Can I Claim for Compensation for my Injuries in a Bus Accident?

Yes; that is, of course, unless you caused the accident.

The main principle governing compensation claims is that of responsibility: if you can prove that other people caused your injuries, then you can demand for compensation. Otherwise, you cannot.

More precisely, you need to prove three things: first, that somebody owed you a duty of care; second, that this person has breached that duty of care; and third, that it was this breach of duty that has caused your injury.

In case of a bus accident, you can only claim for compensation if you can answer the following questions positively. First, did the driver owe you a duty of care? Second, has he or she breached this duty of care in any way? Third, is this breach of duty responsible for your injuries?

Suppose you answer “yes” to these and prove that the driver owed you a duty of care as his or her passenger; that he or she has breached this duty, for example by driving recklessly; and that because of his or her negligence, you are now suffering a broken back, whiplash, or shoulder pain, then you can make a claim.

If, however, you cannot establish any of them, then you will not be compensated. For instance, if you fail to establish that the driver was negligent, that the accident was reasonably foreseeable, or that your injuries did not cause you serious psychological or physical harm, then your claim will most likely be dismissed.

Who can I claim compensation from?

In this case, you can demand for compensation from the bus driver, the bus driver’s company, or the driver of the vehicle who caused your bus to crash.

How much compensation can I claim?

Supposing that you can satisfy the three general requirements mentioned above, the range of compensation you could get can reach the following amounts:

If your bus accident inflicted youwith whiplash, then you can get anywhere from £1,000 – £4,575, if your case is mild; £4,575 – £14,500, if moderate; and up to £14,500 – £86,500, if severe. For a fractured nose, you could get £1,000 – £13,500. For back injuries, you could receive up to £7,125, if your injury is mild; £7,125 – £22,650, if moderate; and £22,650 – £98,500, if severe. If you are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, then it is not unfair to claim for £2,300 – £58,500. Finally, for shoulder injuries, you could be compensated with £7,375 – £11,200 if you dislocated one and £3,000 – £7,125, if you fractured one.

These amounts are not set in stone. All they are is a general idea of what you could get because the specific amount of compensation one should give to another will depend on the characteristics of each personal injury claim.

Thus, you need not suffer in vain if you have been injured in a bus accident. Now that you have an overview of what to prove and what to receive, you can stop asking, “Can I claim?” and start answering, “Yes, I should.”

How Can I Claim for Free?

When you have been injured in an accident, anything that will reduce the costs of your medical bills will be a welcome blessing. For those whose injuries were caused by the negligence or hostility of other people, this blessing comes in the form of a scheme called conditional fee agreement, or better known by its informal name, “no win, no fee.”

“No win, no fee” is something you might be interested to know about if you are asking yourself how you can claim for free. It works in the following way.

If other people are responsible for the injuries you are suffering, then they are liable for the pain and distress you are feeling and must compensate you. You can hire a personal injury lawyer to represent you and send them a formal summons and complaint. Furthermore, your personal injury lawyer might agree to accept your case on a “no win, no fee” basis. This means that if your claim is unsuccessful, you will not need to pay his or her hourly fees. If your claim, however, is successful then you still will not need to pay him or her because the losing side will take care of what he or she is charging, no matter how much. Thus, whether your claim is successful or not, you will be claiming your compensation for free because you will not have to pay your own lawyer’s hourly fees either way.

You might be asking what kind of right-thinking lawyer would agree to such a scheme. Would they not be placing themselves in an unnecessarily risky—not to mention, onerous—position of either receiving their hourly fees late, if at all? What’s the catch?

There is no catch. However, there are some considerations you do need to keep in mind.

To begin with, as the “no win, no fee” scheme will enable claimants to secure their services for free, personal injury lawyers understandably choose to accept on this basis only those claims which they think possess strong merits. This is because a strong case will most likely be a successful case, and only a successful case can guarantee them their hourly fees payment.

Aside from the fastidiousness of personal injury lawyers in choosing which cases to admit, another thing to keep in mind is that although you can claim for free using the “no win no fee” scheme, you will need to pay the winning side in case your claim gets dismissed. What you will be paying them, however, will be covered by your “After-the-Event” insurance. This kind of insurance is prepared beforehand both by you and your personal injury lawyer.

The “no win, no fee” scheme is a good way to claim for free if you think your case is well-supported. By maximizing the cost-cutting potential of the “no win, no fee” scheme, you can save your resources and at the same time settle your claim expediently.