Civil courts

Civil cases are those that do not involve family matters or failure to pay council tax. Civil cases are mainly dealt with by county courts and typically relate to debt (these generally being issued for a specified amount of money), the repossession of property, personal injury (these generally being issued for an unspecified amount of money), the return of goods and insolvency. Particularly important, complex or substantial cases are instead dealt with in the High Court.

See civil justice statistics at MOJ for further information.

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Total claims

The process of taking a person(s) or company to court regarding a civil (non-family) matter begins with a person (the claimant) either completing a claim form and taking it to a court or completing a claim form online.

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Jan 2020 to Dec 2020 1,296,188

Data source Civil justice statistics

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Claims defended

Whether the claim is issued online or through the county courts, a copy of the claim form along with a response pack is sent to (served on) the defendant who has 14 days to respond to the claim. The defendant can: do nothing; pay up (either the full amount of the claim or in part); admit the claim and ask for more time to pay (in full or part); and/or dispute (defend) the claim (in full or part).

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Jan 2020 to Dec 2020 250,087

Data source Civil justice statistics

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Claims allocated to track

If the claim is defended, the usual procedure is for further information to be provided by the parties, following which the case is allocated by a judge to one of three case-management tracks: small claim track, fast track or multi track.

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Jan 2020 to Dec 2020 147,285

Data source Civil justice statistics

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Claims gone to trial

Defended cases which are not settled or withdrawn generally result in a small claim hearing or trial.

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Jan 2020 to Dec 2020 45,200

Data source Civil justice statistics