Help with little accident with bus

[chelsea25]

My friend at work come back from lunch yesterday after having a bus go into the back of his fiesta. He has not done too much damage, cracked light, bumper etc.. although he said the bang was so loud! He was shaking when he come back.

He took photos straight away, it was totally the bus drivers fault.

The bus company have offered to pay for the damage and supply courtesy car, his insurance is only third party.

He went to hospital because of the shaking, bad neck, and shoulder.

Do you think he should let the bus company pay or go through his own insurance?

Any advice would really help x

[sarnieken]

Providing the bus company pays up and your friend is satisfied with the result then it can be an amicable solution.

However, he should keep an eye on his health as, if he has suffered an injury then, following a settled outcome he may have dfficulty claiming further damages.

regardless of what insurance your friend has they would chase the bus company, the only problem being that it would take ages.

the bus company is not legally required to provide a courtesy vehicle for your friend. They / their insurance may be liable to pay for a hire car during repairs but the bus company seem to be doing the right thing, it may be worth going with it provding it is suitable for your friend.

[Toureman]

"There was a big bang"

There might be not much damage showing, but the car could even be a write off if the chassis is twisted, it would be easy for the bus company to do a good cosmetic job leaving you with a dangerous car.

I would go through the normal procedure of letting the insurance companies sort it out.

You also need to go through the insurance or an independant company to claim damages for injury, time off work etc.

[spaced]

i totally agree with toureman, let the insurers sort this out, thats what you pay them for.

[whiskeysheri]

I had a similar accident a couple of weeks ago, chelsea with an Ocado van. I too only have third party insurance so I have to deal with Ocado's insurers myself.

Ocado's insurers sent me a courtesy car the day after the accident (which I still have) and they sent my car to a Nationwide garage to be assessed. It was classed as a total loss (which I had already expected as the cost of the repairs would have been significantly more than the car's worth), so now I am awaiting an offer of settlement from them for my car.

They have also offered me the chance to put through a claim for my injuries, but I'll take that to an independent solicitors (I'm not that silly!).

I would imagine that your friend's insurers won't handle this for him due to the level of cover he has, but if he does it himself (as I am), tell him to deal with the bus company's insurers directly and not the company itself.

Hope this helps. Good luck to your friend. :o)

[Thunderchild]

hm difficult decision we had a lady play nice and ask to do it privately only to have her say after "I'm grateful my son was not killed" (by us) this is the kid that had not even got out of the car merley flung his door open straight into us doing 550 � of damage and she offered 100 on the spot that became 250 when we told her a garage wanted 550 for the damage. insurances leave you less hassle and risk of being crooked people can be reall funny at times especially regarding these things

[bigh997]

As a Manager with a bus Company I am very surprised that they want to do any work outside of the insurers.With the larger bus companies it is the norm that every accident goes through the insurers, even the small knocks.

If you have any personal injuries do not risk it, cars can be repaired or replaced, your health may not. Go through the insurance it takes a bit longer but in the end it pays.