I was travelling in a minibus which crashed and left my son with severe injuries. Who can I make a claim for a minibus accident against?
Following an accident and injury for which a third party is to blame, the victim of the accident should be entitled to make a claim for a minibus accident. However while a child who has sustained an injury in a minibus accident can still make a claim, the procedure for doing so will be different. Minibus accident compensation can be claimed against the insurance policy of the bus operator or against that of the driver if he or she is self-employed, as they owed you and your son a duty of care, and you should not have expected to sustain an injury. To determine your eligibility to make a claim for an accident in a minibus, you are advised to contact a personal injury solicitor at the earliest opportunity following your injury.
Under Irish law a child cannot make a claim for a minibus accident until they have reached their eighteenth birthday, nor can they instruct a solicitor to do so on their behalf. For this reason, the Statute of Limitations will not commence until the child has reached they have reached eighteen years of age, meaning they will have until their twentieth birthday to make a claim for an accident in a minibus. However minibus accident compensation may be required before then for educational or medical needs, particularly if the child has sustained a severe injury. For this reason a child can be represented by a “next friend” at any stage between their injury in a minibus accident and their eighteenth birthday in order to claim compensation.
In order to represent the claim for a minibus accident, this “next friend” must not have a conflict of interest in the claim (for example, if they were the negligent driver behind the wheel of the minibus) and must first be approved by the judge. The next friend must also be prepared accept any financial liability in the event that your minibus accident compensation claim is unsuccessful. Once the claim for an injury in a minibus accident has been settled and compensation agreed upon, it must first be approved by a judge before being paid into court funds, where it will remain until the child turns eighteen years of age. However if funding is needed for the child’s educational or medical needs, compensation for your accident in a minibus can be released upon application to the court.
Your child’s minibus accident compensation may even be higher than that for an adult, as a child is more likely to sustain a serious injury because of their generally weaker muscles. However to determine your child’s eligibility to seek compensation for an injury in a minibus accident, you are advised to contact a personal injury solicitor at the earliest opportunity following your child’s accident. A solicitor will assess your child’s accident in a minibus, determine how much compensation your son could claim and offer professional legal representation. The legal expertise of a solicitor will be invaluable following an accident and for this reason, a solicitor should be contacted at the earliest opportunity regarding a claim for a minibus accident.
