A rider whose life has been changed by the serious injuries she sustained when a bus passed her horse dangerously has won compensation, years later, thanks to the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB).
Margaret Jefferies fractured her pelvis and ribs, and suffered head and spinal soft-tissue injuries, when she fell on pavement after her horse was spooked by the bus in September 2019. Last month, she was awarded nearly £70,000 by the MIB, which exists to compensate people who have been injured by negligent drivers, who are untraced or uninsured.
“I was lucky really because I could have died, couldn’t I?” Margaret told H&H. “My daughter thought I was dead.”
Margaret was riding her own young cob Easy when the accident occurred, with her daughter and another horse.
“My daughter saw the bus had turned into the road but it was quite a long way off and we were going to turn off that road,” Margaret said. “But before we could, it had swooped past us, quite fast and close.
“I don’t remember what happened as I passed out; the last thing I remember is my horse tensing and feeling ready to run. But my daughter said my horse cantered off round the corner, and I was lying on the pavement. The bus didn’t stop; maybe the driver didn’t realise what had happened. There are lots of horses round here and the buses are normally really good – but this one wasn’t, unfortunately.”
Neither Margaret nor her daughter saw the bus’s numberplate, and Margaret said her granddaughter contacted the bus company that uses that route, but had no reply. So Margaret did not think she had any options for compensation for her injuries, the effects of which she still suffers.
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Hanna Campbell of HorseSolicitor told H&H her firm sent a letter of claim to the bus company, on the basis that Margaret was riding on a route it uses.
“The insurer of the bus company denied any involvement in the accident on the part of its insured and rejected the claim,” she said. “Due to a lack of evidence to establish liability against the bus company, we then brought a claim against the Motor Insurers’ Bureau.
“I hope that this case raises awareness of the MIB and a rider’s right to compensation, even when the person responsible for the accident didn’t make contact with the horse, fled the scene, and remains untraced.
“Passing a horse and rider at more than 10mph and closer than two meters is in breach of the Highway Code and, as a rider myself, I am passionate about increasing access to justice for equestrians.”
Various issues slowed the resolution of the case, including Covid and the MIB medical expert taking a sabbatical, but the claim was settled on 4 December 2025.
Margaret said she now suffers from a bad back, and cannot stand for long periods.
“I was 68 or 69 at the time and I think the thought is I would probably have some arthritis by now but it wouldn’t be this bad,” she said. “I can’t walk unaided, I had to stop working and riding, although I’ve still got the horse and go to see him. It has changed my life completely, but I just have to get on with it.
“The MIB was very good; they let me have interim payments before it was settled, and when it was, it was paid within a week. I didn’t know about them, I think a lot of people don’t, but it’s important to know they cover this sort of thing.”
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.
