Lee & Co Solicitors

Step by step guidance for D.I.Y. – Debt Claims

  1. To issue a claim via Money Claim Online, log onto www.moneyclaim.gov.uk
  2. Complete the online claim form and pay the required fee.
  3. The claim form will be issued by the court and served upon the defendant within 2 working days from the date you submit your claim.
  4. The court will then send out a Claim Pack to the defendant once the claim form has been issued.
  5. The defendant has 14 calendar days from the date of service to take one of the following steps:
    › File an Admission
    › File a Defence
    › File an Acknowledgement of Service- filing of this document indicates the defendant intends to file a defence or part admission and also provides additional time from 14-28 days in which to file the defence.
  6. If the defendant does not respond to your claim within the allocated time, you can request judgement via the Money Claim Online website. Log into your MCOL account and select Request Judgement from the available options.
  7. Once Judgement is entered, the defendant will be sent a copy of the Order, which will detail how much the defendant should pay, when to pay and
    where to send the payment.
  8. If the defendant does not pay, then you may consider whether you wish to proceed to enforcement using any of the following methods:
    › Judgement by taking control of goods via an application to the Bailiff for a Warrant of Execution
    › Third party debt order if you know of money owing to the debtor, by a further application to the court
    › Attachment of earnings if you know details of the defendant’s employer and salary etc by an application to the court
  9. If a defence is filed, then a copy must be served on every party.
  10. The court then issues a Directions Questionnaire to both parties, which must be completed and sent to the court by the date specified in the notice.
  11. Once both parties have filed their Directions Questionnaire with the court, the claim will either be transferred to either the preferred court (indicated on the claim form) or to the court requested by the claimant in their Directions Questionnaire.
  12. The Judge then gives directions on how the matter will proceed following receipt of the parties Directions Questionnaire either:
    › Decides a hearing is not necessary
    › Fixes a date and time for the hearing
    › Orders a preliminary hearing
  13. If a hearing is allocated, then the Judge will hear evidence from the claimant & defendant and thereafter make a judgement. If the judgement is not complied with, then enforcement action may be considered as per item 8.
  14. If a Judgement is entered and difficulty is experienced in enforcing payment, an application can be made to the court for an Oral Examination of the Judgement debtor whereby, the debtor has to attend the court and, on Oath, give details of his/her income and expenditure together with his/her capital assets. This can assist in tracing the assets to enforce payment.
  15. If the debtor is a limited company and providing the debt exceeds £1000 then an application can be made to the court for a liquidation of the company, but please seek further advice before doing so.
  16. It should be noted that claims for less than £10,000 are in the small claims court at the county court and virtually all legal costs cannot be claimed from the debtor. For claims exceeding £10,000 costs can be claimed, but one must always consider the risk of liability upon the creditor if the debtor files and proceeds with a defence which is supported by the court.

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