Is a bus driver allowed to throw my daughter off because her pass didn’t work? DEAN DUNHAM replies

I pay for my 13-year-old daughter’s bus pass to travel to and from school. 

Last week, as she swiped the pass to get on board, it didn’t work and the driver refused to let her on the bus.

I called the bus company who said it was an error with its machine. 

My daughter was upset at being left out in the snow, and I was late for work as I had to take her to school. I’m furious. 

What are my rights?

C.S., via email.

 Dean Dunham replies: The starting point is the school – whether the bus service is operated by the school itself or a private bus company – which will have a set of rules or a policy in relation to school bus service and this will form the basis of the contract.

It is almost certain that as part of these rules or policy that students must be able to produce a valid bus pass when boarding the bus, failing which they can be refused entry.

However, there is more to consider here as the operator of the bus service also owes your child a ‘duty of care’. 

This will include ensuring the safety and well-being of children, carrying out risk assessments in relation to all elements of the bus service, checking the suitability of drivers, the condition of vehicles, having appropriate safeguards in place and, importantly here, deploying discretion when approached by a child or vulnerable person without a valid bus pass and not leaving them stranded.

In your daughter’s case it would appear that the problem was not with her bus pass but with the operating company’s equipment. 

There was a further aggravating factor in that the driver not only refused her entry to the bus but left her stranded in adverse weather conditions.

My view is that this action broke the contract between the company and you, and so was a clear breach of their duty of care. You should now make a formal complaint to both the bus operator and the school.

I see no reason why you cannot ask for both an apology and reasonable compensation for the distress and inconvenience – the compensation will not be a great amount – but it will hopefully be some form of acknowledgment for the distress caused and a lesson for the operator.

Council hasn’t billed me for land rental in 45 years 

I have rented a small strip of land adjoining my garden from the council since 1975, but it hasn’t billed me for 45 years. What are my rights over the land? Do I own it?

B.E., via email.

 Dean Dunham replies: You could potentially claim ownership, but there is a procedure to go through to exercise this right where you will be claiming what’s known as ‘adverse possession’.

To make a successful claim you must demonstrate that your possession of the land has been firstly what is called ‘actual’, meaning you have physically used the land as an owner would. Secondly, that the land has been ‘open and notorious’, meaning your use of the land has been visible and obvious – in other words, the true owner is evident.

Then you must demonstrate you have been ‘exclusive’, meaning you have used the land without sharing possession with others, including the true owner. 

You must demonstrate ‘hostile’; meaning your use of the land is without the permission of the true owner; and ‘continuous’ – here you must have used the land continuously for the statutory period, which is typically ten years where the land is unregistered and 12 years where it’s registered.

The initial potential problem here is the ‘hostile’ element, as the council granted you permission to use the land. 

However, if this was withdrawn at some point in the last 45 years, or if you continued to use the land without any acknowledgment of the council’s ownership and the council did not know you were doing this (which may be the case here), you might still be able to claim adverse possession.

There is, of course, a chance that the council will not oppose an adverse possession application and, for this reason, it’s worth making the application.

If the council does dispute your application, it will be on the basis that it still owns the land as there has been no formal transfer of ownership. To make an adverse possession application you should contact the Land Registry.