'A bus crashed through my garden - now the company won't pay £15,000 compensation'

'A bus crashed through my garden - now the company won't pay £15,000 compensation' Claire Read saw a bus smash through her front garden, destroying trees and a fence, but the bus company responsible told her last week she won't get any compensation A mum who saw a bus crash through her front garden, causing £15,000 of damage, says she is still waiting for the bus company to pay compensation months later. Claire Read, 41, said Go North East has refused to accept liability after one of its bus crashed into her front garden, destroying six 10-foot conifer trees, pillars, her front gates and the football goal her two kids use to play in July. It's thought the incident occurred in Stanley, County Durham, after the driver suffered a medical episode at the wheel. Four months on, welfare advisor Claire says she now looks at a "building site" and claims Go North East last week informed her they will not be paying for damages, amounting to nearly £15,000, caused by the crash, reports Chronicle Live . Claire said: "As it stands now, the property doesn’t seem to be getting fixed. We’re now into November and it’s freezing cold and I’ve still got no wall, no fence, no gates." Since July, Claire, who has ongoing health issues, says the family "have been left in disarray" and treatment from the bus company has been "abysmal". In the days following the incident, glass and debris was left scattered across the family's driveway and the public highway, leading Claire to seek help from Durham County Council to nudge Go North East to clear up. "[Go North East] eventually sent someone out who was really apologetic and said things would get sorted," but Claire says this was "very much full of false promises." Temporary fencing has been erected outside the property at the request of Claire, but she says the flimsy structure posses a safety risk. "It blew down after a day. My husband then had to secure it himself as we were concerned it would go and hit other cars. They've put that up as people were physically walking across my house and I had to ask for that to get done. The doorbell was going off all the time and causing me anxiety." Claire says she has constantly had to chase the company, and was later told by Go North East's insurance company to take out a claim against her own home insurance "because it would be a quicker process." "I did question at the time why I have to go through my insurance...because this is going to rocket it up every year. I don't want to be our of pocket for something that is completely not my fault." She was told Go North East would investigate if the driver was responsible. The family have been quoted approximately £14,500 to £15,000 from their builder to repair damages. However her insurance company state the pay-out will be £3,000-£4,000 less, leaving the family "out of pocket," Claire says. Claire went back to Go North East last week asking a surveyor be sent out to assess damages to see if there was a disparity in cost but was subsequently informed they will not be paying for any damages. She has since been recommended to take independent legal advice. The family as it stands are looking to accept the offer from the insurance company. Claire says the only way they can make it feasible in order to foot the bill is if her husband takes holidays from work to complete the needed labour work. She adds: "I can't understand how a big company would go down that route. "It's all well and good saying get independent legal advice, but how much will that cost? We're not millionaires, we both work, we've got two kids, we run a house. "From my point of view I’ve been really upset about it because it has caused a lot of anguish," Claire continued. "We’ve had a whole summer of people staring into our property because it’s made it wide open. the property is on a main road so it's far from ideal." A Go North East spokesperson said: "In July, we were made aware of an incident involving one of our buses in Stanley and supported the relevant authorities with their enquiries. We are unable to comment on individual circumstances and cases related to the incident." A letter addressed to Claire and her husband from Gallagher Bassett, Claims Handling Agents for Go North East, seen by ChronicleLive states: "We are sorry to note the loss and damage that you suffered as a result of this unfortunate accident. We have now completed our investigations into the accident. "It has been concluded that, unfortunately, the bus driver suffered a medical episode whilst out driving the bus that was involuntary, sudden and unforeseen. In such circumstances, that allows our Principal, Go North East, to repudiate liability and to defend any claim against. Such a defence is known as an Automatism defence. As such, we regret that we are unable to make any offer to you." Claire added: “We didn't feel it was very empathetic given that there is thousands of pounds worth of damage to the property."