How to Respond to an MCOL Claim Made Against You

If you have received a claim through Money Claim Online (MCOL), time limits to respond apply from the moment the claim is deemed served. MCOL is the online service run by HM Courts and Tribunals Service for money claims up to £100,000, and the papers you have been sent will include a claim number and a password for the defendant. Those two details are your way in.

This guide explains what you can do, how long you have to do it, and what happens if you ignore the whole thing.

The two deadlines that matter

From the date the particulars of claim are deemed served on you, you have 14 days to respond. Within that 14 days you can do one of three things: pay the claim in full, file a defence, or file an acknowledgment of service.

Filing an acknowledgment of service in time extends your deadline for filing a defence to 28 days from deemed service. If there is any chance you will want to defend, acknowledge service first and use the extra fortnight to prepare properly.

Under the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR 6.14), the claim form is deemed served on the second business day after completion of the relevant step of service under CPR 7.5 (for example, posting by first class post, or otherwise leaving with, delivering to, or collecting by the relevant service provider). Check the dates on your claim form carefully.

Logging in to MCOL as a defendant

Go to the Money Claim Online service on GOV.UK and select the option to respond as a defendant. You will need:

• The claim number (printed on the claim form)
• The password issued to you as defendant (also on the claim form)

Keep these safe. Without the password you cannot respond online and will need to contact the County Court Business Centre (CCBC) in Northampton, which handles MCOL claims administratively.

Once logged in, the system walks you through the options: admit all, admit part, file an acknowledgment of service, or file a defence (with or without a counterclaim).

Acknowledgment of service and defence

An acknowledgment of service is a short online form telling the court you have received the claim and intend to defend all or part of it, or to dispute the court's jurisdiction. There is no fee. If you already know you want to defend and can prepare it quickly, you can skip this step and file the defence within the original 14 days instead.

A defence needs to respond to the allegations in the particulars of claim paragraph by paragraph. For each point, say whether you admit it, deny it, or require the claimant to prove it. Where you deny something, say why, and if you have a different version of events, give it.

Keep it factual. The court is not interested in how frustrated you are with the claimant. It wants to know what happened, what you dispute, and what your position is.

You can file the defence online through MCOL if it is reasonably short. The online form has a limit of 8,000 characters for MCOL defences. If your defence is longer or more complicated, file it on paper using form N9B. Trying to compress a complex defence into the online box rarely goes well.

Before you draft anything, gather the documents you will rely on: contracts, invoices, correspondence, receipts, anything that supports your version. If the sum is significant or the issues are legally tricky, get advice before you file.

Small Claims Guide

Thinking of making a small claim or defending one? Describe your situation and get a step-by-step guide to the process, costs, and what to expect.

Try our Small Claims Guide free, here on this site →

Counterclaims and partial admissions

If the claimant owes you money, or has caused you loss connected to the same dispute, you can bring a counterclaim. This is filed at the same time as your defence. A court fee applies, calculated on the value of your counterclaim in the same way as a claim fee. The current fee structure is set out in form EX50 on GOV.UK.

A counterclaim is treated as a claim in its own right, so the claimant then has to file a defence to it. If your counterclaim is larger than the original claim, the case effectively becomes your claim against them, with theirs running alongside.

You do not have to take an all-or-nothing approach. If you accept you owe some of the money but dispute the rest, you can make a partial admission. You admit a specific amount and defend the balance. The admitted sum can be paid immediately, or you can offer instalments, in which case the claimant decides whether to accept the offer or ask the court to determine a rate of payment.

Partial admissions are often sensible where, for example, you accept the principal debt but dispute interest or charges added on top.

Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.

What happens if you do nothing

If you file nothing within 14 days, the claimant can apply for default judgment. Judgment is entered against you without the court looking at the merits. A County Court Judgment (CCJ) will be registered against your name, which affects your credit file for six years unless paid in full within one month of the judgment.

Default judgments can sometimes be set aside, but you will need to apply to the court, pay a fee, and show either that the judgment was wrongly entered or that you have a real prospect of successfully defending the claim. Responding on time avoids all of this.

Allocation and the directions questionnaire

Once a defence is filed, the claim leaves MCOL and is transferred to a County Court hearing centre, usually the one nearest to you if you are an individual. The court then sends both parties a directions questionnaire, form N180, which must be completed and returned by the date stated.

Form N180 asks whether you agree to the case being referred to the Small Claims Mediation Service, which track you think the case should be on, whether you have any dates to avoid, and whether you need any special arrangements at a hearing. It is short but it matters, because the answers help the court decide how to manage the case.

Most defended money claims under the small claims limit are allocated to the small claims track. Larger or more complex claims go to the fast track or intermediate track, which have stricter rules on evidence and costs. Current track thresholds are on GOV.UK.

After allocation, the court will send directions setting out what each side has to do before any hearing, typically exchanging documents and witness statements by set dates. From that point the case is managed by the local court rather than MCOL.

Getting help

Citizens Advice can help with straightforward queries and is free. For anything more involved, a solicitor or a direct access barrister can review the papers and advise on your prospects. Free help may also be available through Advocate or a law centre, depending on your circumstances. If the claim is for a significant sum, or the issues are legally tricky, get advice before you file anything.

The Next Step

Now that you have read through the advice above, you might want to put it into practice. Our Small Claims Guide lets you thinking of making a small claim or defending one? Describe your situation and get a step-by-step guide to the process, costs, and what to expect. Try it now →