A little bit of Northampton forever in Salford
All change in the County Courts for issuing "money" claims
Although widely talked about for some months now within the legal profession, a major change to the County Courts system recently took place, which the vast majority of the public will have no idea about. This relates to the way claims for "money only" in the County Courts are issued and dealt with at the early stages.
No change to Money Claim Online (MCOL)
It is first worth noting that there has been no change to the way claims are processed by the online service Money Claim Online. This service can still be accessed in the normal manner by visiting: -
The online service offers discounts on Court fees and is adequate for most everyday money claims.
Money claims now handled at Salford Business Centre
Since 19 March 2012 any County Court claim, which is for money only (either fixed amount or amount to be decided by the Court) MUST be issued via the new County Court Money Claims Centre in Salford, Greater Manchester. This new business centre will handle all of the early stages of a claim. This includes issuing the claim, taking any defence or admission, and receiving back the Allocation Questionnaire in claims that are defended. Claimants now start a claim by completing a new Form N1 (Claim Form) and sending it to the following address: -
County Court Money Claims Centre
PO BOX 527
SALFORD
M5 0BY
THESE PROCEDURES DO NOT APPLY TO CLAIMS ARISING FROM FAILURE BY LANDLORDS TO PROTECT TENANCY DEPOSITS: - separate procedures apply, please see Blog post below dealing with the protection of tenancy deposits.
You need to send enough copies of your claim for the Court and the Defendant(s). A major change is that Claimants will no longer receive a sealed copy of their claim form back from the Court. So make sure you keep a copy for your own records.
Claimants can find the relevant form here: -
A Claimant is required to nominate a preferred Court for the claim to be transferred to if it is defended; however, this choice is subject to the usual rules concerning transfer of County Court Claims (usually a defended claim will be transferred to a Defendant's local court when the Defendant is an individual).
All money claims now issued in the name of Northampton County Court
When completing the form you enter NORTHAMPTON COUNTY COURT as the Court of issue. So, under this new system, the paperwork is processed in Salford and issued in the name of Northampton! A little bit of Northampton forever in Salford!
So how is it going?
During the pilot many legal professionals expressed concern that the new procedures would be chaotic. There were many complaints. Personally I have found this new system to work reasonably well. Claims seem to be issued consistently within two working days; far better than the inconsistent practices of the individual court houses! A tip I would give though is to send any paperwork to the business centre by recorded delivery!
Contacting the Court
A new contact centre has been set up to deal with claims issued by the business centre: -
0300 123 1372
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