Served with court proceedings? What to do next
Receiving court papers can be unsettling. You may have expected the dispute to settle, thought the other side was bluffing, or know very little about the claim.
Whatever the background, do not put the papers to one side. Court proceedings bring deadlines, and missing them can allow the claimant to obtain judgment without a trial, even where you have a defence.
This article explains the practical first steps for individuals and businesses facing a civil claim in England and Wales.
The immediate priorities
Check what you have received and who is being sued.
Establish the deadline for responding.
Keep the court papers and preserve relevant evidence.
Contact your solicitor and any relevant insurer promptly.
If you need help responding to a claim, contact Chris Clayton on 07368 648 312 or
Check what you have received
A letter threatening proceedings is different from a claim that has actually been issued. Both deserve attention, but the steps required are different.
Look for the court name, claim number, names of the parties and the documents explaining what is being claimed. A County Court or a High Court claim form may arrive with particulars of claim, a response pack or instructions for responding online.
Read everything. A claim form may say that the particulars of claim will follow separately. There may also be an application, hearing notice or court order requiring action sooner than you expect.
Check who is being sued. A claim against your limited company is not automatically a claim against you personally. If both are named, their positions may need separate consideration.
Keep the envelope, covering letter and original email, together with all attachments. Record when and how the documents arrived.
Identify the deadline immediately
For an ordinary civil claim following the Part 7 procedure, the general rule is that a defence must be filed within 14 days after service of the particulars of claim.
If you file an acknowledgment of service in time, the usual defence deadline becomes 28 days after service of the particulars of claim.
That is 28 days in total. It is not an additional 28 days after the first 14 days, and the extra time does not start ticking from the point of acknowledgement; it is 28 days in total from the date of service. These general defence deadlines are set out in Civil Procedure Rule 15.4.
The acknowledgment itself normally has to be filed within 14 days after service of the claim form. Where the claim form says that particulars of claim are to follow, the usual acknowledgment deadline runs from service of those particulars instead.
These are general rules, not a deadline calculator for every claim. Online procedures, service outside the jurisdiction and other types of proceedings can involve different requirements. Part 8 claims, possession proceedings and urgent injunction applications should not be approached on the assumption that the ordinary defence timetable applies.
The legal date of service may also differ from the date you opened the envelope or read the email. Have the actual deadline confirmed rather than calculating it from when you first looked at the papers.
Understand what an acknowledgment of service does
An acknowledgment of service is a procedural response. It is not your defence and does not explain why the claim is wrong.
In an ordinary Part 7 claim, filing it in time usually gives you more time to prepare the defence. Use the correct court or online process and retain confirmation of filing. Simply telling the claimant’s solicitor that you intend to defend is not a substitute.
If you wish to challenge the court’s jurisdiction, get urgent advice about the correct procedural response. Do not simply leave the claim unanswered or assume that an ordinary defence is the right step.
Do not assume negotiations stop the clock
One of the easiest mistakes is to continue exchanging emails about settlement while the response deadline passes.
The claimant may be discussing payment, considering your proposal or promising to take instructions. None of that, by itself, extends the time for filing a defence.
Under Civil Procedure Rule 15.5, the parties can agree an extension of up to a further 28 days for filing the defence. The defendant must notify the court in writing and it should copy in the claimant or their representatives at the same time. Any agreement should clearly record the revised deadline.
Asking for more time is not the same as obtaining it. Unless an effective extension or court order is in place, work to the existing deadline.
Gather the documents and preserve the evidence
Start pulling together the material needed to understand the dispute. Depending on the claim, that may include:
Contracts, terms and conditions, quotations and purchase orders.
Emails, text messages and WhatsApp conversations.
Invoices, payment records and bank statements.
Photographs, reports and records of relevant meetings or calls.
Earlier correspondence about the dispute.
Preserve the originals and the surrounding context. A cropped screenshot or one selected email may leave out something important.
Do not delete messages, alter documents or ask colleagues to tidy up the records. If relevant information sits on business systems or employees’ devices, arrange for it to be preserved. If your organisation routinely deletes data, you must ensure those processes are stopped in relation to data that may be relevant to the dispute. That obligation begins the moment you realise litigation is contemplated, which could be on service of a claim, but in most cases it occurred if or when a letter of claim was first served at the latest.
A short chronology can help your solicitor understand what happened. Include the difficult facts as well as the helpful ones. The other side's purpose is to undermine you, so we'd rather hear the full story, warts and all, from the outset so we can start putting a strategy together to deal with any uncomfortable issues.
Check your insurance
You may have insurance which could cover the claim or contribute towards legal costs. Check relevant business, professional indemnity, property or legal expenses policies.
Notify the insurer or broker promptly and check the policy requirements before admitting liability, agreeing a settlement or incurring substantial costs. Cover depends on the policy terms, and some policies require the insurer’s consent to particular steps.
Do not assume that notifying the insurer deals with the court deadline. Make sure someone has expressly taken responsibility for the response.
Decide whether to defend, admit or negotiate
Being sued does not mean the claimant is right. Equally, defending everything simply because you are angry can make a dispute more expensive.
The claim needs to be assessed against the evidence and the law. You may dispute liability entirely, accept part of the claim, challenge the amount sought or have a claim of your own.
A defence must address the allegations properly. Where an allegation is denied, the reasons should be explained and your alternative account set out where appropriate. A bare statement that you disagree may not be enough.
The defence must not only be filed at court: a copy must also be served on every other party, as required by Civil Procedure Rule 15.6.
There are also commercial questions. What is at stake? What will it cost to defend? What disruption will the proceedings cause? Would a negotiated outcome or mediation achieve a better result?
It may be that the claimant has a fair case, you might have breached a contract, even inadvertently, and you know you need to put something right. In that case, you can seek to extend the time for a defence with a view to referring the matter to mediation to explore a commercial resolution.
You might consider that the claimant's case is completely hopeless and misconceived, in which case it is worth considering summary judgment or strikeout.
Are you being sued by somebody outside of the jurisdiction? If so, security costs is a consideration.
Whether you are claiming or defending, there is never a bad time to consider making a Part 36 offer to settle.
All of those options remain possible after proceedings have started. The immediate priority is to preserve your position while those options are assessed.
What happens if you ignore the claim?
For claims where default judgment is available, the claimant may obtain judgment if you fail to respond within the required time. The court will not necessarily hold a trial and hear your account first.
An acknowledgment of service alone will not protect you indefinitely. If you acknowledge the claim but then fail to file a defence in time, default judgment may still follow.
Judgment can lead to enforcement and further costs. Having a potentially good defence does not prevent those consequences if you have not taken the required procedural steps.
What if you have already missed the deadline?
Get advice immediately. Establish whether judgment has been entered and what action is needed now.
If default judgment has already been entered, an application to set it aside may be required. Some judgments must be set aside because they were wrongly entered. In other cases, the court has a discretion, including where there is a real prospect of successfully defending the claim or another good reason.
Where that discretion is involved, the court must consider whether the application was made promptly. These rules are set out in Civil Procedure Rules 13.2 and 13.3. Do not assume you can leave matters until enforcement begins.
An application to set aside judgment does not automatically suspend enforcement. That may need to be addressed separately.
Get advice while there is still time to act
Send your solicitor the complete court papers, any online response instructions, the relevant correspondence and a clear account of when and how the documents arrived.
Do that early. Reviewing contracts, investigating allegations and preparing a proper defence takes time. Leaving it until the afternoon of the deadline can restrict your options and increase the cost.
At RM Clayton, I advise individuals and businesses facing commercial and property disputes. I can assess the claim, explain your options and deal with the response required to protect your position.
If you have received court papers, contact me promptly on 07368 648 312 or
Chris Clayton, Director | Solicitor Advocate