How to File a County Court Money Claim Without a Solicitor (England & Wales)

You can file a county court money claim in England and Wales entirely on your own, and the majority of claimants on the small claims track do exactly that. The procedure is governed by the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR Part 27), which was deliberately designed so litigants in person can navigate it without legal representation. The forms are standardised, the fees are published, and the hearing — if it reaches one — is informal.

What trips people up is not the law. It is the sequence: which step comes first, what each form requires, how to calculate the fees, when to serve, what to do when the defendant responds (or does not). This article walks through the entire process, stage by stage.

Stage 1: Check Whether You Can Claim

Before anything else, confirm two things.

The limitation period. Under Section 5 of the Limitation Act 1980, you must issue a contract claim within six years of the breach — typically, the date the payment was due. For tort claims (property damage, negligence), the same six-year window applies under Section 2. If the debtor has acknowledged the debt in writing or made a partial payment within those six years, the clock restarts from the date of that acknowledgment. Informal negotiations, complaints to ombudsmen, or threatening emails do not stop or extend the limitation period.

The claim value. The small claims track handles specified money claims up to £10,000. Below that threshold, you can file and handle the entire claim yourself without significant cost risk — ordinary solicitor fees are generally not recoverable on the small claims track under CPR 27.14, though fixed costs attributable to issuing the claim may be. Above £10,000, the claim may be allocated to the fast track, intermediate track, or multi-track depending on its value and complexity, where the procedure is more formal and legal representation becomes more common.

Stage 2: Send the Pre-Action Letter

Filing a claim without first sending a "letter before claim" is a procedural error the court takes seriously. Under the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct and Protocols (PDPAC), you must write to the other side setting out how much they owe, why they owe it, what you want them to do, and a deadline for their response.

Which protocol applies depends on the type of dispute:

• General money claims (contractor disputes, consumer refunds, private debts): follow the PDPAC. Give the other side 14 days for a straightforward claim or up to 28 days for a complex claim.
• Business claims for a debt from an individual (including a sole trader): follow the stricter Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims (PAPD). Give 30 days to respond.

The letter must be sent to the defendant's last known address by a method you can prove — recorded delivery is standard. Keep the proof of posting. If you skip this step or give too short a response period, the court can impose cost sanctions at allocation, regardless of the merits of your claim.

Stage 3: Choose Your Filing Route

You have three options for issuing the claim:

Online Civil Money Claims (OCMC) — the HMCTS digital portal under Practice Direction 51R. Handles eligible specified money claims up to £100,000. End-to-end digital: you file online, the defendant responds online, and both sides track the case through a dashboard. This is the simplest route for most claims.

Money Claim Online (MCOL) — the legacy portal under Practice Direction 7E. Technically handles claims up to £99,999.99, but for small claims it offers no advantage over OCMC. The interface is older and less intuitive.

Paper Form N1 — submitted by post to the Civil National Business Centre (CNBC), St Katharine's House, 21–27 St Katharine's Street, Northampton NN1 2LH. Required for claims that OCMC cannot handle: unspecified amounts, multi-party claims, claims requiring attached Particulars of Claim longer than OCMC's character limit. Use Form N1A (the guidance notes) alongside.

For a straightforward money claim under £10,000 against a single defendant, OCMC is the fastest option. If you have complex Particulars of Claim or multiple defendants, use paper Form N1.

Stage 4: Calculate Fees and Interest

Court fees are set by the EX50 schedule. Issue fees range from £35 (claims under £300) to £455 (claims up to £10,000). If the case is defended and listed for a hearing, you will also pay a hearing fee ranging from £27 to £346 depending on the claim value. Both fees are recoverable from the defendant if you win.

If you cannot afford the fees, check the Help with Fees scheme (Form EX160). You may qualify for full or partial fee remission based on your income and savings. The application produces a HWF reference number that you enter on the claim form before filing.

Statutory interest can be claimed on top of the principal sum. For general contract debts, you can claim 8% per annum simple interest under Section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984. For business-to-business debts, the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 provides 8% above the Bank of England base rate, plus fixed statutory compensation (£40 for debts under £1,000, £70 for debts up to £9,999.99, £100 for debts of £10,000+). You must specify the statutory basis in your Particulars of Claim — the court does not calculate interest for you.

Stage 5: File the Claim

Complete the claim form (online or paper) with:

• Your details — full legal name and address
• The defendant's details — their correct legal name and address. For sole traders: "John Smith trading as Smith Plumbing." For limited companies: the exact registered name from Companies House plus its registered office address. Getting this wrong produces a judgment against the wrong entity, which is unenforceable.
• Particulars of Claim — a concise factual statement of why the defendant owes you money, the amount, the interest calculation, and the statutory basis for interest
• Court fee — paid online (OCMC/MCOL) or by cheque with the paper form

Once the court issues the claim, it generates a claim number and sends the claim form to the defendant.

Stage 6: Service and the Defendant's Response

Under the standard CPR timetable, the defendant has 14 days from deemed service to acknowledge the claim or file a defence. If they file an acknowledgment of service, the deadline to file a defence extends to 28 days from deemed service. For an OCMC claim where the defendant can respond online, the deadline is 4 pm on the 28th day after issue; the parties can agree and record an extension of up to 28 more days in OCMC.

Deemed service dates matter. For first-class post, service is deemed two business days after posting. For OCMC claims by litigants in person, the court serves the claim by post; when both parties are legally represented, the court serves it through OCMC, and the deemed service date is calculated under CPR 6.14.

If the defendant does not respond at all within the deadline, you can apply for default judgment — the court enters judgment in your favour without a hearing.

If the defendant files a defence, the case moves to allocation and mediation.

Stage 7: Mediation and the Hearing

Under Practice Direction 51ZE, eligible defended money claims allocated to the small claims track are automatically referred to the Small Claims Mediation Service (SCMS) for a one-hour telephone mediation session. Attendance is mandatory — the court may impose cost sanctions under CPR 27.14(2A) for non-attendance without good cause.

If mediation does not resolve the dispute, the case is listed for a hearing before a District Judge. The small claims hearing is informal: the judge leads the questioning, witnesses are not usually cross-examined in the formal sense, and you present your evidence bundle rather than making legal arguments. You are not expected to know or cite case law.

Prepare an evidence bundle that includes: the contract or agreement, invoices, the pre-action letter and any responses, photographs or reports (if relevant), and a chronology. Send copies to both the court and defendant by the deadline in the court's directions, typically 14 calendar days before the hearing.

The Complete Process in One Place

Every stage above involves specific forms, fees, deadlines, and decisions that depend on your particular claim. The County Court Money Claim Guide covers the full procedure in 14 chapters — from the limitation check through judgment — with a decision matrix for filing route selection, the complete EX50 fee table, a field-by-field N180 walkthrough, and six fillable standalone PDFs for tracking your pre-action letter, claim value calculation, service deadlines, court fees, hearing preparation, and evidence bundle.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it really possible to file a money claim without any legal help?

Yes. The small claims track was specifically designed for litigants in person. HMCTS publishes the forms and guidance notes, and the hearing is run by the District Judge, not by the parties' lawyers. Most claimants on the small claims track represent themselves. The procedure is fixed — it is the same whether you have a solicitor or not.

What is the biggest risk of filing without a solicitor?

Procedural errors, not legal errors. The most common mistakes are: naming the defendant incorrectly (making the judgment unenforceable), not following the correct pre-action protocol (leading to cost sanctions at allocation), and missing a deemed service deadline (which can delay the case by weeks). These are predictable and preventable with a good procedural guide.

How much does it cost to file a county court money claim yourself?

Court fees range from £35 to £455 depending on the claim value, plus a hearing fee of £27 to £346 if the case is defended and listed for hearing. These fees are recoverable from the defendant if you win. There are no additional fees for filing through OCMC or MCOL. If you qualify under the Help with Fees scheme (Form EX160), some or all of the fees can be waived.

What happens if the defendant ignores the claim?

If the defendant does not file an acknowledgment of service or a defence within the deadline, you apply for default judgment. The court enters judgment in your favour without a hearing, and the defendant becomes liable for the full amount plus court fees and interest.

Can the defendant force me to use a solicitor?

No. The small claims track explicitly accommodates litigants in person. The defendant can hire a solicitor if they choose, but ordinary solicitor fees are generally not recoverable from you under CPR 27.14, although fixed issue costs and other limited exceptions may apply. The hearing remains informal. Having a well-organised evidence bundle matters more than having legal representation at a small claims hearing.

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