Court Claim - Letter attached - Urgent

Once again...

KeithP wrote: »

Burnhill, what is the Date of Issue on your Claim Form?

Rather than waiting for an answer to that question (it might take another two weeks), I'm going to assume that the Claim Date of Issue is 13th, 14th or 15th August - that seems to be the hint given in the opening post.


With a Claim Issue Date of 13th, 14th or 15th August, and having done the AoS in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 17th September 2018 to file your Defence.

You need to 'finalise your Defence' with some urgency.


When you are happy with the content, your Defence should be filed via email as described here:

1) Print your Defence.
2) Sign it and date it.
3) Scan the signed document back in and save it as a pdf.
4) Send that pdf as an email attachment to CCBCAQ@Justice.gov.uk
5) Just put the claim number and the word Defence in the email title, and in the body of the email something like 'Please find my Defence attached'.
6) Log into MCOL after a few days to see if the Claim is marked "defended". If not chase the CCBC until it is.
7) Wait for the Directions Questionnaire and come back here.

Burnhill wrote: »

Hi Keith,

Thanks for the low-down, really helpful.

Unfortunately, I'm unable to log into my MCOL claim to submit evidence, having tried everything, including password resets etc. (and password reset form acknowledges as my MCOL customer number registered to my email). As their 'help desk' is closed during the weekend, I have to contact them to transfer my claim to a new account..

My issue date was 14th August 2018. With 5 added for service dates, 14 days to acknowledge, further 14 from aos = 33 days, that puts my deadline to submit defence as 16/09 (Tomorrow).

It seems I'll be missing my deadline.

Why do you need to login to MCOL?
Answer: You don't.

Submission of evidence comes later. No urgency on that point.


19th August is the date of service, being five days after the date of issue, and you have 28 days from then to file your Defence - which is Sunday 16th September.

If the calculated date falls on a non-working day then you are allowed until 4pm on the next working day to file your Defence.

That's why I said:

...you have until 4pm on Monday 17th September 2018 to file your Defence.

But no need to take my word for it, read it yourself in the Money Claim Online (MCOL) - User Guide.

On page 14 of that document it says:

How long does the defendant have to respond to my claim?

The court will send out a claim pack to each defendant once the claim has been issued and allows 5 calendar days from the date of issue for the service of the claim. Therefore the 'date of service' is the 5th calendar day after issue. Please note, if you have served separate particulars of claim then this may affect the deemed date of service (as above).

The defendant has 14 calendar days from the 'date of service' to file a response. If the last day for filing the response falls on a day that the court is not open (i.e. a weekend or public holiday), the court will allow the next full working day for a response. The defendant can extend the time to respond to 28 calendar days by filing an acknowledgement of service (AOS).