Personal injury solicitors for clients throughout England & Wales
England & Wales
If you were injured as a passenger in a car, taxi, bus or private hire vehicle, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries and the losses that follow. Injury Law Specialists is a personal injury law firm acting for passengers throughout England and Wales, and our solicitors can assess your circumstances and explain whether you have grounds to claim.
Passengers are often in the strongest position of anyone involved in a road traffic accident, because you had no control over how the vehicle was driven. We have a particular interest in passenger injuries that are serious, involve surgery or leave lasting effects.
Yes. A passenger injured in a road traffic accident can usually claim compensation from whichever driver was at fault, because a passenger has no control over how a vehicle is driven. That means liability is often more straightforward in a passenger claim than in one brought by a driver. Injury Law Specialists offers passengers a free claim assessment so the position can be looked at before you commit to anything.
It is worth understanding early on that an injured passenger is not choosing between drivers. If more than one driver was careless, or if fault is disputed between them, that dispute is between their insurers. Your claim is against the responsible driver's insurance, and in practice those matters are resolved between the insurers rather than with you in the middle.
There is one important exception to the general position. If the passenger was the driver's employer and the journey was for work, or if the passenger knowingly got into a vehicle with a driver who was clearly unfit through drink or drugs, arguments about shared responsibility can arise. A solicitor can tell you early whether anything like that is likely to affect the claim.
The vehicle you were travelling in changes who the claim is brought against and what evidence tends to matter. These are the situations we deal with most often.
The most common passenger claim. Fault is usually established between the two drivers, and your claim follows whichever side is held responsible. This includes passengers in the car of a friend or family member, which is worth discussing because many people hesitate over it for reasons that turn out not to apply.
Taxi and private hire drivers owe their passengers a duty of care, and a claim can arise from the driving itself or from something else during the journey, such as a door opening onto a cyclist or a passenger being dropped somewhere unsafe. Operator records and booking data often form part of the evidence.
Bus and coach operators must keep passengers safe, and that duty covers more than the driving. Sudden braking causing a fall, being thrown by an unsecured or poorly stowed item, and injuries during boarding or alighting can all give rise to a claim. Many buses now carry internal CCTV, which is a significant evidential advantage.
Pillion passengers often sustain the most serious injuries, since a passenger has less protection to absorb an impact than a rider. Fault usually lies with another road user or with the rider, and where it lies with the rider their insurer meets the claim, not the rider personally.
Where the driver responsible cannot be traced, or was uninsured, a claim through the Motor Insurers' Bureau may be possible. These claims operate under their own rules. For untraced driver cases there is a requirement to report the incident to the police within a set period, so prompt advice genuinely matters.
If you were travelling as a passenger for work, your employer may owe duties in relation to the journey and the vehicle. This can open up a claim against an employer as well as, or instead of, the other driver, and it is worth looking at both routes rather than assuming only one applies.
This is the question that makes people hesitate most, and it deserves a straight answer. A passenger claim is met by the driver's insurance policy, not by the driver. Their no claims discount and their premium may be affected, but the compensation does not come out of their pocket, and their insurer is already there to deal with exactly this situation.
In many cases the driver has no objection at all and may actively want you to claim. Where a driver was also injured, both claims are usually handled alongside each other, often by the same insurers.
If a relationship has broken down and the other driver is being unhelpful, that does not prevent a claim. Liability can be established from the evidence, and a solicitor can pursue it without needing the driver's cooperation.
Suitable personal injury cases may be accepted under a Conditional Fee Agreement, commonly called a No Win, No Fee agreement. Acceptance depends on an assessment of liability, evidence, prospects of success and the funding arrangements available.
If the claim succeeds, a success fee may be payable. The amount and how it is calculated is explained before you decide whether to proceed, so there is no uncertainty about the position later.
How No Win, No Fee worksCompensation in a passenger injury claim is usually split between the injury itself and the financial consequences of the accident. The two are assessed separately.
Pain, suffering and effect on life
The injury itself, how severe it is, how long it lasts and how it affects work, sleep, hobbies and day to day life.
Loss of earnings
Pay already lost through time off work, and future loss where the injury affects what you are able to earn.
Treatment and rehabilitation
Physiotherapy, private treatment, surgery and rehabilitation where these are needed and evidenced.
Care and assistance
Help with household tasks, gardening, DIY or personal care that you could manage before but cannot now.
Travel and related costs
The cost of travelling to treatment and appointments, along with other expenses the accident has caused.
Future expense
Aids, equipment, adaptions and other costs likely to arise in future, where they can be properly supported.
A passenger claim looks simpler than a driver's claim, but the work behind it is much the same. It is reasonable to ask what instructing a solicitor actually adds.
Establishes who was at fault
Your solicitor works out which driver was responsible, gathers the evidence and deals with any dispute between insurers about where responsibility lies.
Obtains the medical evidence
An independent medical expert is instructed to examine you and report on the injury, its severity, your prognosis and any treatment still needed.
Quantifies the losses
Earnings, treatment, care, travel and future costs are calculated and supported with evidence, so that nothing recoverable is left out of the claim.
Deals with the insurer
Correspondence, negotiations and any arguments about liability or the level of compensation are handled for you, rather than landing on your doorstep.
Pursues the claim if needed
If a fair settlement cannot be agreed, court proceedings can be issued. Most claims settle long before a hearing, but the option is there when it is needed.
Keeps you informed
You should know where your claim stands at each significant stage. We aim to keep clients updated by whichever method of contact suits them.
If you would like to understand the process in more detail, our page on how our solicitors help sets out each stage from first enquiry to resolution.
Yes, and passengers are often in the strongest position of anyone involved. The question is usually which driver was at fault rather than whether you contributed to the collision, because you had no control over how the vehicle was driven. That makes liability more straightforward in many passenger claims than in claims brought by drivers.
Yes, and it is worth understanding why this is not as awkward as it sounds. Any claim is met by the driver's insurer rather than by the driver personally, so a successful claim does not take money out of their pocket. It can still feel uncomfortable, which is why we explain how the process works before you decide anything.
A claim may still be possible through the Motor Insurers' Bureau, which exists to compensate victims of uninsured and untraced drivers. These claims work differently from an ordinary one and have their own rules and reporting requirements, so it is worth taking advice promptly if this is your situation.
Compensation usually has two parts. The first covers the injury itself, including pain, suffering and the effect on your daily life. The second covers the financial losses the accident caused, such as lost earnings, treatment and rehabilitation, care and assistance, travel and, in serious cases, future losses where they can be evidenced.
You can, and these claims involve an additional angle. A bus or coach operator owes passengers a duty of care not only in how the vehicle is driven but in how it is maintained and how passengers are kept safe on board, including issues such as sudden braking, unsecured luggage or a boarding incident.
For most road traffic accident claims in England and Wales, the limitation period is three years from the date of the accident, or from your later date of knowledge where that applies. Exceptions exist, including for children and for people who lack mental capacity to manage their own affairs. Early advice is always sensible.
Yes. A pillion passenger injured in a motorcycle accident can claim, and the same principle applies: the focus is on which rider or driver was at fault. Motorcycle passenger injuries are frequently serious, particularly where there was no protective clothing to absorb the impact, so the medical evidence matters a great deal.
Most passenger claims settle without anyone attending court. The work is usually done by correspondence and negotiation with the other driver's insurer. Court proceedings are sometimes issued where liability is denied or a settlement cannot be agreed, but even then the majority of cases resolve before a hearing.
Injury Law Specialists is a marketing and advertising platform and is not a law firm or a provider of regulated legal services. All personal injury legal advice, legal services, casework, representation, legal support, and any free initial assessment or consultation promoted or arranged through Injury Law Specialists are provided by MB Solicitors, a trading name of MB Legal Solicitors Ltd.
MB Legal Solicitors Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales under Company Number 12281731. The firm is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) under SRA ID 8000764 and is a member of The Law Society. Injury Law Specialists does not itself provide legal advice or carry out reserved legal activities. Any solicitor-client relationship arising from an enquiry will be directly between the client and MB Legal Solicitors Ltd.
Read our Regulatory InformationTell us what happened and a member of our team can review your circumstances and explain the possible next steps. The assessment is free, there is no obligation to instruct us, and you will be speaking to someone who deals with these claims regularly.
