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.
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 need to certify your net pay (or if you are self-employed, you may self-certify) and you will be repaid that amount. The upper limit set by the MoJ is £64.95 per day, or when inquests last more than 10 days, £129.91 for the 11th and subsequent days. These sums are fixed by law and so we cannot pay more than this, even if your usual salary is higher. We are aware that this can cause those 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 up to £2.50 parking - again, please keep your receipts. 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. You can then choose where you wish to eat and how much you wish to spend.
Expense Claim Processing
You can download the forms for claiming loss of earnings using the links below and include them with your expenses claim. If you prefer, you can also collect a copy from the court usher when you attend the inquest.
Payments are usually processed within approximately two weeks after you submit your claim at the end of the inquest.
If the inquest runs for longer than two weeks, you are welcome to submit one claim halfway through and another at the end, so that you’re not kept waiting for your reimbursement.