County Court Claim Form N1 and Claim Number Explained

A county court claim form can look intimidating. Multiple pages, legal terminology, fees you did not expect, and a deadline that started running before you even opened the envelope. Understanding what each part of the form actually means is the first step toward deciding how to respond.

Form N1 — what it is

Form N1 is the standard claim form used to start most civil money claims in the County Court of England and Wales. The claimant fills it in (or files it online), the court stamps it with a date and claim number, and a sealed copy is served on you — the defendant.

The form has several sections, each of which tells you something specific:

Claimant details (top of the form): the name and address of the person or company suing you. If a solicitor is acting for them, the solicitor's firm name and address appear here instead. A full-admission Form N9A goes to the claimant (or their solicitor); a partial-admission N9A goes to the issuing court with Form N9B.

Defendant details: your name and address. Check this carefully. If the claimant has named you incorrectly — wrong spelling, wrong company name, wrong address — this can be relevant to your defence and to any application to set aside a default judgment later.

Brief details of claim: a short summary of what the claimant says you owe and why. This may be all the detail the claimant provides on the form itself. If the words "Particulars of Claim to follow" appear, the full details arrive separately within 14 days of the claim being served.

Amount claimed: the principal debt and any pre-judgment interest. Form N1 shows the issue fee separately and adds it to the total. For ordinary non-commercial debts, a common basis for pre-judgment interest is section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 (GOV.UK gives 8% as the usual rate); qualifying late commercial payments may be covered by the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. The County Courts (Interest on Judgment Debts) Order concerns post-judgment interest. Track allocation is based on the value in dispute, excluding interest and costs.

Statement of truth: the claimant's signed declaration that the facts stated in the claim are true. Without this, the claim is technically defective.

What the claim number tells you

The claim number printed on the form identifies which court system processed the claim and determines where — and how — you respond.

Claim number containing "MC": the claim was issued through Online Civil Money Claims (OCMC), HMCTS's current digital platform for claims up to £25,000. You can respond online through the OCMC portal or by post to Civil Money Claims, PO Box 12747, Harlow, CM20 9RA. The letters do not have to appear as a prefix.

Eight-character alphanumeric code (e.g. A12BC345): the claim was issued through Money Claim Online (MCOL), an older digital system handling claims up to £100,000. Respond online through MCOL or by post to the Civil National Business Centre (CNBC) in Northampton.

No digital prefix / court name at the top (e.g. "County Court at [city]"): a paper claim issued through a local court or the CNBC. Respond by post using the N9 forms in your response pack.

The claim number goes on every document you file, every letter you send to the court, and every payment you make. Write it down somewhere accessible.

Specified vs unspecified claims

A "specified" claim is for a fixed amount — the claimant knows exactly how much they are claiming (£3,500, £7,200). You respond using Forms N9A (admission) and N9B (defence) from the response pack.

An "unspecified" claim is where the claimant wants the court to decide how much is owed — typically personal injury cases or claims where the loss is ongoing. You respond using Forms N9C (admission) and N9D (defence).

The claim form tells you which type it is. If the claimant has entered a specific figure in the "amount claimed" box, it is specified. If it says "to be assessed" or a similarly open-ended phrase, it is unspecified.

This matters because the response forms are different, the admission procedures differ, and the way the court calculates instalment payments changes.

What to do next

Read the Particulars of Claim carefully — they set out the claimant's case against you. Every allegation in them must be dealt with in your defence: admitted, denied with reasons, or marked as requiring proof. Ignoring any allegation risks the court treating it as admitted.

Your response deadline runs from "deemed service," not from the day you opened the post. For paper claims, deemed service is the second business day after the claim was posted. For MCOL claims, it is the fifth calendar day after the issue date. OCMC claims ordinarily require a response by 4pm on the 28th day after the claim was issued; if the court sends a paper response form because you could not respond online, the deadline is 28 days from the date it was sent. The county court money claim response guide includes a deadline calculator that works through the deemed-service rules for each claim route, so you know your exact filing date.

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