claim on behalf of my child?

A

A parent can act as a litigation friend and make a bus accident claim on behalf of their child. In most cases, the damages awarded are held in a trust on the child's behalf, or paid in instalments to cover their immediate needs, which ensures that the money directly benefits the child.

Q

How long does a school bus accident claim take?

A

Most school bus accident claims take between six months and two years, depending on their complexity. Simple cases where there is clear fault can usually be wrapped up fairly quickly, as the other party will accept their liability and move straight to negotiating over compensation. Cases that require court proceedings, have multiple parties involved or involve liability being disputed typically take longer.

Claims involving children can also sometimes take longer because medical experts may wait to see how the injury develops, and any settlement usually needs court approval to protect the child’s interests.

Q

How long do I have to claim for a child injured in a school bus accident?

A

There is no time limit to claim for a child who has been injured until they turn 18. If you wish to claim on behalf of a child under 18, you can do so at any time. However, bear in mind that evidence is more easy to gather in the immediate aftermath of an accident, and you can often build a much stronger claim if you act quickly.

Q

What if the school bus accident was partly another driver’s fault?

A

Liability in a school bus crash can be split between multiple parties, but this will not affect how much compensation you receive. The team at JMW will identify the parties that we believe were responsible and pursue compensation against multiple defendants where necessary.