Guidance

Take a business dispute to the Circuit Commercial Court

How to take a dispute with another company to the Circuit Commercial Court if you run a small or medium sized business.

From:
HM Courts & Tribunals Service
Published
14 January 2016
Last updated
7 June 2021 — See all updates

Cases dealt with by the court

You can use the Circuit Commercial Court for a wide range of commercial, business and professional disputes, including cases about:

  • contracts and business documents
  • insurance
  • banking and financial services
  • buying, selling and transporting goods
  • professional negligence
  • arbitration claims and awards
  • confidential information
  • commercial agencies

Read the Circuit Commercial Court for details of how to use the court.

Help and support

Circuit Commercial Court cases are often complex and can be expensive, so you may wish to get legal advice first.

You can then decide if you want to go ahead, and if you’d like help from a lawyer.

Court staff can explain how the process works, but can’t give you any advice.

Before you start

Unless your case is urgent, you should write a short letter or email to the other side before you start court action.

Explain what your case is about. Include the key dates and issues, and attach copies of the main documents, like contracts or invoices.

You could also try to negotiate an agreement or use an alternative to court like mediation.

Start a court case

To start a case, fill in the relevant form below:

You’ll need to use the part 7 form for most types of claim.

Use the part 8 form if the main facts aren’t in dispute. (For example, if you just disagree with the way a contract has been interpreted.)

Use the arbitration form if you’re contesting an arbitration claim or award.

Write ‘Circuit Commercial Court’ or ‘London Circuit Commercial Court’ on the top of the claim form.

Where to take or send your form

You can use the main Circuit Commercial Court in London, or one of the local courts listed below.

You can file your documents electronically. This online service also enables you to search cases, order copies of documents and pay fees.

Lead times for hearings and trials

Find the lead times for hearings and trials at the London Circuit Commercial Court

London Circuit Commercial Court

Local courts

Pay the court fee

You will need to pay a court fee to start the case. This will be based on how much you want to claim from the other side.

Claim amount up to… Court fee
£300 £35
£500 £50
£1,000 £70
£1,500 £80
£3,000 £115
£5,000 £205
£10,000 £455
£200,000 5% of the amount

If your case is worth more than £200,000 the fee is £10,000.

You can pay with cash, a credit/debit card, or a postal order or cheque (paid to ‘HM Courts and Tribunals Service’).

You may have to pay another £1,090 fee for a court trial later on.

Serve the forms

The court will stamp a copy of your claim form. Give or send this copy to the person or company who will be defending the claim, known as the defendant.

You must also give them:

The particulars document should be up to 20 pages long and include the arguments and facts in support of your case.

You can send the particulars with the form or within the next 28 days.

Send the court a certificate of service to confirm you’ve sent the documents.

Find out more about how to serve the form.

After you serve the form

The defendant has 14 days to acknowledge the claim. If they do this, they can ask for more time to respond.

They have 28 days to respond to the claim once you’ve given them both the claim form and the particulars.

If they don’t respond you can ask the court to make a judgment in your favour.

Case management conference

If they defend the claim, you will have the chance to send a written reply to their points.

You should then ask the court to organise a meeting known as a ‘case management conference’.

This is a meeting with the judge and the other side to discuss:

  • a date for the trial
  • how the case will be managed
  • producing documents
  • arranging for witnesses and experts to give evidence

You and the defendant may be asked to use the same experts, to save on costs.

You may have to go to another meeting before the trial to check that you’re ready.

The trial

The trial will be in front of a Circuit Commercial Court Judge.

Both sides will have the chance to:

  • make opening and closing statements
  • call expert witnesses
  • present expert reports
  • question the witnesses

The courtroom will usually be open to the public.

What to expect coming to a court or tribunal

The decision

In most cases you won’t find out the decision on the final day of the hearing.

The court will usually send you a copy of the draft judgment, to check for typos or other textual errors.

The judge will then issue the judgment.

If you disagree with the decision

If you disagree with the decision, you can ask the court for permission to appeal.

If you’re turned down you can still apply to the higher court for permission.

Find out more about using the Court of Appeal.

You may be able to claim back these costs if you win, but you could be made to pay the defendant’s costs if you lose.

The judge will take into account how both sides acted during the case before deciding to allow or award costs.

Previous decisions

The court’s decisions on earlier cases are published on the British and Irish Legal Information Institute (BAILII) website.

Legislation and rules

You can find detailed rules on using the court in part 59 and practice direction 59 of the Civil Procedure Rules.

Updates to this page

Published 14 January 2016
Last updated 7 June 2021 + show all updates

  1. Removed information about lead times for the court which have been moved to a separate page (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/london-circuit-commercial-court-hearing-and-trial-dates).

  2. Updated the lead times for hearings and trials

  3. Updated the lead times for hearings and trials.

  4. Updates return dates

  5. addition of hearing timeframes

  6. First published.

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