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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. 

 

Type
Type
Health cases only
HMCTS's poor communication with man in his nineties about bailiff visits
Summary 795 |
Mr A complained that HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) sent bailiffs to the wrong address under the terms of a warrant to recover money he was owed. Mr A complained about how HMCTS dealt with his complaint. He said the court was difficult to contact and it did not update him properly about what the bailiffs were doing to get his money back.
Child Support Agency failures meant man accrued maintenance arrears
Summary 794 |
The Child Support Agency (CSA) told Mr N that his maintenance liability was lower than it should have been, leading him to accrue arrears. The Independent Case Examiner (ICE) failed to take into account the non‑financial impact of this error.
Small claims case struck out at court after man followed instructions
Summary 792 |
Mr R complained that HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) did not give him enough information on court form N157, that the court did not send him guidance and that the court did not give a judge a letter that said Mr R was not going to be at the hearing.
Wrong advice had repercussions for farmer
Summary 790 |
The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) mistakenly told a small farmer that he could claim and receive over £4,000 in subsidy. He paid a full price for his pay–out.
When farm subsidies become a lottery
Summary 789 |
A part–time farmer learnt the hard way that government departments make mistakes – even when it comes to paying out thousands of pounds too much in farm subsidies.
No compensation for landowner following subsidy errors
Summary 786 |
Rural Payments Agency's (RPA) failure to automatically send a landowner a 2011 claim form and guidance was not the sole or direct cause of the landowner's failure to claim a subsidy in 2011.