Mr E complained when a court case in which he was a defendant was removed from the court list by mistake. His solicitors did not find out that the hearing had been cancelled until the day before it was due to start.

Mr E claimed that by that time he had already incurred costs of nearly £5,000, including briefing a barrister. His solicitors asked Her Majesty’s Courts Service (HMCS), which made the mistake, to refund the money.

HMCS apologised for their error and offered Mr E a payment of £476, which was later increased to £567.52. Unhappy with this amount, Mr E brought his complaint to us, via his MP.

We spoke to HMCS and, following our intervention, they increased their compensation offer to £1,163.97, which included £250 for the inconvenience caused by their mistake. We considered this to be a sufficient amount to remedy the injustice Mr E had experienced, and decided no further action was needed.