County Court Summons

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Should you receive a County Court Summons from the courts (usually printed on blue paper), you need to take immediate action, as failure to respond could result in further action from the courts.

A "Claim" (formerly known as a County Court Summons) is the formal document sent to a client from the Court when the creditor (now described as the Claimant but previously known as the Plaintiff) has begun legal proceedings against them.

You will receive, in the post, a pack containing the following:-

  1. The "Claim Form" containing details of the creditors case.
  2. An "Admission Form" for completion if the claim is not contested.
  3. A "Defence and Counterclaim Form" for completion if the debt is disputed.
  4. An "Acknowledgement of Service" for completion & return if more time is needed.
  5. Notes on completing these forms.

These MUST be dealt with within 14 days!!!

In most cases, you will need to complete the "Admission Form" N9A which contains a section for personal details, an Income/Expenditure section, and a box in which they can make an offer of payment - see notes on competing the form.

An extra 14 days to deal with the matter will be gained if the "Acknowledgement of Service" is completed and posted back - see notes on completing the form.

Failure to respond to the paperwork will lead to a Judgement being passed in favour of the creditor (they will assume you owe the full amount stated and payment in full will be required).

Filling in the County Court Claim Form.

The "Admission Form N9A" should be filled in very carefully as the details on this form will be used to decide what payments should be made to the creditor.

  1. Complete top right corner section, naming the court in which the Claim will be heard, the correct case number and the full names of the claimant and defendant.
  2. If the amount owed is not disputed tick the relevant box, "I admit the sum claimed". If the claim is disputed, then tick the other box and fill in the counterclaim. In most cases there will be no dispute.
  3. Insert your personal details and tick the relevant boxes as to gender and marital status.
  4. Insert the details of your dependants, putting the correct number of children in each age group. The second group 'other dependants' should only be completed for other individuals who are solely dependant on your income.
  5. Complete the employment details, using the designated boxes, depending whether you are employed, unemployed, pensioner or self-employed.
  6. Provide details of your Current Bank account and Savings account, the figures here can be estimated.
  7. Tick the relevant box determining in which kind of property you live. Only tick "own" if the property is entirely in your name. If it is in joint names tick that box.
  8. Complete this section as carefully as possible. These figures should all be on a monthly basis, the salary/income should be a Net figure, i.e. your actual take home pay. Include all benefits. Please include your partner's salary in the category "others living in my home give me". Rents should also be included.
  9. Expenses should also be filled in extremely carefully. All figures are again on a monthly basis. It should be noted that the spaces on the claim are limited, with regard to expenditure. Hence it is advisable to combine various types of expenditure under one particular heading in order to give yourself enough room for all your monthly expenses. For example, head a section "transport" and include all petrol, car hire purchase, car tax, MOT, car insurance and other travel costs in here. It is unwise to list any luxuries such as Gym Memberships, Satellite TV, Smoking or Social Activities here as the creditors will not accept this.
  10. The Box relating to credit debt is very important. If you only have a few creditors it may be possible to list each one separately. If there are many creditors, it is better to insert the phrase "total Credit Debt is approximately £...", in the box provided. It is best to state that you are behind with all the contractual payments in the box underneath this.
  11. In the final box, you should state how much you are able to pay each month. This should be calculated as follows:

    Amount owed to Creditor * Your Monthly surplus income ÷ Total amount of debt you owe = Payment offer per month

    This is known as a Pro-Rata Offer and shows that the monthly surplus has been fairly and justly proportioned between all Creditors. Therefore you will need to negotiate a similar pro-rata offer to remaining creditors - even if they have not commenced legal action.

  12. Sign and date the form in the spaces provided and return to the address on the front of the Claim as instructed in the Notes. Note that this address will be that of the Creditor. It is best to keep a copy.

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