Jury Duty

critterfritter

Hi All

I hope someone could help me with this one. Me and my partner have our own business, bringing about £100 each per day. My partner has been asked to attend jury duty which is all very well , but my question is : is she entitled to claim back the lost income from business activity for the duration of the duty ? We can easily prove the loss but im unsure how this works in practice?


Any information greatly appreciated

elsien

If you have any queries about jury service, you can contact the Jury Central Summoning Bureau on 0845 3555567. Lines are open 9.00 am to 5.00 pm Monday to Friday.

eglons

Did you get an answer to this, I'm in the same situation (I'm a one person limited company paying myself a very small salary and the rest in dividend depending on how the company does).. I'm worried I wont get any sort of recompense other than my very low salary,

anniecave

It's my understanding that loss of income or similar are not claimable.

I believe that sometimes if you contact them or write to them detailing the circumstances then they may decide to let you off.

I know someone who works as an IT consultant for our company, and also a business consultant for other companies. He got summoned for jury duty and another company he works for was working on a really important project and needed him to be there, and the fact that he couldn't be there was going to cost them loads in everyones time and lost opportunities and all sorts. The company was threatening to sue as it was worth that much to them. He had to go to jury duty though! The other company was furious!

I was told once that the courts are more favourable to small businesses as they appreciate it can cause problems, so it's worth asking. Larger companies are expected to be able to deal with it.

eglons

Hi my questiom isn't "can I get off", it's can I claim the lost earnings allowance basd on what I earn for my own company rather than what I earn weekly in my pay packet (which as a director isn't the way it works!).

Oldernotwiser

eglons wrote: »

Did you get an answer to this, I'm in the same situation (I'm a one person limited company paying myself a very small salary and the rest in dividend depending on how the company does).. I'm worried I wont get any sort of recompense other than my very low salary,

Well, that's what happens when you fiddle the system!

eglons

Well thanks for that!... you are obviously an expert in company finances so please enlighten me on what fiddling I'm doing... the company pays corporation tax on profits and I run the risk of zero income if the work dries up. It's how pretty much all contractors are advised to run their companies.

Please feel free not to reply unless you could possibly help with the question originally asked.

McKneff

You do get a certain amount of loss of earnings, cant remember how much it is but its certainly not£100 a day. You can also claim subsistence allowance and
travelling expenses.
Google Jury service and you will get your answers.

eglons

Thanks, I've tried googling it but the question is too specific. You can get up to £65/day loss of earnings, I really just need to find out whether earnings means "salary" or whether dividend income from my own company counts. I'll call them today and find out.

heretolearn_2

You don't directly get any compensation based on your earnings. There is a fixed rate of compensation you may be able to claim.

also, you can put off jury service sometimes if it's going to cause you problems in your business- you should have information on how to do this. You can't do this indefinitely though, you have to go at some point.

eglons

heretolearn wrote: »

You don't directly get any compensation based on your earnings. There is a fixed rate of compensation you may be able to claim.

also, you can put off jury service sometimes if it's going to cause you problems in your business- you should have information on how to do this. You can't do this indefinitely though, you have to go at some point.

Actually I think you are wrong on both counts there. Compensation is based on loss of earnings up to a max of £63.12 a day. You can be excused from jury service if it's going to cause personal hardship. I'd be wrong to claim that as the family would survive on the loss of earnings payment, but I would struggle if I lost earnings completely and got no loss of earnings cover.