Small-Claims.net

If you receive a claim form there are several ways you can deal with it:-

A. Admit the Claim; or

B. Dispute the Claim; and/or

C. Make a claim against the Claimant.
When the Court receives a claim it will send out a ‘Response Pack’ to the person listed on the claim form as the Defendant.

The Response Pack
The Response Pack includes papers sent from the Claimant to the Court, forms for the Defendant to send back in response and guidance on how to fill in the various forms. These papers will include:-

A. The claim form and particulars of claim (already filled in by the Claimant).

B. An acknowledgement of service form (for the Defendant to fill in).

C. An admission form (for the Defendant to fill in if they admit part or the whole of the claim).

D. A form for the Defence and Counterclaim (for the Defendant to fill in if they want to defend the claim and/or make a claim against the Claimant).

Time Limit

From the time the Particulars of Claim is received the Defendant has 14 days to respond to a claim! It is important to note that the Court will assume the Particulars were received two days after it sent them if they were posted, but if personally delivered then the clock starts from the date of delivery.

Within the 14 day limit time you must do one the following or your case could be automatically decided against you by the Court entering ‘Judgment in Default’:-

A. Settle the Claim and pay it in full.

B. Send an acknowledgement of service to the Court;

C. Send an acknowledgement of service and admission to the Court

D. Send an acknowledgement of service and defence to the Court;

E. Send an acknowledgement of service, admission and defence to the Court (where part of the Claim is admitted).

F. Send an acknowledgement of service, defence and counterclaim to the Court.

G. Send an acknowledgement of service, admission and counterclaim to the Court.

H. Send an acknowledgement of service, admission, defence and counterclaim to the Court (where part of the Claim is admitted and you have a claim against the Claimant).

The time limit does not run until the Particulars of Claim is received so if the Claim Form is sent by itself the time limit will not run until receipt of the Particulars.

If you think you are unable to fill the form out in time then you should send an acknowledgement of service and write to the Court to ask for more time. However, just because you ask for more time will not mean you will get it.

A. Settling the Claim in Full

If within the time limit, the Defendant settles a claim for a specified amount in full there is no longer a claim to meet. Theoretically this means that there is no need to return the forms, but it may be good practice to send the Court an acknowledgement of service with a letter confirming the claim has been settled in full. It would also be a good idea to get the Claimant to send a letter confirming this too unless they withdraw the Claim strait away and the Court confirms this.

B. Sending an Acknowledgement of Service

This is done by filling in the acknowledgement of service form in the response pack. It confirms to the Court that the Defendant has received the claim form and particulars of claim and that they intend to do something about it.

If the form is sent without a defence or admission then it extends the time for replying to the Claimant’s case by 14 days. So this means that the Defendant would have 28 days from the date that the particulars of claim were received to file a defence or admission. It does not stop the clock from running.

C. Admitting the Claim

This is done by filling in the admission form sent in the response pack.

Specific Sum Claimed

If the Defendant is admitting a specific amount they should fill in the form N9A either admitting part of the claim or the full amount. If the Defendant admits part of the claim they should also read paragraphs E, G or H depending on whether they are intending to defend and/or counterclaim.

The admission is filled by completing the name of the Court, name of Claimant with their reference (usually firms will put a reference number alongside their client’s details) and the Defendant’s own name in the boxes provided and the paragraphs following it.

Paragraph 1 of the first page asks for the Defendant’s personal details and the address put in should be the one that the Defendant expects to receive mail to. aragraph 2, 3 and 5 ask for details of your family status, employment and residence. Paragraphs 4 and 6 – 10 on the next page ask for financial details. The Defendant makes an offer to pay the full amount or pay the admitted amount by instalments in paragraph 11, an offer which the Judge decides using the preceding paragraphs.

On receiving the form, the Claimant can either accept the amount and come to an arrangement for payment or, if they disagree with the rate of payment over time offered or the full amount has been not been paid within the time limit, the Claimant can apply for judgment.

Unspecified Sum

If the Defendant is admitting an unspecified sum (i.e. claim for damages for personal injury) then they should fill in the form N9C.

In the form they should fill out the Court name and number, Claimant name and reference and the Defendant’s name in the boxes provided as well as the paragraphs following it. The Defendant should then confirm in Part A whether they admit full liability to be decided by a Court or whether they admit the full liability and offer the amount they think is reasonable to pay the full Claim.

Part B asks for how the Defendant wishes to pay the Claim off, whether by instalments or the full amount by a certain date. Parts 1 to 10 mimic the specified claim details and are also used by the Court to determine the rate of payment.

Once the Claimant has received an admission for an unspecified amount, they can accept the amount and payment methods offered (if a specific amount is given in Part A) and withdraw the claim or ask for judgment for that amount or ask for judgment for a different amount.

If the admission does not offer a specific amount for payment the matter needs to go to Court for the Judge to decide the quantum (the amount of money a claim is worth).

D. Send an Acknowledgement of Service and Defence

To complete the acknowledgement of service see Paragraph A above.

Completing the Defence is very similar to completing the particulars of claim. The Defendant fills in the Court and party details in the top right hand corner and completes the self explanatory boxes 1 and 2.

Box 3 of the form asks for the defence and should be filled out in much the same way as the particulars in a manner that is both a precise and concise explanation of why the Defendant is not liable for the amount claimed.

As with the guidance on filling in the particulars of claim and claim form, important dates should be included along with the roles of the parties in the claim (if any role at all) and the Defendant’s understanding of the facts that lead them to dispute the claim (i.e. ‘I do not owe the Claimant £2 000.00 for one Zentex 210 Washing machine because I did not buy agree to purchase the machine. On 4th April 2008 the machine in question was sold to a Mrs Tracey Jones.’) and finally their conclusions for disputing the claim (i.e. ‘the Defendant did not breach the Claimant’s contract because the Defendant was not a party to it.

The claim should instead have been brought against the Mrs Tracey Jones if at all. Therefore the Defendant is not liable for the sum claimed.’)

E. Send an Acknowledgement of Service, Defence and Admission to the Court.

N9B

F. Send an acknowledgement of service, defence and counterclaim to the Court.

N9B

G. Send an acknowledgement of service, admission and counterclaim to the Court.

Complete the appropriate admission form discussed above and fill out the N9B form with the counterclaim section in Box 4 of that form.

H. Send an acknowledgement of service, admission, defence and counterclaim to the Court (where part of the Claim is admitted and you have a claim against the Claimant).

Complete the appropriate admission form discussed above and fill out the N9B form with the counterclaim section in Box 4 of that form.

Statements of Truth

All statements of case (witness statements, particulars of claim, defences etc) should be accompanied by a statement of truth and the Claim Form is no exception.

A statement of truth appears at the bottom of the second page of the claim form and should be completed appropriately, signed and dated.

Statements of truth can only be signed by the following:-

1. In the case of Individual Claimant’s – the individuals or their qualified legal representatives.

B. In the case of a limited company – the director, treasurer, company secretary, CEO, manager, other officer or legal representative needs to sign the form.

C. In the case of a partnership – only the partners, any person with control or management of the partnership business or a legal representative may sign.

Claimant’s Responses to Admissions

If the Claimant does not agree with the rate of payment or date of payment offered by the Defendant in their admission they can make a request for judgment and reply to admission on an N225 Form.

If a part admission, the Claimant can accept the amount in the part admission as payment for the Claim in full, dispute the amount of the part admission or accept the amount of the part admission as payment for the Claim in full but dispute the rate or date of payment offered on the N225A form.

If a part admission to an unspecified amount which offers an amount, the Claimant can either accept or disagree with this amount by filling in an N226 form and sending it back to the Court.

Note

Anyone responding to a Claim should also read the Ministry of Justice’s guidance at http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/n1c_e.pdf.

Names/addresses of Parties

These should be filled out under the same guidance as that provided for filling out a claim form and particulars of claim. It will simply be a case of copying the details across from the Claimant’s forms unless the Defendant disagrees with the details, in which case this should be changes on the Defendant’s forms and included in their defence.

What to do with the Completed Form

Once completed, make a copy of the claim form for the Court, for each Defendant and yourself. Then send or deliver the copies for the Court and Defendant with the court fee and wait for the Court to send you a notice that it has issued the claim.

Special Cases

(i) Claims against bankrupts should be made to the trustee in bankruptcy. It is important to note that you need to ask the permission of the Court if you want to sue someone who had been made bankrupt unless the debt arose after the date of the bankruptcy.

(ii) Claims against companies in liquidation should be referred to the liquidator (information of which can be gained from Companies House.

(iii) Agents where a person acts on behalf of another, legal action should be brought against the principal (i.e. an case against a landlord should not be taken against its estate agents).