The defendant admits my claim, I claimed a fixed amount.

This section will tell you what will happen if you are claiming a specified amount (a fixed sum of money) and the person you are claiming against (the defendant) admits that all the money is owed.

How will I know if the defendant admits my claim?

The defendant will fill in form HC2C - Admission Form (Word doc) (PDF) and send it to you. The date by which this should be done is fourteen days after the date of service (shown on the coroner's notice of service or the certificate of service HC10 – Certificate of Service (Word doc) (PDF).

As well as admitting that the money is owed the defendant can also ask for time to pay, either by instalments or at some future date. Before you do anything, you must first decide if the rate and time of payment offered by the defendant are acceptable to you.

What do I do if I accept the defendant's offer of payment?

You can ask the court to enter judgment (called ‘entering judgment on admission’). This means that you are asking the court to make an order that the defendant pays you the amount of your claim and the costs of issuing it in the terms offered by the defendant.

To make the request you should fill in form HC7A – Request for Judgment (Word doc) (PDF) and send or take it to the court. You do not have to pay a fee for this.

If the defendant admits your claim but does not make any offer of payment, you must decide how you want the money to be paid. Think carefully about this. Although you may feel that you would like all the money paid at once, you might be more likely to get paid if it is paid by instalments over a period of time.

What do I do if I accept the admission but I do not accept the rate and time of payment offered by the defendant?

Complete form HC7A – Request for Judgment (Word doc) (PDF). Indicate that you accept the admission and state why you object to the rate and the time of payment offered by the defendant. You should also indicate the rate and time of payment that you believe is reasonable.

Take or send the completed form to the Court Office with a copy of the defendant’s admission form. It is a good idea to keep a copy of both forms for yourself.

What will the court do with my completed form?

Judgment will be entered for the amount admitted and accepted and the court officer will consider the details given in the defendant’s admission form as well as your objections and make an assessment of what would be reasonable for the defendant to pay.

You and the defendant will be sent an order. The order will tell the defendant that the order was made after consideration to explain why it might be different from the original offer. It will also tell the defendant how much to pay, when to pay it and the address to which payments should be paid.

You should note that if the defendant does not pay after receiving the order, the court will not take any steps to obtain payment unless you ask it to. This is called ‘enforcing your judgment’. You will have to choose the method of enforcement and pay a fee; the court will tell you how much this is.

Do I have to accept the court officer’s decision?

No. You, or the defendant, can object to the rate of payment set by the court officer. You must do this within fourteen days of receiving the order. You should apply to the court saying why you object to the rate of payment determined by the court officer. You should send a copy of your application to the defendant. A judge will decide what would be a reasonable way for the defendant to pay.

The judge can decide to deal with your objections with or without a hearing. If there is to be a hearing the court will send you a notice setting out the date, time and place the hearing will be held. If there is a hearing and you do not attend, the judge may still make an order.

After the hearing, or after the judge has made a decision on the papers without a hearing, the court will send you an order setting out the judge’s decision. If the judge varies the previous order you and the defendant will receive a copy of the new order (after re-determination).

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