Received a County Court Claim: What to Do and Your Four Response Options

A brown envelope from the County Court or an email from HMCTS is not a suggestion — it is a legal claim with a hard deadline. You have 14 days from the deemed service date to respond. Ignoring it is the single worst thing you can do, because the claimant can request a default judgment and get a CCJ against you without any hearing at all.

Here is what to do, and the four routes open to you.

First: Check the Papers Are Real

Before anything else, verify the claim is legitimate. Match the court name against the GOV.UK "Find a Court or Tribunal" service, and check the claim number format (MCOL claims use an 8-character alphanumeric code; OCMC claims start with "MC"). If payment is requested, legitimate court fees are payable only to "HM Courts and Tribunals Service" or "HMCTS" — never to a private bank account.

You can also call the Civil National Business Centre (CNBC) in Northampton to confirm the claim exists.

Your Four Response Options

Every defendant facing a county court money claim has exactly four choices. You must pick one within 14 days (or 28 days if you file an Acknowledgment of Service).

1. Pay the Full Amount

If you accept you owe the money, paying the claimed amount plus court fees and any accrued interest ends the case immediately. Pay directly to the claimant (not the court), using the payment reference on the claim form. Get written confirmation that the debt is settled and the claim will be discontinued.

2. Admit All and Request Time to Pay

You accept the debt but cannot pay it in one go. You submit Form N9A (or the online equivalent) with an instalment proposal and a detailed income and expenditure statement. If the claimant accepts your payment plan, judgment is entered on those terms. If they reject it, a court officer sets a binding payment schedule based on HMCTS affordability guidelines. Either way, a CCJ is recorded — but paying within one calendar month gets it removed from the register entirely.

3. Admit Part and Dispute the Rest

You accept you owe some of the money but not all of it. You complete Form N9A for the admitted portion and file a defence on Form N9B for the disputed balance. If the claimant accepts the partial admission in full satisfaction, the case closes on payment. If they reject it, the admitted sum is dealt with under the admission rules and the contested amount proceeds to a defended hearing.

4. Defend the Entire Claim (With or Without a Counterclaim)

You deny owing anything and file a full defence on Form N9B. If you believe the claimant owes you money from the same dispute — a builder who did shoddy work while claiming payment, for example — you can file a counterclaim alongside your defence. A counterclaim filed with the defence needs no court permission; filing one later requires an application on Form N244.

Which Route Is Right for You?

The right choice depends on one question: do you genuinely dispute the amount claimed?

If you know you owe the money, an early admission with a realistic payment plan is faster, cheaper, and avoids a contested hearing. If you dispute all or part of it, defending protects your position — but you need to build a proper case with evidence, not just a denial.

The worst outcome is no response at all. A default judgment gives the claimant everything they asked for, locks a CCJ onto your credit file for six years, and forces you into a costly set-aside application if you want to fight it later.

For a complete walkthrough of each response route — including deadline calculations, which forms go where, and how to prepare for a hearing — the England & Wales Money Claim Response Guide covers the entire process from claim papers to judgment.

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