Hurt on a bus, or hit by one? You can claim.

You don't always need a collision

The thing people don't expect about bus claims: there often isn't a crash in the usual sense. A sudden stop, a sharp swerve, or a jolt that throws a standing passenger can cause real injury without any two vehicles ever touching. And that can still be a CTP claim against the bus's green slip insurer.

The scheme is about injury caused by the use of a motor vehicle — and a bus braking hard enough to fling a passenger into a pole is exactly that. You don't need a dented bumper to have a claim.

The different ways people are hurt by buses

As a passenger

Thrown by a sudden stop or swerve, falling on the steps, or injured in a collision the bus was part of. As a passenger you carry no fault and have your own CTP claim in your own right. See passenger claim NSW.

As a pedestrian

Struck by a bus while crossing or walking near a stop. A pedestrian injured by a bus is covered by the motor accident scheme just like anyone hit by any vehicle.

As a cyclist

Hit by a bus, or forced off the road by one. A cyclist injured in a motor accident has a CTP claim against the at-fault vehicle's insurer.

Who you claim against

You claim against the CTP insurer of the at-fault vehicle:

• If the bus was at fault — including for a sudden stop or swerve — it's the bus's green slip insurer.
• If another vehicle caused the crash — it's that vehicle's insurer.
• If the at-fault driver fled or was uninsured — the Nominal Defendant scheme can step in. See uninsured driver NSW.

As a passenger or pedestrian you don't have to resolve fault first — you claim, and we handle the liability side.

Proving what happened on a crowded bus

Buses feel hard to prove because it all happens fast among strangers. In practice the evidence is often strong:

• Witnesses — crowding means people saw it. Get details if you can.
• CCTV — buses commonly carry multiple cameras.
• Route and service time — pins down exactly which service.
• Your Opal tap record — places you on that bus at that time.
• The driver's incident report and the operator's records.

We work to obtain the footage and records before they're cycled out.

What the claim covers

• Statutory benefits — income support if the injury stops you working, plus treatment, rehab and care, for up to 52 weeks. See statutory benefits explained.
• A damages claim — the lump sum where your injury is non-threshold and someone else was at fault. See the damages claim explained.

One point worth flagging: a sudden-stop or swerve injury can be harder to pin down than a clear collision, because the bus may carry no visible damage and the driver may not even have realised someone was hurt. That doesn't weaken your claim — it just makes the early steps matter more. Reporting the incident promptly, getting checked, and securing the CCTV before it's overwritten are what turn "the bus stopped hard and I went flying" into a documented, claimable injury.

What to do after a bus injury

1. Get medical attention, and see a GP if anything aches in the following days.
2. Note the route, the service time and the bus details while fresh.
3. Get witness contacts before everyone scatters.
4. Get the CTP claim in inside 28 days. See the 28-day rule.

What we do for you

One call. We get the claim in inside 28 days, set up treatment and income support, and chase the CCTV, the operator records and the witness evidence so what happened is clear. Where your injury is non-threshold we build the damages claim. We don't take a contingency cut from your damages.

Take the short check at /check, or call (02) 7238 7379 and a real person picks up.