Is MCOL the same as MoneyClaims.Service.gov.uk, or any difference??

Autumn86

Hello hopefully someone here can help me with this issue.

When I have googled about MCOL there are 2 different government/court websites-

https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk

or

https://www.moneyclaims.service.gov.uk


Both appear to be completely genuine and legitimate government portal websites, and both appear to be for the exact same purpose, to file a Money Claim online.

I personally used the 2nd site, but is there any difference between the two?

agrinnall

I've not heard of the second URL, and going to that page gives you no clue what it is you'd be logging in to, but as it worked for you I suspect it's just an alternative way of logging in to MCOL that is being tested at the moment and may in time replace the DWP login that you're taken to from the first URL.

Wiseguy

Hi, the second link you have given is the new online court service that is currently being trialed at the moment and I believe it will replace the old MCOL system in due course.

There's a couple of differences between the two and in particular:

1. The Particulars of Claim are referred to as "Reason for claim". The box itself doesn't appear to be restricted by a very short number of characters (1080 characters under current MCOL system).

2. There is also a separate section which called "Timeline of what happened" which is self-explanatory

3. A section on evidence which enables you to set out what evidence you are seeking to rely on as part of your claim though I don't think the evidence can be uploaded and/or viewed by the defendant.

For anyone's benefit who has not used this service yet I've attached what the Particulars of Claim now looks like

Autumn86

Thanks.

I used the 2nd (newer) version, and have filed 2 claims against 2 different people.

Neither have responded yet though, so wasn't sure if the court had actually written to them even to serve them with the claim (as both of these people would be very vocal once they did recieve a court claim against them).

Ratewatcher

We used the new Moneyclaim online service - once the claim was initiated the other party had a deadline to respond by and if he didn't we would basically win by default. The deadline passed and the court website informed us that the other party could not now respond and the judgement would be made without the necessity of going to court (and the fees) - we were so relieved. A couple of weeks later we were sent a hearing date in the post by the court and we were completely confused. Apparently the other party had sent his reply in by 'post' as opposed to an 'online response' the day before the deadline and as it is a new trial the court didn't have the facility to update the online service that they had received his response by post therefore their website was giving out incorrect information. We have complained to the court to try and ensure this doesn't happen to anyone else.

MB69

Autumn86 >> When you issue a claim online, then you are sent a letter with your claim and confirmation of the date it was sent to the other party and when it is deemed to have been served.

From then, they have 14 days to file acknowledgement which gives them a further 14 days ( 28 days in total ) to send their defence.

If they don't respond within 14 days, you can then ask for judgement to be entered against them, but you have to do that and it is not done automatically.

If you log to the site, you should be able to see the state of each claim and what it says.

Not used the new site , but used MCOL plenty of times ( the first link ) and this is how it is done there.

Palmerston83

We used the second link and it caused no end of confusion with the online status not matching up with Court records; online the status showed the case was undefended but we received letters and forms direct from the defendant's solicitor that showed it was. At the local County Court their records showed that some documents had been received from the solicitor (which were never sent to us nor was the directions pack) and that the CCJ we requested online (when status showed still no response and gave option to do so) was refused as 'out of date', but it was nevertheless issued and the defendant paid against it, at the same time as we received the out of court settlement cheque from the solicitor! The Moneyclaims online service never replied to my email about the problems (supposedly to be within 10 working days). Am going to try the same access link to advise payment received but fully expect problems with that too. Seems to me that while there are two systems for accessing the service such problems will arise