Car hit by bus

Nat1977

Hi,

My car was hit by a bus in January, it scraped the side with its front bumper. I did not see it happen, but a lady did who gave me her details and details of the bus number and description of the driver. Unfortunately she did not get the bus reg plate.

I reported the incident the day after it happened to my insurers (it happened on a Sunday).

They have today called me and said that as Arriva are denying their involvement and as I do not have a reg number, there is nothing they can do. It is now too late to check CCTV, even though they have had all this time to do it!

So Basically I have to shell out for the repairs myself.

Is there anything I can do, or am I stuck with the repair bill?

Thanks.

Tilt

When you say you have the bus number, do you mean the fleet or service number? In any event, you should of reported it to the police with all the information that you had within 24 hours. The bus co will know which driver/bus it was from their records providing you gave them the time of the incident and where it happened.

Worse case scenario is that your insurers will pay for your damage (assuming your are fully comp) but you will take a hit on your NCB.

Nat1977

I have the service number. The repairs come to just over my Excess (£500) so may as well just pay it myself instead of losing NCB. I didnt think to report it to the police. I suppose it would be too late now?

I gave them the time of the accident, the service number, a description of the driver and a partial reg number (it started with a K, thats all the witness got). But apparently that is not enough evidence and they are denying involvement, and my insurers are closing the file

Sgt_Pepper_2

Can't of been that many buses on that road at that time on a Sunday.

Nat1977

Sgt_Pepper wrote: »

Can't of been that many buses on that road at that time on a Sunday.

Thats what I thought, it was in a village with one bus every hour!

Apparently the driver was away for two weeks after the accident, so it took them that long to get in contact with him, and he is just denying it, so thats that apparently.

fivetide

I had success against a company for this when one of their lorries scraped the side of my parked car. When i came back to the car, a lady said she had seen the damage being done and it wa sa wagon from Threshers.

I reported it to them, no reg number or anythign and they came back to say they did have a wagon with the corresponding damage on it. They apologised and sorted it all out through their insurance.

Not having the reg number sounds a bit duff to me. As above, if you have the time and bus number, then there can't be many options.

5t.

Nat1977

My insurers say that bus companies are notoriously hard nuts to crack, and unless you have absolute evidence, they will deny it all the way unfortunately

vax2002

Bus companies often do not have any insurance.
It is a misnomer that all vehicles must have insurance, they all must be underwritten for purposes of the road traffic act.
They lay a bond with bank of England and underwrite themselves.
So any claims are dealt with and paid out in house.
The down side of this is they fight like a pitbul on PMT if you try to claim.

If you have a witness that will stand in court and say they saw that bus hit the car then the small claims track is the way forward for you.

Sgt_Pepper_2

So they know what bus was involved and because the driver denies all knowledge that's the end of it?

You should have reported this to the police.

Tilt

Good advice from Vax and perfectly true about the bus co's insurance methods. Get the car fixed, send the bus co the bill saying that if they don't cough within 7 days you will commence a claim in the small claims court. Indicate that you have a witness who says that one of their buses hit your car.

I don't think they will want the hassle of going to court over £500 so you may find they will crumble when they get your letter. Send it by recorded post for good measure.

AlexisV

If you have a witness that will stand in court and say they saw that bus hit the car then the small claims track is the way forward for you.

Yes, you only need prove beyond the balance of probabilities it was A bus owned by Company X.