[2025] UKUT 147 (AAC)

Ms BMC then applied to the Upper Tribunal. She told me she did so rather than renewing the set-aside application in the First-tier Tribunal because she was keen to move this along and perceived applying to the Upper Tribunal to be the quickest route.

Ms BMC said in her completed application form to the Upper Tribunal that she “was unaware of the court date” for the First-tier Tribunal hearing because “the letter got sent to the wrong address”. I directed an oral hearing for her to explain further.

The Upper Tribunal held an oral hearing by video, before me, of Ms BMC’s permission application.

Ms BMC represented herself at the Upper Tribunal hearing. CICA did not attend and was not represented. The First-tier Tribunal did not attend and was not represented either.

Ms BMC explained to me at the hearing that she had never received the notice of hearing informing her of the date of the First-tier Tribunal hearing.

She explained to me that, when she had heard nothing from the First-tier Tribunal, she telephoned that tribunal to ask what was going on. She told me that the lady who took her call said “it had gone to court and they had refused it”. She told me the lady told her the address to which the First-tier Tribunal had sent the notice of hearing (and the address to which, later, the tribunal decision and accompanying forms had been sent). Ms BMC told me that the address the lady gave her was not Ms BMC’s address. Ms BMC recalled that the lady told her the notice of hearing had gone to [name] Square, but not to number 4 which was (and is) Ms BMC’s address. Ms BMC thought she recalled the lady telling her that the notice of hearing (and the decision and forms) had been sent to 12 [same name as in previous sentence] Square. Ms BMC explained to me that her neighbours did not “really know” her to bring the letter to her. She also pointed out that this was not a case of misdelivery where the address on the envelope had been number 4 (her own address) but it had gone to number 12. Rather, the envelope had not been addressed to her address in the first place, she explained, according at least to the lady who took her call in the First-tier Tribunal. So the recipients would not know which house to bring it to even if they wanted to be neighbourly and do so, explained Ms BMC.