Jury service expenses are ridiculous

This is the issue for me, that the money paid isnt the same as NMW.

Two weeks out of work for jury service....fine. But two weeks that mean I cant pay my bills (already on a v low income) not fine.

As it is I was called late 2024 and was excused as I am a carer for my parents but I work the maximum part time hours too because otherwise I would be surviving on minimum UC and carers allowance.

The expenses should be based on an 8 hour day at NMW with travel etc on top.

It’s not fair that it should cost money, though. Plenty of people are on tight budgets as it is. I agree that no one should be making money from it, but they shouldn’t be losing out either.

It’s a civic duty so we’re kind of lucky they pay anything out at all

DH did jury service a few years ago, luckily his employer paid his usual wages, but claiming them was a bit of a palaver. A woman at the same time got a deferral as she had dogs to look after and no help.

I was excused several years ago with a small child and no alternative childcare.
They managed to summon my mother two months after she died. 🙄

How does it interact with benefits? And requirements to jobseek?

You can defer, but when they call you up again, you can't defer again ... expenses are terrible and even employers aren't obliged to pay you,though must release you for the time.

My retired DH was called to jury service, to a court 40 miles away, at the time he wasn’t driving and public transport is awful here.
He wanted to do it but it meant leaving at 7am and not getting back until 8pm. Luckily the case was ‘only’ 10 days but he was well out of pocket by the end with taxis, train fares, food and drink etc.

The expenses really are that low. I was on a zero hours contract when I did it and my employer kindly paid me my average salary but they weren't obliged to. Hope you can defer.

I sometimes wonder what would happen if I was called. I have 2 children in primary school, both likely ASD but undiagnosed as yet. In theory I could put them into afterschools each day (I.e. afterschools has space for them), but in practice neither of them would cope with having to go every day for weeks on end. They’d be ok for a day or two but then would get overwhelmed by it.

Without a diagnosis I’m not sure that that would be accepted, though. We’ve no one else who could take them; again they can’t cope with too much of a change in routine and would likely both end up in massive meltdown.

I mean, you can surely see why this is a bad idea?!

I've never been called. I'm 60 and early retired from an IT job and would love it (I think!). Maybe there should be a database of people who'd like to do it and never been called.

I was fortunate that my employer still paid me. I also claimed the expenses so I was actually in profit. It was the most boring 10 days of my life. I wasn't asked once. Just sat there hour after hour!

Childcare is a good reason to defer.

I did a jury service a few years ago. I had a 2 year old toddler at the time and got my name drawn for a case to do with child abuse.. i explained I would not be able to do it as even thinking about such case was making me very upset as a mum of a little one. They were very understanding and didn’t call me on that case. I’d advise you to defer in your circumstances.

I did jury service end of September which I had deferred. When I deferred I had to list 3 new dates I was able to do.

My daughter was called up last year for jury service, she's developmentally under 3 months and tempting though it was to drop her off at court then dash home for a sleep, I filled in the forms and she was excused, but from what I recall, I had to put a lot of detail in, it wasn't as straightforward as I would have thought.

Some time ago I got called for jury service when my daughter was about 2. I was working as a contractor (so if I didn’t work, I wouldn’t get paid) and my daughter was in FT childcare which was just about covered by my contract. I called the court and explained the situation - they suggested that I deferred, explaining that it would cause me serious financial hardship.
ive actually never been called since.

@OutieModeOn is correct in that you can defer once but next time you have to do it, usually within the year. I am puzzled as to why people seem so keen - I did it as my duty but is incredibly traumatic with no support afterwards, I didn’t feel safe with the defendants not remanded (travelling on the same train each day) and the public gallery who were clearly checking us out. My case took 7.5 weeks. Each member of the jury who felt they had a valid reason for not being on “the long case” had to step forward and explain to the judge, in the courtroom with everyone present (including defendants and their barristers) in the first day. I had to explain a very personal reason and was denied though court didn’t sit for one day, allowing me to go to the prearranged event (think family wedding hundreds of miles away). It was a massive learning curve with the intelligence and information we had to learn. At the end one of the original three was found guilty. I have a letter exempting me for 15 years. From time to time I google to see if I can find out the sentence - a few months ago I discovered to my dismay that the judge used the wrong sentencing guidelines and he got 2 years where he should’ve got 7+. Which means he’s definitely out now.

Was this per day or for the whole of your service? I use to be a member but cancelled a couple of years ago because I couldn't justify the cost. Now I'm starting to question this!

Just defer and say you have no childcare or similar. I did that and wasn't called again for 15 years!!!

I'd love to do it but that wouldn't cover my day rate. Is it even minimum wage?

I loved the jury service when I did it, but yes, for you I would defer in your position

Be careful what you wish for.

You might be sitting through horrendous details and look at pictures and hear 999 evidence.

It might be so bad, your excused jury service altogether. You've got to live with it though.

Why would you wish that on yourself.
There's no way on earth I want to.listen to gruesome and vile things in a courtroom. Hardly fun is it?

It cost us a fortune when DH did it as he was self employed at the time... I didn't know until reading these comments that you could defer on that basis!

I was excused. Briefly explained that I’m a single parent without any support and a day-rate contractor.