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Professional witnesses
A professional witness is a doctor, dentist, veterinary surgeon, lawyer, accountant or nurse practitioner who uses their job skills and knowledge to help the court understand something important about a case.
You can claim:
- a fixed amount for time spent away from home or work
- travel and parking costs
- an overnight stay
A fixed amount for time spent away from home or work
Depending on how long you were away from home or work, we will pay you a fixed amount to cover your time:
- £83.50 for less than 2 hours
- £117.00 for between 2 and 4 hours
- £174.00 for between 4 and 6 hours
- £234.00 for over 6 hours
Travel and parking costs
You can claim for different methods of travelling to and from court.
You need to show receipts or a satisfactory reason for not providing evidence of your payment for:
- train
- coach
- parking
- taxi
- plane
- ferry
You won't need to show receipts for:
- Public transport within London (Zone 1 -9) (including tube, bus, river bus, Docklands Light Railway (DLR), London Trams, Elizabeth Line and overground train)
- bus, metro, or tram outside London
- other driving costs such as Congestion Charge or tolls
You can claim a fixed amount per mile for:
| Using a bicycle |
20p per mile |
| Using a motorcycle |
24p per mile |
| Using your own car |
25p per mile |
| taking another witness or authorised person on the same journey to/from court |
2p extra per mile |
| As above for each additional passenger |
1p extra per mile |
| Using your own car instead of public transport with good reason such as no public transport or disabled |
45p per mile |
Overnight stay
You can claim expenses for an overnight stay if:
- it takes you 90 minutes or more to travel to court
- you are disabled
- you have another good reason for staying overnight
If you paid for accommodation
A paid stay in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and Newcastle upon Tyne - up to £85.25 per night for accomodation.
A paid stay elsewhere - up to £55.25 per night for accomodation.