Jury Service and the self-employed

I was summoned for Jury Service earlier this week, for three weeks in November.

Being self-employed I was concerned about the impact that would have on my earnings; i.e. if I'm not here, I don't earn anything.

So I immediately rang the Coroner's Court to ask the question. I spoke to three people before I got through to someone who knew the answer. Before I reached her, I was thinking: "Surely I'm not the first person to ask this question!" I would have thought many people would have asked this before and everybody in the coroner's office would know the answer straight away.

The answer, by the way, was a desultory £32.95 for four hours, and a vague "about £60" for a full day - plus expenses (car travel, car park) in both cases. Not much, eh?

The justice system doesn't seem to put much value on the self-employed!