HM Courts and Tribunals Service

5Ms A complains about aspects of the service she received from HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS). Specifically, she says HMCTS wrongfully returned a N1 claim form multiple times without explanation or instruction as to what information was needed and why. She also says the complaint response was inconsistent and inaccurate.

6As a result, she says she suffered financial loss as well as significant distress and inconvenience.

7As an outcome to her complaint, Ms A is seeking an apology, financial remedy and service improvements.

8Ms A submitted a N1 claim form (this is an official document used to start a civil court claim in England and Wales) on 26 August 2025. HMCTS returned this application as it was not completed correctly.

9Ms A sent further N1 claim forms in September and October 2025 which were again returned by HMCTS due to issues with the ‘court fees’ section of the form.

10HMCTS processed Ms A’s N1 claim form on 13 October 2025.

N1 Claim form

13Ms A’s complaint relates to HMCTS returning her N1 claim form on several occasions. Specifically, she has said HMCTS required the ‘court fees’ box (on the form) to be completed in a specific way.

14She has told us, the form stated ‘£0.00 remitted’ because a ‘Help with Fees’ application and explanatory covering letter had been supplied. She says HMCTS ultimately required the full fee of £455 to be entered in that box, notwithstanding the application for fee remission.

15Ms A has said the returned correspondence form was ambiguous. She said it did not identify the defect was the entry in the N1 “Court fee” box or explain that the full fee of £455 had to be entered there despite the accompanying application for fee remission.

16In its complaint response HMCTS has said it appreciates Ms A’s frustration in receiving limited advice when her (N1) form was returned. However, it has said the guidance it provided was accurate. it says it is the responsibility of court users to make sure they understand the application process and complete forms correctly. If any of the process is unclear, HMCTS said it recommends that they seek independent legal advice.

17An N1 form is used to issue a claim against someone or an organisation to settle a dispute through the courts. For a paper claim, court staff will review the claim form when in the process of issuing it, but staff only check to make sure each of the boxes in filled in.

18HMCTS also told us even though Ms A may have sent in an EX160 application form (help with fees), simply providing this does not mean the fee has been remitted and is no longer payable. The application itself must be processed and checked separately.

19It appears different types of claims require different fees in order for them to be issued. HMCTS has explained the relevant fee depends on the value of the claim.

20Court staff are unable to assess the value of the claim or tell court users what they should write on the claim or amend the claim form to include the relevant information.

21We recognise Ms A’s views and empathise with the situation she has been put in. Completing forms and being expected to understand different rules without being given clear direction or guidance made this a tricky situation for her. However, HMCTS acted in line with its own process, and we have not seen any indications it acted maladminstratively.

22It is the responsibility of the person making the claim to fill out the correct information. Court staff are unable to assess the value each claim, tell court users what they should write on the claim, or amend the claim form to include the relevant information.

23This does not take away from the frustration and inconvenience Ms A’s experienced though and we empathise with her.

24We have checked our systems to establish whether Ms A’s issue is a systemic problem, and we have seen no indication that this is the case. However, HMCTS has said it has taken the feedback we have provided from this complaint about completing the N1 form and it has passed it on to the relevant team to consider.

Complaint form

25Ms A is unhappy with the accuracy of the stage two response from HMCTS which explained county courts had stopped issuing money claims some years ago and suggested her claim should have been issued via an online service.

26The HMCTS response stated that ‘County Courts stopped issuing money claims some years ago and any new claims should be issued via money claims online or the business centre at Salford so in fact the court should have returned the claim to you and advised you of this’

27From the evidence we have seen it does appear money claims are no longer issued by local County Court centres. The online ‘Make a court claim for money’ guidance says money claims can be issued online through the Money Claim Online (MCOL), the Online Civil Money Claims (OCMC) or by sending a paper copy of the claim form directly to the Civil National Business Centre (CNBC).

28Furthermore, paragraph 3.2 of practice direction, starting proceedings in the county court states;

‘Unless it is a claim for which special procedures are provided in Rules or in practice directions, the claim form in respect of a claim for an amount of money started under Part 7 of the Civil Procedure Rules must be sent to the Civil National Business Centre, St Katharine’s House, 21-27 St Katharine’s Street, Northampton, NN1 2LH. DX 702885 Northampton 7.’

29As such, it does appear the information provided by HMCTS was correct and as such, we have seen no indications of maladministration. However, it is important to note that HMCTS has told us that claims may later be transferred to a local County Court hearing centre. This appears to have been the case in this instance and so we can understand why this may have been confusing.

30We hope our consideration of Ms A’s complaint gives her the explanations she is seeking and will help bring her some closure to the matter.