What Could You Claim For An Accident On Public Transport?

This guide will look at what compensation could be awarded after an accident on public transport caused by negligence has left you injured. We will focus on accidents that occur on public transport like slips and falls, as well as road traffic incidents that could leave passengers injured.

We will look at the different kinds of injuries that could occur as a result of a public transport accident and the evidence you could use to support a claim. Furthermore, this guide will contain information on how settlements in personal injury claims are valued.

Finally, we will discuss the benefits of claiming with a No Win No Fee solicitor and provide you with some additional resources that you might find useful. Get in touch with our team of advisors to see if you could begin making your claim today. You can:

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What Could You Claim For An Accident On Public Transport?
Criteria To Claim For An Accident On Public Transport
Evidence To Prove Your Public Transport Accident Claim
Time Limits For Claiming After A Public Transport Accident
Find A No Win No Fee Personal Injury Claim Solicitor
Related Personal Injury Claims

What Could You Claim For An Accident On Public Transport?

Settlements in personal injury claims can be made up of two distinct “heads”, called general and special damages. The first of these, general damages, will be awarded to compensate you for the pain, suffering and loss of amenity that your injuries have caused. Special damages can be awarded to reimburse you for any past or future financial losses your injuries have resulted in. This could be costs incurred as a result of needing to reach out for additional care support, transport costs, medical bills, or loss of earnings.

Solicitors and other legal professionals may use the Judicial College Guidelines to help them value claims. This is a publication of guideline compensation brackets for a range of different injuries of various levels of severity.

We have included a table containing some of these entries below, as an alternative to a road traffic compensation calculator. However, the last two entries in this table are taken from the tariff in the Whiplash Injury Regulations 2021, which we explain further below.

Guideline Compensation Brackets

Injuries	Severity	Compensation	Details
Head	Moderate (iii)	£43,060 to £90,720	Concentration and memory recall are impacted, ability to work reduced and there's a small risk of epilepsy.
Head	Less Severe	£15,320 to £43,060	Good recovery; return to work possible. All normal functions may not have been restored, however.
Back	Severe (iii)	£38,780 to £69,730	Disc lesions and fractures, for example, that cause chronic conditions that result in disability.
Back	Minor (i)	£7,890 to £12,510	Full recovery or recovery to nuisance level within two to five years.
Hand	Serious	£29,000 to £61,910	Usage of hand is reduced to 50% capacity.
Arm	Serious	£39,170 to £59,860	Serious fractures to one or both forearms causing disablement that's functional or cosmetic in nature.
Ankle	Severe	£31,310 to £50,060	There is a need for an extended period of treatment and disability in the future.
Leg	Less serious (i)	£17,960 to £27,760	An incomplete recovery is made after a fracture or serious injury to the soft tissue.
Whiplash	One or more whiplash injuries and one or more psychological injuries	£4,345	Injury lasts more than 18 months, but not more than 24 months.
Whiplash	One or more whiplash injuries	£4,215	Injury lasts more than 18 months, but not more than 24 months.

Will The Whiplash Reform Programme Affect My Claim?

The introduction of the Whiplash Reform Programme has changed the way certain claims are made for accidents that occurred after the 31st of May 2021. Adult drivers and passengers who sustained injuries valued at £5,000 or less may need to make their claim in a different method. These injuries will also be valued according to the amounts in the Whiplash Injury Regulations.

However, if the injuries were valued at over £5,000, then the usual method of claiming will apply. However, whiplash injuries might still be valued using the tariff amounts regardless of how the claim is made.

For information on how the whiplash reform could affect your claim after an accident on public transport, please get in touch using the contact details at the top and bottom of this page.

Criteria To Claim for An Accident On Public Transport

In order to make a personal injury claim, you must be able to demonstrate third-party negligence. This means showing that:

You were owed a duty of care
This duty was breached
Because of this, an accident occurred in which you were injured.

Below, we look at how an accident on public transport could happen and how liability is determined. However, if you have any queries about your own claim, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Checking Liability For A Trip Or Fall On Public Transport

You are owed a duty of care while on public transport, including buses, trains and trams. Part of this duty of care is managing risks of accidents such as slips, trips and falls, for example. A failure to do so could see you becoming injured.

For example, you might sustain a laceration on a train because there was broken glass on the seat you were sitting in that was not addressed and cleared up.

Checking Liability For A Road Traffic Accident

The Road Traffic Act 1988 establishes that a duty of care is owed by all road users to others on the road. Road users should act in a way that prevents injury to themselves and others, including passengers. The Highway Code contains rules and guidelines that all road users should adhere to, as well as information on the hierarchy of road users.

If you were injured as a passenger on public transport because of the negligence of a road user, you could be entitled to a claim. For example, the bus driver might pull out of a bus stop without checking that it’s safe to do so, resulting in a side-impact collision. As a result, you could sustain a fractured cheekbone in this bus accident.

If you have any queries about the validity of your own claim, speak with a member of our team today. You could be connected with a No Win No Fee lawyer from our panel if your case is legitimate.

Evidence To Prove Your Public Transport Accident Claim

Evidence could be useful in the process of claiming compensation. It can help to demonstrate how the accident on public transport occurred and how you were impacted. If you were injured as a passenger on public transport that was involved in a road traffic accident, it doesn’t matter whether the at-fault party was the vehicle you’re travelling in or another vehicle.

You could provide the following in support of your claim:

CCTV or dashcam footage
Contact details of witnesses
Copies of medical records
Photographs of the scene of the accident
A diary of how your injuries have impacted you

For support in gathering evidence for your claim, please get in contact with our team.

Time Limits For Claiming After A Public Transport Accident

You must begin your claim within a specified time limit. This is set out in the Limitation Act 1980. Generally, this time limit is three years from the date of the incident. However, exceptions to this can apply.

For example, those who are under the age of 18 cannot pursue their own claims. This is because they are under the legal age of majority. Because of this, the time limit is suspended until they come of age.

Similarly, those who don’t have the requisite mental capacity to pursue their own claim will have the time limit indefinitely suspended. It will resume in the event that they become mentally capable of claiming.

While the time limit is suspended, a litigation friend could claim on their behalf. This role should be fulfilled by an adult who is able to act in the best interests of the claimant.

Find A No Win No Fee Personal Injury Claim Solicitor

Although a solicitor is not essential to making your claim, employing a solicitor can be beneficial to you. A No Win No Fee solicitor can help support your personal injury claim. Our panel of personal injury solicitors may be able to offer you a Conditional Fee Agreement. This states that:

There are no fees to pay upfront or as the claim continues
In the event that your claim isn’t successful, you won’t pay your public liability lawyer for the work they have done
A success fee will be due to your lawyer in the event that you’re awarded compensation. The law caps the percentage they can take.