The Bus Appeals Body

Had a bad experience on the bus ?

The Bus Appeals Body may be able to help you
More than four billion bus journeys are made in Britain every year. Most of them are fine, but sometimes things can go wrong. When they do, we hope the bus company will answer your complaint properly. If you have complained about a local bus journey and are not happy with the way it’s been handled, then we may be able to help you.

What you need to do
If you have a problem with a bus journey, please get in touch with the head of customer services at the bus company (write, email or phone) as soon as possible. You should be able to find the address in your local phone book, bus timetable or on the internet. Give them as much detail as you can:

• the service number of the bus
• where you were travelling to and from.
• the time and the date, and
• any other details you may have that will help them identify the bus (like its registration number) and the driver.

If you bought a ticket on that trip and still have it, send that to them too. And tell them exactly what the problem was. Please keep a copy of your letter and ticket(s).

Give the company up to four weeks to reply to you. Hopefully the company will sort out your complaint and that will be the end of the matter.

But if they don’t reply, or you don’t agree with what they say, you can take it further. Write to Bus Users UK, PO Box 119, Shepperton, TW17 8UX or email us at enquiries@bususers.org with copies of your letter and any letters you’ve had back from the bus company. Bus Users UK will try to sort the matter out, and if we can’t we will pass it on to the Bus Appeals Body.

What is the Bus Appeals Body?
The Bus Appeals Body was set up by Bus Users UK, which looks after the interests of passengers, and the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT), which looks after the interests of bus companies, to review complaints about local bus and scheduled coach services. 

Which companies are covered?
The Bus Appeals Body will deal with complaints arising on the services of any bus or coach company in England (outside London) or Wales, but you do need to have contacted the bus company first

There are official organisations that cover bus services in:

• London: London Travelwatch, 6 Middle Street, London EC1A 7JA
  tel: 020 7505 9000
  website: www.londontravelwatch.org.uk
  email: enquiries@londontravelwatch.org.uk
• Scotland: Bus Passengers’ Platform, Scottish Government, Area 2D Dockside, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh EH6 6QQ
  tel: 0131 244 5306
  website: www.transportscotland.gov.uk/public-transport/PVS/bus-complaints
  email: buscomplaints@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
• Northern Ireland: Northern Ireland Consumer Council, 116 Holywood Road, Belfast BT4 1NY
  tel: 028 9067 2488, fax: 028 9065 7701
  website: www.consumercouncil.org.uk/transport/buses-and-trains
  email: info@consumercouncil.org.uk

Who is on the Bus Appeals Body?
The Bus Appeals Body is an independent organisation. It consists of:

• a passenger representative from Bus Users UK,
• a bus company representative nominated by CPT, and
• an independent chairman.

Who can bring an appeal to the Body?
It deals with complaints from (or on behalf of) individuals. It can’t take complaints from organisations.

What can I appeal about?
The Bus Appeals Body will look at complaints about local bus and express coach services. It doesn’t cover coach excursions, holidays or private hire coaches. (Many coach holidays are covered by CPT’s Bonded Coach Holidays scheme.)
It covers operational matters, such as:

• delays and problems caused to you if a bus doesn’t turn up or run to time,
• being charged the wrong fare, and
• the behaviour of drivers and other company staff.

It can’t deal with policy and commercial issues such as:

• fare levels,
• places that buses run to (or don’t run to), or
• timetables

When can the Bus Appeals Body get involved?
You must write to the bus company first. You can contact Bus Users UK if you’re not satisfied with their response, or if you’re not happy with how long the company is taking to respond. Because it will be difficult to find evidence, we will not normally consider appeals raised more than three months after the original incident.

How can I appeal?
If your journey was in England, please write to:
Bus Users UK, PO Box 119, Shepperton, TW17 8UX
email: enquiries@bususers.org
Tel: 01932 232574

If it was in Wales, please write to:
Bus Users UK Cymru, PO BOX 1045,Cardiff CF11 1JE
email: wales@bususers.org
Tel: 029 2022 1370

Please send as much detail as possible. If you can, send copies of all correspondence (including emails if you’ve used email) with the bus or coach company.

Next Steps
Bus Users UK will contact the bus company and try to resolve the matter. If we can’t, we will pass it on to the Bus Appeals Body, which will invite the bus company to investigate the matter and then put their side of the story. CPT has a Code of Conduct on Customer Suggestions and Complaints and they will consider whether the company has followed it or not.
The Bus Appeals Body will then write to you and the bus company to say whether or not it considers your complaint was handled properly.

If the Body thinks the bus company has not handled your complaint properly it will suggest a solution, bearing in mind any offer they may have already made to you. It may be that it will get them to refund a taxi fare, for instance. The bus company will then get in touch with you directly.
The Bus Appeals Body aims to take no more than eight weeks from receiving a case to reach a decision, though occasionally it takes longer if the case is complicated.

Does the company have to do what the Body suggests?
No. It can’t force companies to make payments or to take any other action. However, most companies accept its decisions. There are two good reasons for this.

Firstly, the Bus Appeals Body’s findings are public. You can tell the local papers what has been decided, as can Bus Users UK, the Confederation of Passenger Transport, the company or the Bus Appeals Body itself.

Secondly, bus and coach companies can’t run without a licence. The Bus Appeals Body will tell the Traffic Commissioner, who licences all bus operators, about the complaint, the appeal and the outcome if it is not dealt with properly by the operator. The Traffic Commissioner may then call the operator to a meeting or inquiry and when the licence comes up for renewal, he or she can take the matter into account. If it’s really serious he or she can fine the company or even stop them running.

What if I reach agreement with the company before the Bus Appeals Body gives its findings?
If either you or the company tells the Bus Appeals Body that you have agreed a settlement, we will stop dealing with the case.

How does using the Bus Appeals Body affect my options?
Making use of the Bus Appeals Body does not stop you taking up the matter through other channels, like your local trading standards department or the Courts. We hope though we can resolve the matter without you having to take it further.

BUS APPEALS BODY

MEMBERSHIP AND TERMS OF REFERENCE

Membership

Terms of Reference
1. The Bus Appeals Body (BAB) will consider complaints arising from the operation of local bus and scheduled coach services [not policy or commercial matters on routes, times, level of service or pricing]. It will not deal with matters within the purview of London Travelwatch.

2. The BAB will deal with complaints arising from individuals’ use or attempted use of such services [not "group actions"].

3. The BAB will only act where the user has first addressed their complaint to the operator concerned, at the appropriate level [this is equivalent to the notion of the "premature complaint" to the local government ombudsman].

4. The BAB will not normally consider appeals raised more than three months after the date of the original incident, except in exceptional circumstances.

5. The Bus Appeals Body is unable to accept appeals which relate to matters which are, or are likely to become, the subject of a criminal investigation by the Police or any other official agency (eg OFT). Whilst we will consider claims for compensation for direct losses incurred, we do not possess the expertise to assess personal injury claims and regret therefore that we cannot consider such matters that would normally be dealt with through insurance claims or by a court of law.

6. Bus Users UK will act as a first point of contact for users, progressing, with the Body, complaints which it judges to be within these terms of reference.

7. The BAB will invite the operator to comment in writing on the facts of the complaint, explaining that the operator still has the opportunity to reach an amicable settlement with the user.

8. The BAB will consider the facts of the case and the extent to which the Code of Best Practice on Customer Suggestions and Complaints has been followed.

9. The BAB will give a written opinion on whether or not the complaint is justified.

10. The BAB will suggest an appropriate form of redress (if any), considering any offer already made by the operator.

11. The relevant Traffic Commissioner will be notified if an operator fails to act on its recommendations.

12. The BAB’s findings will not be binding on operators, but failure to abide by the Code of Practice on Customer Suggestions and Complaints and/or the findings of the Body may be taken into account by the relevant Traffic Commissioner when determining whether the operator is of good repute for the purposes of section 17(1) of the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981.

13. The operator may agree a settlement with the user at any point in the procedure; the BAB will cease to deal with a complaint on notification by either party that an agreed settlement has been reached.

14. The BAB reserves the right not accept vexatious appeals.

CPT CODE OF BEST PRACTICE ON CUSTOMER SUGGESTIONS AND COMPLAINTS
1. Operators should nominate a senior manager to oversee the complaints handling procedure. The nominee need not necessarily be involved on a day-to-day basis with the answering of complaints, but will be responsible for devising a procedure to ensure that the requirements of this Code are followed by, for example, supervising a system whereby the receipt and progress of all complaints are logged.

2. All complaints, whether made in writing, in person or by telephone should be investigated and dealt with by the operator or passed to the relevant authority.

3. Following receipt of a complaint, a response should be sent within one week. If this is not possible, an acknowledgement should be sent within one week and a response or further follow-up within three weeks.

4. If the complaint topic is outside the operator’s responsibility, the response should include the name and address of the relevant body and, if appropriate, confirmation that the complaint has been passed on.

5. The operator’s conditions of carriage and company regulations should be available to passengers on request.

6. Passengers who are dissatisfied with an operator’s handling of a complaint in relation to any aspect of the operation of a local bus or scheduled coach service may raise the matter with the Bus Appeals Body (BAB), a non-statutory body with bus operator and consumer representatives. The BAB will advise all parties whether a complaint is justified and will recommend appropriate redress to the operator. The BAB can be contacted through Bus Users UK, PO Box 119, Shepperton TW17 8UX.

7. Operators should ensure that where possible all relevant vehicles carry an internal notice giving the name of the designated official in the operator’s organisation and the address to which complaints should be sent, together with contact details for the Bus Appeals Body. Information should also be provided, in the form of a leaflet, about other bodies, such as local authorities, Traffic Commissioners and Bus User Groups to whom complaints may be addressed in certain circumstances. The relevant contact points on notices and leaflets should be agreed locally. Notices should be posted in a conspicuous position (on both decks of a double deck bus, where practicable).

8. Operators should ensure that timetables, and wherever possible other promotional materials, carry the same information as the notice displayed in the vehicle.

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