Claimant User Guide

What if the defendant ignores my claim?

If the defendant chooses not to respond to your claim, you can request judgment by default, online. MCOL will prevent you from doing so until 14 days from the date of service have passed, or 28 days where the defendant has filed an acknowledgement of service. The date of service is calculated to be 5 days from the date your claim was issued.

You may request judgment by default through Money Claim Online by selecting the Judgment Start option

You will be asked to decide whether you want the defendant to pay your claim by instalments or in one lump payment. If you have claimed interest as part of your original claim (i.e. you included details of interest claimed in the Particulars of Claim), you are entitled to claim interest from the date of issue up to the date you are requesting judgment.

Once you have submitted your request for judgment by default, MCOL will deal with your request. Where it is received before 9am on a day when the court is open, the request will be processed at the end of the day: where it is received after 9am, it will be processed on the next day (again, at the end of the day) when the court is open and may not appear on MCOL until the following day (see viewing the progress of a claim).

This means that, if the defendant files a response (an acknowledgment of service, a defence or a part admission) with the court by 4pm on the same day as your request is to be processed, the response will take priority over your judgment request.