SERVICE OF PAPERS
The court will also deal with service of the papers on the Defendant by post and will send a notice stating when the papers were posted and when they will be deemed to have been served.The papers can be personally served on the Defendant if there are special reasons such as a belief the papers will not reach the defendant by sending them in the post.
The defendant has 14 days from the date of service either to acknowledge service (by sending a form acknowledging to the court) or to serve and file a defence. If he merely acknowledges within 14 days he must serve a defence within 28 days of service of the claim on him. Failure to do so will entitle the Claimant to Judgement in Default.
If a Defence is filed at court then the court will send the Claimant a copy. It's worth at this stage carefully reading the Defence to assess exactly what arguments the Defendant will be using to defend the case.
DEFENCE
If a defence is served and filed the case will proceed to a trial unless matters can be agreed with the other side between the defence and the trial date. The court will send a copy of the defence and an Allocation Questionnaire. For cases which are not within the Small Claims Track a fee is payable by the Claimant. Failure to file the form within the time stipulated by the court can lead to the application of sanctions which can include costs penalties or even the striking out of the case.The court will state when the form must be filed. The court will accept the form that it sends completed in manuscript. The purpose of the Allocation Questionnaire is to give the court information about the case, what it is about and what the issues are so that the District Judge can decide on the appropriate track for the case.
