Failure to explain the rules on giving notice to the court

What happened

Mr J's case was due to be heard in the small claims court on the 20 October. When HMCTS wrote to him confirming the hearing it said it would refund the hearing fee if he gave notice that the case had been settled at least seven days before the hearing date. On 13 October Mr J told the court the claim had been settled, and he asked for a refund. HMCTS refused to refund the fee because it said he should have given seven days' notice, excluding the day of the hearing and the day he notified it.

What we found

Under the law and the rules under which HMCTS works, 'seven days' notice' has a special meaning, which is that the day of notifying the court and the day of the hearing do not count. Therefore, HMCTS was right in saying that Mr J did not give it enough notice to have his fee refunded. However, HMCTS should have explained this meaning in all the information it gave the public. The standard letter it sent to Mr J did not make this clear, and based on that, it was reasonable for him to think he had given the court enough notice to have his fee refunded. As Mr J's case was only settled on 13 October, and we were not satisfied it could have been done much sooner, it was unlikely that he could have given the court enough notice to get a refund. Nevertheless, the failure by HMCTS to clearly explain the rules on giving notice caused Mr J unnecessary frustration and annoyance.

Putting it right

HMCTS apologised to Mr J for not clearly explaining how it calculated periods of notice, and the frustration and annoyance this caused. It also reworded its standard letters to make sure that its rules were clearly explained.