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Asking the court to order the defendant to pay

If you get no reply to your court claim by the deadline, you can ask the court to order the defendant to pay. You can also say what payment terms you are willing to accept.

The defendant has 14 days to get back to you from when they receive your claim form.

If you don’t get a reply you can ask the court to order them to pay you the amount you have claimed. This is called ‘entering judgment by default’.

If you claimed using a paper form

If you made your claim using a paper form, you can use the notice of issue form (N205A). Fill in the judgment request section (the bottom part) on the form, and take or send this to the court.

If for any reason you do not have this form, you can download it using the link below.

• Request for judgment and reply to admission form (N225) Opens new window

If you claimed online

You can ask the court to order the defendant to pay using Money Claim Online, if you made the claim online.

You can put the claim in at any time, but the Money Claim Online system only processes requests at the end of each day.

• Money Claim Online website Opens new window

Deadline for replying to a claim and asking for payment

The defendant can still reply, even if they have missed the deadline. If the court gets the defendant's response before it processes your request, the defendant's reply will hold even if it's late.

If the defendant ignores your claim, and you don’t ask for a judgment within six months, your claim will be stopped (‘stayed’). If you want to start it again you’ll need to apply to the judge.

How you can ask to be paid

You will need to say how you want the defendant to pay.

You can ask for the payment to be made:

• right away
• by a given date
• in instalments

You should think about how they are most likely to be able to pay. You might want all the money at once but they may be more likely to pay if they are given the option of instalments.

The court will send an order for payment form to the defendant with details of how, when and how much to pay.

If they fail to pay what they’re asked in the order, you can ask the court to enforce the order. You will have to pay another court fee to get the order enforced, unless you’re entitled to help with your fees. The extra court fees are usually added to the amount you’re owed.

• How county court judgments are enforced

• Court fees - do you have to pay them? Opens new window

If you made a claim for an unfixed amount

If you’re claiming compensation (damages) for loss or injury, you might not be able to work out the exact amount. But you’ll know the top limit, for example ‘limited to £10,000’. In court a claim for an unfixed amount is known as an ‘unspecified’ claim.

If you don’t get a reply to your claim, you can ask the court to make the defendant responsible (liable) for your claim. The court then decides how much the defendant should pay. This is called ‘entering judgment for an amount to be decided by the court’.

Fill in the judgment request section (the bottom part) on the ‘notice of issue (unspecified amount) form’ (N205B).

If for any reason you do not have this form, you can fill in the form below.

You cannot use Money Claim Online for unfixed amounts.

• Request for judgment by default (amount to be decided by the court) form (N227) Opens new window

How the court will decide payment for unspecified claims

A judge will decide:

• if a court hearing is needed
• what evidence they need to make a decision

The judge may decide to deal with the claim in a ‘disposal hearing’.

At the disposal hearing the judge will either:

• ask for more documents and evidence to help them make a final decision about the amount
• decide the amount the defendant has to pay, if it is a simple case

The court will send you and the other side a copy of the judge’s decision.

The claim may go to a small claims hearing if it’s a simple case worth less than £5,000.

• Small claims hearings

If the defendant still doesn’t pay - getting the decision enforced

If the defendant ignores your claim and doesn’t pay when the court makes the judgment, you’ll have to ask the court to take further action. This is called ‘enforcing the judgment’. The court won’t do anything unless you ask it to.

You may need to pay a fee to enforce your judgment - this will usually be added to the amount owed to you by the defendant.

• How county court judgments are enforced

• Civil and family court fees Opens new window

• Court fees - do you have to pay them? Opens new window