Claim Production Centre (CPC)

The Claim Production Centre (CPC) and the County Court Bulk Centre (CCBC) are co-located in Northampton. These units have been set up by Her Majesty's Courts Service specifically to deal with straightforward debt collection work which, in the main, is undefended. Working in partnership with local courts, the CPC and CCBC not only removes this mainly administrative and procedural work from local courts thus freeing staff time for other areas of work, they also provide users with a faster, guaranteed service. There are also discounts on the standard county court fees. There is no minimum volume to qualify as a CPC or CCBC user. There is no charge for using either the CPC or the CCBC, other than the (reduced) court fees.

The CPC enables users to file requests for Part 7 specified amount claims in computer readable form (currently half-inch tape, quarter inch cartridge, 3½-inch floppy disk or electronically via a modem) in the name of the court or courts of their choosing. So long as the data is received at the CPC by 10am, the claims will be issued today and, at the worst, will be posted to the defendant within 48 hours. There is currently a discount on the standard court issue fee. Where the debt is settled before it is processed, the claim can be cancelled.

CPC users have the opportunity to use the CCBC which provides further streamlining. Firstly claims are issued through the CPC in the name of Northampton County Court. Where a valid defence is filed, the CCBC will serve a copy on the claimant who then has 28 days to consider their position. The Allocation Questionnaire (and, where appropriate, request for the £80 fee), is only sent where the claimant confirms that he wishes to proceed with the claim. This practice has resulted in 50% of defences being resolved informally. Please note that, where the claimant wishes to continue and the defendant is an individual, the claim is transferred to the defendant's local county court. Where the defendant is a business, the claim will either be transferred to the claimant's solicitor's local court or, where the claimant is not represented, to the claimant's local court.

CCBC users request their judgments and warrant issue in computer readable form. As with the CPC, users are given guaranteed levels of service - judgment requests are processed today (and dated today) and printed and posted to the defendant within 48 hours. The CCBC offers a personalised judgment order which also contains a payment slip, should users wish. Warrant requests are processed automatically the same day and the details are sent electronically to the defendant's local court overnight. As well as a saving of £5 on each warrant issued, there is no warrant reissue fee for CCBC warrants. Where the claimant wishes to enforce through the High Court, the CCBC will deal with the request within a maximum of 2 days - this turnaround time applies to all correspondence.

Both the CPC and the CCBC are supported by Practice Direction 7C of the Civil Procedure Rules.