A claim form is needed in order to start a claim. A claim is started when the court issues a claim form at the request of the Claimant. The claim form used to be known as a ‘writ’ or a ‘summons’, but now has a more straightforward and easily understood name.
Rules known as the Civil Procedure Rules set out what a claim form must contain. At the minimum, the claim form must contain a concise statement of the nature of the claim, for example that it is a negligence claim. The claim form must also specify the remedy the Claimant seeks, which in a personal injury claim would normally be damages. If a claim for money is being made, the claim form must state the amount of money which is being claimed, or must say that the Claimant expects to recover either no more than £5,000, or more than £5,000 but not more than £15,000, or more than £15,000. If the Claimant cannot say how much he expects to recover, this must be stated in the claim form. In claims for personal injuries, the Claimant must also state whether he expects to recover more than £1,000 as general damages for pain, suffering and loss of amenity.
The claim form must also include an address at which the Claimant resides or carries on business, even if the Claimant’s address for service is the business address of his solicitor. Where the Defendant is an individual, the Claimant should, if he is able to do so, include in the claim form an address at which the Defendant resides or carries on business. Again, this applies even though the Defendant may have solicitors who have agreed to accept service on the Defendant’s behalf. Addresses given must include a postcode. If the claim form does not show a full address, including postcode, at which the Claimant and Defendant reside or carry on business, the court will issue the claim form but will retain it and will not serve it until the Claimant has supplied a full address, including postcode, or until the court has decided to dispense with this requirement. If the court issues a claim form and retains it without serving it, the court will notify the Claimant of this.
The claim form must be headed with the title of the proceedings, which basically means that it must include the name of the court in which it is issued, and the full name of the Claimant and the Defendant(s). The full name means, in each case where it is known, the full unabbreviated name and title by which an individual is known, if the party is an individual. If a party, e.g. the Defendant, is an individual carrying on business in a name other than his own name, the full unabbreviated name of the individual, together with the title by which he is known, and the full trading name must be included. In the case of a partnership, other than a limited liability partnership, where partners are being sued in the name of the partnership, the full name by which the partnership is known, together with the words ‘A Firm’ must be used. If partners are being sued as individuals, the full unabbreviated name of each partner and the title by which he is known must be used. In the case of a company or limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales, the full registered name, including suffix (e.g. plc, limited, LLP etc), if any, must be included. In the case of any other company or corporation, the full name by which it is known, including suffix where appropriate, must be used.
It can be seen that the rules about what must be included in a claim form can be complicated. For expert assistance on completing the claim form, please contact a local solicitor in our directory, who should be able to take care of this for you.