HM Courts & Tribunals Service failed to consider all the evidence when pursuing customer for fine

What happened

Ms A was given a fixed penalty notice. When the police wrote to her asking her to pay the fine, they did not tell her to do so within 28 days. Ms A missed the deadline and the police referred her fine to HMCTS. Ms A explained to HMCTS what had happened but it failed to take this into account when deciding whether she had to pay the fine. It later reconsidered its decision, taking into account the fact the police had not given Ms A a deadline, but its decision that Ms A needed to pay the fine remained the same.

What we found

HMCTS failed to take the missing deadline into account when it first considered Ms A's case. It eventually took it into account and reached the same conclusion that the fine still stood. Ms A lost confidence in HMCTS's decision making, which was why she did not then pay the fine when she was asked to. However, Ms A was still required to pay the fine so she did not suffer a financial injustice as a result of HMCTS's error.

Putting it right

HMCTS apologised to Ms A for its error in not taking into account the information she provided when it first considered her case.