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Prior to issuing proceedings |
| There is a requirement that every effort should
be made to resolve a dispute prior to the issue of a claim in the County Court.
With this in mind we contact the other side by letter as soon as a claim is
forwarded to us and request payment within 7 days. If there is no response then
we are free to carry on using the court procedures for recovery. If the other side disputes the claim then we are obliged to explore the correspondence and seek a solution. |
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When issuing proceedings |
| When all avenues of settlement have been
exhausted, proceedings can be commenced. We require your
cheques for the Court Fee and the solicitor's costs in order
to proceed - please see
Fees & Costs. As soon as the cheques are received we forward the claim details to the solicitor so that the pleadings can be prepared. The claim is then filed at the court. Provided that there are no queries regarding the claim this takes no longer than two days. The court process claims on the same day that the N1 is filed and deemed to be issued on that day. The claim is posted by first-class post to the Defendant within three days and is deemed to be served within two days of posting. |
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After the proceedings are served |
| The Court allows fourteen days from service for
the Defendant to respond.The Defendant may defend the claim
using an Acknowledgement of Service. If no Acknowledgment of Service is filed at the court Judgment in Default can be applied for. This usually takes three days. |
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If the claim is defended |
| As soon as the court receives a defence, an Allocation
Questionnaire is sent to both the defendant and the claimant.
Usually the court will allow only fourteen days for the return
of the Allocation Questionnaire. This
document is important as it provides the court with all
relevant information for the processing of the claim and
allocating it to the correct track. There
is a fee payable of £80.00 if the claims exceeds £1,000.00. After considering the Allocation Questionnaires the court will allocate a date for the hearing. The timescale depends on the workload and number of listings at the court and can be anything from three weeks to two months from the filing of the Allocation Questionnaires. |
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After judgment |
| If Judgment in Default is obtained the court will
tell the Defendant to make an immediate payment. If there is a hearing the
Defendant will be allowed between seven and twenty eight days to pay -
depending on the circumstances and the opinion of the judge on the day of the
hearing. If the Defendant fails to pay within the time allowed, one of the enforcement options must be considered. At this point time scales vary between a couple of weeks and several months before payment can be obtained. |