By the eLitigant Editorial Team · Reviewed for current forms, fees & procedure · How we check our guides
Last reviewed: August 2026 · For use in England & Wales
Quick answer: A county court claim against you is the start of a structured process, not the end of one. Nothing has been decided — no judge has read the papers. You have four ways to respond: admit, admit part, defend, or defend and counterclaim. If the claim came through the online Money Claims service (OCMC), your response is due by 4pm on the 28th day after the claim was issued. Respond inside that window, properly, and the process works exactly as it is designed to — for you, just as it does for the claimant.
First: this is a process, not a verdict
A claim is one side’s version of events, entered into a system specifically designed to hear yours too. The court has not weighed the merits. What you have received is a set of allegations — and a deadline for your answer.
People in your position respond successfully every day, without a lawyer. The rules of the county court are public, the forms are free, and the process is built to be used by ordinary people. What follows is exactly what to do, in order, and when.
Rule one: never ignore it
Almost every bad outcome for a defendant starts the same way: silence. If you do not respond by the deadline, the claimant can ask the court to enter default judgment — a judgment made not because you lost the argument, but because no argument arrived. The court does not examine the evidence at that stage; it simply records that the deadline passed with no response, and the claimant gets what they asked for, usually with interest and costs added. A county court judgment can then sit on your credit file for six years.
We explain the whole mechanism in our guide to default judgment on the Money Claims portal — read it to see exactly what happens when a defendant stays silent. The short version: every option in this guide works better, and costs less, than doing nothing.
Your real deadline
Claims issued through the online Money Claims service (OCMC)
If the claim was issued through the online service, your response is due by 4pm on the 28th day after the claim was issued. Two details matter:
- The clock runs from issue — the date the court issued the claim, printed on the claim form — not from the day the pack reached you. Find the issue date and count 28 days from there.
- There is no acknowledgment of service step online. The old two-stage acknowledge-then-defend timetable does not apply in this service: there is a single response window, so use it. Our complete OCMC timeline shows every stage from issue to hearing.
Diarise the date now, and aim to file days early rather than hours.
Paper claims (the N9 response pack)
If you received a paper claim form (Form N1) with a response pack, the pack includes an acknowledgment of service form alongside the admission form (N9A) and the defence and counterclaim form (N9B). On the paper route, returning the acknowledgment of service within the time stated in the pack extends the time you have to file your full defence — useful breathing room if you need to gather documents. The dates printed on your response pack govern, so check them the day the pack arrives.
Your four options
However the claim arrived, you have the same four choices. Choosing deliberately — rather than by default — is what puts you back in control.
1. Admit the whole claim
If the money is genuinely owed, admitting is not defeat — it is the fastest way to take charge of the terms. On paper that is Form N9A; online, the service walks you through the same admission. You can offer payment in full by a date, or in monthly instalments based on your actual income and outgoings — and if the claimant rejects a realistic offer, the court decides the rate. An admission handled well closes the matter without unnecessary costs.
2. Admit part, dispute the rest
If part of the claim is right and part is wrong — the debt exists but the amount is inflated, or charges were added that you never agreed — you can admit what you owe and defend the balance, setting out which is which and why. This is one of the most common genuine positions, and the forms are built for it.
3. Defend
If you dispute the claim, you file a defence. A good defence deals with each allegation in turn — admitted, denied (with your reasons), or unable to admit or deny (and why) — tells your side with dates and documents, and ends with a statement of truth that you sign. On a paper claim the defence goes on Form N9B — our box-by-box N9B guide covers every section — while online you enter the same substance into the service’s defence screens. A bare “I don’t owe this” carries little weight; a structured defence changes the complexion of the whole case.
4. Counterclaim
If the claimant actually owes you money arising from the same dispute — unpaid work, a deposit never returned, losses their breach caused — you can counterclaim in the same proceedings: on the same N9B form on paper, or within your online response. A counterclaim carries its own court fee under the statutory fee scale, and Help with Fees can reduce or waive it if you are on a low income or a qualifying benefit.
Judgment already entered? The set-aside route
If you are reading this after a default judgment has already been entered, there is a well-trodden rescue route: applying to set the judgment aside.
- If judgment should never have been entered — you responded in time, or had paid the full amount before judgment — the court must set it aside.
- Otherwise, the court can set it aside if you have a real prospect of successfully defending the claim, or there is some other good reason to hear the case. Acting promptly counts heavily in your favour, so move as soon as you know.
The application is made on Form N244, the general application notice, normally supported by a witness statement explaining what happened and a draft of the defence you would file. Our N244 guide walks through the form box by box.
The machinery works for whoever files properly — including you
Look at who issues most county court money claims: banks, utility companies, parking operators, debt purchasers. They run thousands of claims through the same service you are responding on, and they succeed for one unglamorous reason — they follow the procedure precisely, every time: the right form, completed fully, filed before the deadline, statement of truth signed.
That is the entire secret. The county court’s machinery is procedural: it responds to what is properly filed, whoever files it. A defence that arrives on time, answers each allegation and is properly signed gets the same treatment as one produced by a claims department that files hundreds a week. If you want to see the process from the claimant’s side end to end, our main Online Civil Money Claims guide covers it. The same machinery — in your hands.
Mediation and settlement: filing a defence doesn’t mean a courtroom
Most defended money claims never reach a trial, and the system is built to help you settle:
- Free court mediation. For most defended small claims, both sides are now referred to HM Courts & Tribunals Service’s free telephone mediation — typically a one-hour appointment with a trained mediator, at no extra fee. Many cases settle there.
- Settlement offers. You can make a “without prejudice” offer at any stage — before your defence, after it, even close to a hearing. Settling on clear written terms often serves both sides better than a hearing.
- Payment proposals. Admissions and part-admissions carry payment offers with them: a lump sum by a date, or instalments you can actually sustain.
Free help is available
You never have to pay for the basics:
- GOV.UK’s official guidance on responding to a court claim for money sets out the routes and forms.
- Citizens Advice offers free, independent help and can talk through your options.
- National Debtline gives free specialist advice if the claim relates to a debt.
- The Money Claims helpdesk helps with the online service itself: contactocmc@justice.gov.uk or 0300 123 7050.
How Chris helps you respond properly
Knowing your options is half the job. The other half is the drafting: a defence that answers each allegation the way the court expects, an admission letter with a payment proposal you can sustain, or a set-aside application with the witness statement and draft order that belong with it.
That is exactly what Chris does. Tell him what happened — the claim, the dates, your side of the story, your documents — and he prepares your defence, part-admission, counterclaim or N244 set-aside application to a professional standard in minutes. You review every word, sign the statement of truth yourself, and file it yourself, through the official online service or by post. Nothing is sent anywhere until you have read it and you are happy with it.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.