Claimant User Guide
Defence
If the defendant disputes the full amount of the claim, he will complete a defence.
The defendant can complete and submit the defence online, or by filling out the defence form in the claim pack and sending it by post or fax to the court.
The defendant should complete and submit his defence within 14 days of the date of service of the claim, unless an acknowledgement of service was filed, in which case he should respond within 28 days from the date of service.
The defendant must state which allegations in the claim he denies and the reasons for doing so. If he fails to deny an allegation it may be taken that he admits it.
Before submitting a defence the defendant will be required to complete a statement of truth.
If the defendant files a defence and the defendant is an individual, the case will be transferred to the defendant´s home court. Where the defendant is not an individual (ie: the defendant is a business), the case will be transferred to your or your representative´s home court. This means that your claim will no longer be handled by the MCOL system.
MCOL will send you a Notice of Transfer, an allocation questionnaire, and where the amount claimed exceeds £1,500 a request for the allocation questionnaire fee. The allocation questionnaire will help the judge decide how the case should proceed. Most claims for £5,000 or less are dealt with in what is called the ´small claims track´. Claims of more than £5,000 are generally dealt with differently, either in the ´fast track´ or ´multi track´.
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