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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HMCTS's failure to get court papers to judge led to hearing postponement and unnecessary costs

Summary 113 | June 2014

A hearing on contact and residence for Ms A's children had to be postponed for four months because HMCTS did not send the court papers to the judge. HMCTS refused to pay Ms A's legal costs for the postponed hearing.

Lost pension entitlement: what can we do when no evidence is available?

Summary 112 | June 2014

Ms W missed out on a lump sum when she decided not to collect her state pension for the first two years after she became eligible for it. Her other benefits meant that she could not defer her claim for more than 12 months.

Jobcentre Plus carried out a reasonable investigation, but the Independent Case Examiner (ICE) did not

Summary 111 | June 2014

Jobcentre Plus deducted the wrong amount from Miss P's benefit for about two and a half years and paid this to the water company she owed money to.

New Zealand citizen waited over four years for routine decision on application to settle in the UK

Summary 110 | June 2014

UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) made a series of mistakes dealing with an application to settle in the UK from Mr D, who had already lived here for 14 years, forcing him to wait an extra four years for a decision.

A farmer's paper chase

Summary 109 | June 2014

Mr H and the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) needed to agree the exact details of the land he farmed. It resulted in a paper chase that lasted three years.

Child Support Agency put things right, but Independent Case Examiner (ICE) missed an opportunity

Summary 108 | June 2014

Mr F complained that the Agency backdated arrears and did not properly consider evidence of his payments.

Cafcass failed to amend incorrect safeguarding information

Summary 107 | June 2014

Cafcass missed several opportunities to correct a serious error in its safeguarding report.

Three serious mistakes by Cafcass

Summary 106 | June 2014

Cafcass wrongly told a man with dyslexia that he could not have anyone with him at interview, did not check information before putting it in a report and did not recognise or apologise for its mistakes.

Cafcass closes case in error

Summary 105 | June 2014

Cafcass's administrative errors caused a father extra distress at an already difficult time.

OFT's decision was based on an overly narrow view

Summary 104 | June 2014

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) did not tell Mr J about its investigations into a company and its reprimand of that company.