Form N180 is the small claims directions questionnaire that a County Court in England and Wales sends to both sides after a defence is filed. You fill it in to tell the court how you want the case managed, then return it by the deadline printed on the notice of proposed allocation that arrived with it — at least 14 days after the notice is deemed served. Miss that deadline on a County Court money claim and your statement of case can be struck out without a further order.
What Arrives With the Form and What to Check
A court officer sends Form N180 after the defendant files a defence, along with a notice of proposed allocation that provisionally puts the case on the Small Claims Track. If you have no solicitor, the court sends the form straight to you.
Two things on the notice matter before anything else: the date your completed questionnaire must reach the court, and the address or court office where it goes. The return address may not be the court that issued the claim, so read it carefully.
The Mediation Section
Since May 2024, mediation is no longer optional for most small claims money disputes. Parties in claims worth up to £10,000 must take part in a free, one-hour telephone appointment run by the HMCTS Small Claims Mediation Service. A mediator speaks to each side separately and works between you to try to reach an agreement. If you settle, the case ends without a hearing.
If you cannot agree, the case moves on to a hearing before a judge and nothing is lost. Skipping the appointment without a good reason can lead to sanctions at the final hearing, including a fine, an order to pay the cost of the wasted session, or in serious cases having your claim or defence dismissed. Mediation is excluded where there are safeguarding concerns such as domestic abuse or vulnerable parties.
Choosing a Hearing Centre
The form asks which County Court hearing centre you want the trial held at. For claims involving a specified sum of money where the defendant is an individual, Civil Procedure Rule 26.2 requires the case to be transferred to the defendant’s home court once a defence is filed. Where there are multiple defendants, the claim goes to the home court of whichever individual defendant filed first. Businesses and organisations are not caught by this automatic transfer, so the hearing centre can differ depending on who the parties are.
Declaring Your Witnesses
Tell the court how many witnesses you plan to bring. Count yourself if you intend to give oral evidence, plus anyone else with direct knowledge of the facts. The court uses the number to estimate the length of the hearing and to set a workable timetable. Underestimating causes scheduling problems later. If you think a colleague or a neighbour saw what happened, include them now rather than trying to add witnesses after directions are set.
Requesting Expert Evidence
No expert may give evidence in a small claims case, written or oral, without the court’s permission. If you believe you need a report from a mechanic, surveyor, doctor, or similar professional, the form asks you to explain why the evidence would help the court and to estimate the cost. The recoverable fee for any expert’s report is capped at £750 per expert, so even if you win you cannot recover more than that from the other side.
How and Where to File It
Once the questionnaire is complete, file it with the court and serve a copy on every other party. Use the exact address or court office named on the notice of proposed allocation.
The deadline is at least 14 days from the date the notice is deemed served. Parties cannot extend it by agreement; only the court can vary it. Submissions go in by post and, for many courts, by email. For paper and legacy-system claims, the Civil National Business Centre accepts questionnaires at DQ.CNBC@justice.gov.uk. Claims issued through Online Civil Money Claims use OCMCNton@justice.gov.uk. Whichever method you use, keep proof of when you sent it. A certificate of posting or a sent-email record establishes that you met the deadline.
If You Miss the Deadline
The consequences depend on the type of claim. For County Court money claims, both specified and unspecified, the court first serves a further notice giving you seven days to comply. If you still do not file, your statement of case is automatically struck out without any further court order. Your claim is dismissed, or your defence is removed, depending on which side you are on.
For other types of claims, the court has discretion. It may strike out the claim, strike out the defence and enter judgment against the defendant, give directions on its own, or list the case for a case management conference. In either scenario the party who missed the deadline will usually be ordered to pay the costs the default caused the other side.
What Happens After You Return the Form
Once both sides have returned their questionnaires, a district judge reviews the information and formally allocates the case to a track. The Small Claims Track is the normal route for claims worth £10,000 or less. Personal injury claims stay on the small claims track only if the compensation sought for the injury itself does not exceed £1,000, and the same £1,000 cap applies to housing disrepair claims brought by a tenant against a landlord where the estimated cost of repairs is no more than £1,000 and any other damages claim also sits within that limit.
If the judge decides the dispute involves complicated legal issues, substantial witness evidence, or a value above the relevant threshold, the case can be moved to the Fast Track or another track. The court then sends both sides a notice of allocation confirming the track, setting the date of the final hearing, and listing the directions each party must complete before trial. Standard directions typically require you to deliver all the documents you intend to rely on to both the court and the other side no later than 14 days before the hearing.