Civil procedure 443Responses to a claim
Once the defendant has responded to the claim (other than to admit all of the claim), then
the case will be allocated to one of three tracks.
Small claims track
Claims for £5,000 or less, which are straightforward, will be allocated to the small claims
track. However, if the claim includes a claim of £1,000 or more for personal injuries then it
is not allocated to the small claims track. If both parties agree, cases which are outside these
financial limits can be heard on the small claims track. One obvious advantage of this would
be that the costs would be reduced.
Small claims track cases are heard by a district judge. Although the proceedings are con-
ducted informally, a small claims track case will generally be open to the public. Documents
to be used during the case must be deposited with the court 14 days before the case is heard.
Figure 17.4The possible responses to a claim which has been served
Allocation to a track
The defendant must respond to the claim form within 14 days of receiving it. If the
defendant offers no response, then judgment can be entered against him or her. This means
that the claimant will have won the case. The various responses which the defendant can
make are illustrated by Figure 17.4.
In order to make a counterclaim against the claimant, the defendant will need to pay a
court fee. This fee will be calculated according to the size of the counterclaim. The fee
payable is the same amount as if the defendant was making an original claim. If an
acknowledgement of service is made, this is done on a form which is sent to the defendant
in the response pack.