A Court User's Guide to the Civil Justice Reforms

Flowchart 7B

iling a defence
(and counterclaim)
CPR Part 15 and Part 20

Acknowledgment of service

By filing an acknowledgment of service, the period for filing a defence is extended to 28 days from the service of a claim form including particulars of claim (or the date of service of the particulars of claim where they are served separately after service of the claim form).

Extending the time for filing defence by consent

Parties may agree to extend the period for filing a defence by a further 28 days and the defendant must notify the court in writing. Time runs from original date for filing defence i.e. 56 days from date of service of particulars of claim.

Automatic transfer

Claim automatically transferred to a defendant's home court where

• claim is for a specified amount of money and
• the defendant is an individual (Part 26 .2)

• the county court for the district where the defendant's address for service on the defence is situated or
• the district registry for the district where the defendant's address for service on the defence is situated or, if there is no district registry, the Royal Courts of Justice

Depending on the court where the claim was commenced (Part 2.3). Where there are two or more defendants with different home courts, the claim is transferred to the home court of the first defendant to file a defence, if that defendant is an individual.

Allocation questionnaire

The allocation questionnaire (N150) is sent out by the issuing court for return to the court of transfer.

The details of the date and address for return is entered on Form N152.

Any reply (and defence) to the defence or counterclaim must be filed by the claimant with the completed allocation questionnaire. Copies must be served on the other parties to the claim

Allocation

'Value' for the purpose of allocating to track is the value decided by the court after taking into account the values suggested by the claimant and defendant (CPR Part 26).