How to take someone to civil court - the process
What are the stages of a civil court claim? This guide explains what happens at each stage of a small claim or fast-track claim so you know what is coming next. It also explains all the legal jargon you may come across.
This guide is about the law in England and Wales.
Last updated: March 2026
This explanation of the process is designed to give you a picture of what is involved in a typical case. It will be most helpful for people making a claim using the paper N1 claim form or where the person being taken to court has responded on paper. It will not help you decide what to do in your case. But it will help you keep track of where you are in the process and what will happen next.
This guide is part of a series that explains how to take someone to small claims court or use the fast track process in a county court to sort out a disagreement about money owed, broken contracts, compensation, or personal injury.
Most claims for a fixed amount of money under £25,000 can now be done online using the online Money Claim service (also called Online Civil Money Claims). If you use that online service, the process is a little bit different (although we explain how below). It is designed for people to use without a lawyer, so most people find it easier. See How to start a small claim for more information about using that service and how to avoid the common pitfalls.
One of the problems of going to court is that you will come across lots of new technical words and ideas. This is the jargon that lawyers and court staff use. Where we think you might have to know it we have included it, but we always explain what it means.
Sometimes we describe the court as ‘doing’ things, for example, sending out a form or making a decision. It sounds a bit odd because a court is a place. But ‘the court’ is used as shorthand to refer to the people working in the court.
The story so far.......
Rory, an electrician, has re-wired Ceri’s house. Ceri says the installation hasn’t been done properly and is unsafe and there is lots of re-plastering still to be done.
Ceri has followed the pre-action protocol (the official procedure you need to follow before you start taking someone to court) and has tried to come to an agreement with Rory to resolve the dispute. This was not successful, so Ceri has decided to take Rory to court.
Ceri is the claimant (the person who is starting the court proceedings). She is a litigant in person (someone who represents themselves without the help of a solicitor or barrister).
Rory is the defendant (the person who has court proceedings brought against them). He is also is a litigant in person.
Rory does not agree with Ceri’s claim.
This guide shows step by step how the court proceedings go in this case. It is an example of a typical case, but other cases could proceed in a different way.
At every step, you should consider whether it is possible to end the court case by agreeing a compromise with the other side. This is called ‘settling’. There are formal ways you can suggest a settlement to the other side, or they can suggest one to you. You can settle a claim at any point up to the trial. See our guide to how to settle a civil case out of court.
1. Ceri fills in a paper N1 claim form including the section called the particulars of claim. (Most cases can also use an online process to start a claim. See How to start a civil or fast-track claim for more details.) | Claim form - the form that starts a case and where the Claimant explains what they are asking for.
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2. Ceri makes copies of the completed claim form and particulars of claim. She needs one for the court, one for Rory and one to keep.
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3. Ceri sends the original claim form plus two copies to the court together with the correct fee. If eligible, she can ask for (If you are using the online Money Claims service, everyone is sent a copy automatically. You can also make an application for help with court fees online if you are eligible. If you use the online system to make a claim, you must use the online process to apply for help with fees too). | |
4. The court sends Rory a copy of Ceri’s claim form and a response pack by first class post. The response pack includes the forms Rory needs to reply to Ceri’s claim. (If you make a claim online, the defendant is emailed a copy of the claim form - if their email address was supplied - and can respond online. If they don’t respond online - the case moves to the paper process and continues as below). | Response pack - the pack of forms and information sent to a defendant after a claim starts. |
5. The court sends Ceri a notice of issue. This confirms that Ceri’s case has started and includes the date of service. (This all happens automatically and via email if you are using the online Money Claims service). | Notice of issue - this tells you that your claim has started, the date it began, the case number, date and method of service and the deadline by when the defendant has to respond.
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| 6. Rory has 28 days from the date of service to decide what to do next and to reply. | |
7. Rory does not agree with Ceri’s claim. Rory fills in the defence form in the response pack and returns it to the court. If he had needed more time, he could have completed the acknowledgement of service form and returned that to the court within the initial 14 days. He would then have had a further 14 days to complete and send in the defence form.
| Defence form - the form the Defendant completes to explain why they dispute the claim.
Acknowledgement of service form – the form the defendant can complete to confirm they have received the claim documents and to give themselves a little more time to respond.
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8. The court sends Ceri and Rory a copy of the defence form, a notice of proposed allocation and a directions questionnaire. (If using the online Money Claims service, you view the defendant’s response online and decide whether to continue with the case or accept his offer – if he made one. You must do this within 33 days. If you wish to continue, you must now complete an online directions questionnaire. ) | Notice of proposed allocation - this tells you which route (‘track’) the court thinks your case should take through the court system. This might be the small claims track, fast track or for more complicated claims the intermediate or multi-track. This series of guides explains the process in small claims or fast track only.
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9. Ceri and Rory discuss whether they can agree any of the answers to the directions questionnaire. They decide they can agree how long the trial will last.
| Trial - the final hearing when the judge decides who wins and who loses the case. |
10. Ceri and Rory both fill in a directions questionnaire and return it to the court. They also send a copy to each other.
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11. A judge looks at the information in the directions questionnaires and decides how the case will progress from now on.
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12. The court sends Ceri and Rory a notice of allocation. This allocates the case to the fast track. The notice (a type of court order) also tells Ceri and Rory what to do next. These instructions are called directions. If the case had been allocated to the small claims track, Ceri and Rory’s case would now go to small claims mediation. This is a free service and you must use it. All small claims except those involving the Child Support Agency, HMRC, personal injury over £5,000, and road traffic accidents involving personal injury, are offered free mediation. They would be given a one-hour slot in which the mediator speaks to both separately by telephone to see if an agreement can be reached. If it can, the agreement is legally binding and the case stops here. If the mediation is not successful, it has no impact on the final decision and does not delay the case. See After you start a civil claim for more details. | Notice of allocation - this tells you which track your case has been allocated to, small claims, fast, intermediate or multi track.
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13. Ceri and Rory both fill in a form called a list of documents and send the other a copy. They do this by the date given in the judge’s instructions which will be about 4 weeks after allocation. This step is called disclosure. If you are using the online service all of this has already happened. You provided a list of documents and a timeline when you started or responded to the case. Next you provide details of your requirements for a court hearing. Once that is done there is nothing more to do until you prepare for the trial (unless you have asked for and been given permission to use an expert). | List of documents - the form you use to list the documents and any other evidence that is relevant to your case.
Inspection is showing the evidence that supports your case to the other side. See After you start a civil claim for more guidance on what to do. |
14. Ceri asks for copies of some of the documents listed on Rory’s list of documents, and Rory provides them.
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15. Rory asks for copies of some of the documents listed on Ceri’s list of documents, and Ceri provides them.
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16. Ceri and Rory exchange witness statements. They do this by the date given in the judge’s directions which will be about 10 weeks after the case was allocated to a track. Actual times vary and will depend on the backlog in your area. See Witness statements and expert reports for guidance on what to put in them and how to lay them out. | Witness statement - a document in which someone explains what they saw, did or heard.
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17. Ceri and Rory exchange expert reports (if any). They do this by the date given in the judge’s directions which will be about 14 weeks after the case was allocated to a track. Actual times vary and will depend on the backlog in your area. See Witness statements and expert reports for more help. | |
18. Ceri and Rory’s experts (if any) speak to each other to work out where they agree with each other and to try and reduce the number of things they disagree about.
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19. The court sends Ceri and Rory a pre-trial checklist. This usually happens about 20 weeks after the case was allocated to a track. Actual times vary and will depend on the backlog in your area. The court also tells them the date by which the checklists must be returned.
| Pre-trial checklist - the form you use to tell the court how your case is progressing in the run up to the trial.
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20. Ceri and Rory discuss whether they can agree what information should go in the pre-trial checklist.
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21. Ceri and Rory both fill in a pre-trial checklist (also called a listing questionnaire) and return it to the court by the date stated on the front of the form. You usually have about 14 days.
| Listing questionnaire – another name for the pre-trial checklist.
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22. The court sends further directions and tells Ceri to give the court and Rory trial bundle 7 days before the trial. See How to prepare a trial bundle and index for more information. | Trial bundle - a pack combining both sides' documents with a list at the front showing what’s in it.
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23. The court sends Ceri and Rory a notice of trial date and tells Ceri what hearing fee she must pay and the date by which she must pay it. (If eligible, she can ask for help to pay the court fee by completing Form EX160.) Ceri and Rory have about 3 weeks to get ready for the trial. The trial is supposed to take place about 30 weeks after the case was allocated to a track (step 12). Actual times vary and will depend on the backlog in your area.
| Notice of trial date – this tells you when and where your trial will take place, how much the trial fee is, and the deadline for paying it.
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24. The trial takes place and the judge makes a decision after hearing the evidence. See What evidence do you need to sue someone? See also Hearings in a civil claim for more details.
| Evidence - information or materials relevant to proving the facts of your case. This may include information that doesn’t support your case – information that may end up helping the other side.
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25. The court sends both Ceri and Rory a copy of the court order containing the judgment.
| Court order - the judge’s written decision.
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About this guide
Disclaimer
The law is complicated. We have simplified things in this guide. Please don't rely on this guide as a complete statement of the law. We recommend you try and get advice from the sources we have suggested.
The cases we refer to are not always real but show a typical situation. We have included them to help you think about how to deal with your own situation.
Acknowledgments
This guide was produced by Advicenow. We would like to thank everybody who commented on the guide including editorial teams at Thomson Reuters who kindly peer reviewed this updated version.
This guide was updated thanks to funding from the Ministry of Justice.
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