Case summaries

These short, anonymised stories show the profound impact that failures in public services can have on the lives of individuals and their families.

Please note we have not published any new case summaries on this page since 2015. In April 2021 we began publishing our casework decision statements and investigation reports on our decisions portal.

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The Student Loans Company paid the correct grant for childcare but did not properly consider personal reasons for a study grant

Summary 93 | May 2014

Miss W gave compelling personal reasons for not completing a year of her course but the Student Loans Company (SLC) did not tell her whether or not it would accept them. This influenced whether she would receive a Special Support Grant in the next academic year.

Child Support Agency takes more than seven years to do the right thing

Summary 92 | May 2014

The Agency's poor case handling meant Ms C struggled for seven years to get it to act properly. Its failings had a huge impact on her mental health and caused her to attempt suicide.

Cafcass was correct to tell Ms N that she should challenge its officer's judgment in court

Summary 91 | May 2014

Although Cafcass was right to tell Ms N that she should challenge its report in court, a Cafcass officer was wrong when she failed to go to all the court hearings.

Development Agency wrongly awarded over £150,000 grant to rural centre

Summary 90 | May 2014

Equestrian Centre B asked for compensation for 'displacement' of its business because of what it alleged was a development authority's wrongful approval of Equestrian Centre F's funding application.

Cafcass's poor communication caused aborted hearing

Summary 89 | April 2014

Cafcass's mishandling of Mr G's case caused stress, inconvenience and wasted time.

HMRC's Tax Credit Office literature found to be misleading

Summary 88 | April 2014

Mrs A used the Tax Credit Office's (TCO) leaflet TC600/10 to fill in her tax credit application form but the leaflet had ambiguous advice that led her to incorrectly tick a box she should not have. This caused Mrs A to be overpaid tax credit, which she had to pay back a year later.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service wrongly said a document was a valid court order

Summary 87 | April 2014

HMCTS told Mr and Mrs D that a document was a valid order because it had a court seal on it. It said this even though the document did not contain key information the rules say it should have on it, including the date it was issued.

Immigration Enforcement handled detainee's complaint about care and treatment poorly

Summary 86 | April 2014

Immigration Enforcement (IE) detained Mr H in an immigration removal centre. He complained about a number of issues, including not receiving appropriate medical care.

Japanese woman turned back at the border

Summary 85 | April 2014

Ms W, who was visiting the UK as a student, found that a short break in Sweden ended with a night in immigration detention.

The hidden cost of immigration delays

Summary 84 | April 2014

A family asked for official permission to stay in the UK. The parents expected a long wait, but they had not expected it to cost them thousands of pounds.