Claiming expenses
The allowances you can claim are set out by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and are the same as for jurors in all other courts. They aim to ensure that jurors are paid back fairly for money they have spent coming to court and any pay they have lost.
Loss of earnings
If you are employed, and your employer will not continue to pay you while on jury service, you can claim for loss of earnings. Your employer will certify your net pay (or if you are self-employed, you may self-certify) and you will be repaid that amount. There is an upper limit set by the MoJ of £64.95 per day, or when inquests last more than 10 days, £129.91 for the 11th and subsequent days. We cannot pay more than this, even if your usual salary is higher. This causes some people on higher salaries to be out of pocket, for which we apologise.
To self-certify, you will need to provide written proof of your normal earnings. Most people do this by giving the summary page of their last year's tax return.
Childcare
If you need to pay for childcare, we will repay your expenses, up to the same limits. You must submit a receipt from a registered provider. If you are claiming for loss of earnings and childcare, the limits apply to the total of both amounts.
Transport
You can claim for standard class public transport at cost. Please keep your receipts. We do not pay for taxi travel.
You can claim for car travel at 25p per mile. We will calculate this for you based on your home postcode. You may also claim for parking - again, please keep your receipts. You should use a reasonably priced car park. We will not pay any parking fines or lost ticket fees.
Lunch
We will give you an allowance of £5.71 per day for lunch, except on days when we provide food. You can then choose where you wish to eat and how much you wish to spend. There is no need to keep receipts for this.
Make your expenses claim
You can download forms for claiming loss of earnings and submit as part of your expense claim, or you can get a copy from the court clerk when you attend.
Your payment will come through around two weeks after you make your claim at the end of the inquest. If the inquest lasts more than two weeks, you can make one claim halfway through and a second at the end so you are not kept waiting for your money.