Civil justice in England and Wales runs on a handful of numbers: 14 days to respond to a claim form before judgment can be entered against you, £10,000 as the small-claims ceiling with fees from £35, six years to sue on most contracts and debts, and a compulsory — free — telephone mediation before small-claims hearings. Debt has its own protections most people never use: Breathing Space, free debt relief orders up to £50,000, and time-barred debts collectors hope you'll revive. Our free line is live 24/7 with an AI legal assistant trained on this jurisdiction's civil law. Legal information, not legal advice; no solicitor-client relationship. A £145 fixed-fee solicitor consultation is bookable on the call.
Free legal information. Not legal advice. Available 24/7 across England and Wales.
If a county court claim form has arrived: the clock is 14 days from service. Respond — admit, defend, or acknowledge service to stretch your defence deadline to 28 days. Silence lets the claimant enter default judgment without any hearing: an instant CCJ that sits on your credit file for six years unless paid within a month, and undoing it later costs a £321 application plus proof you moved promptly with a real defence. If the claim is under £10,000 and you defend, expect the free compulsory mediation call before any hearing — skipping it can get your case struck out or costs awarded against you even if you win. If it's a debt you can't pay rather than one you dispute, stop and breathe: a free debt adviser can trigger Breathing Space — 60 days with enforcement, interest and creditor contact frozen — before you promise a penny.
Debt collectors know the law better than debtors do. A debt untouched for six years — no payment, no written admission, no judgment — is statute-barred: the courts are closed to it, and regulated firms cannot pretend otherwise once you say you won't pay. So the calls get friendly. "Just set up a token £5 to show willing." "Pop it in writing and we'll freeze the interest." Either move — any part payment, any written acknowledgment — restarts the entire six-year limitation period from that day, converting a dead debt into six fresh years of enforceable liability. The rule cuts both ways: creditors chasing genuine recent debts should sue inside the six years rather than nurse promises. Before you pay or write anything about an old debt, check the dates with a free debt adviser or our line — the single cheapest phone call in consumer law.
England and Wales runs a genuinely excellent free debt-advice network — the gateway to every statutory shield — alongside consumer bodies with real teeth. Independent services all; our line matches your situation to the right one.
A county court claim form has arrived. What exactly do I do?
Diarise day 14 from service, then choose: admit (and propose payment), defend (state your case on the form), or acknowledge service to extend your defence deadline to 28 days. File online where the claim was issued digitally. Do nothing and default judgment follows without a hearing — a CCJ with six-year consequences. If you dispute a sub-£10,000 claim, the free compulsory mediation call comes before any hearing. If the claim is right but unaffordable, admit and propose instalments rather than defending hopelessly — and get free debt advice the same week.
How do I sue someone who owes me money, and what will it cost?
Issue online: fees run £35 (under £300) to £455 (at £10,000), added to the claim so the loser typically repays them, with hearing fees only if mediation fails. Before suing an individual for a debt, send a protocol letter of claim and give 30 days. Under £10,000 you're in small claims: informal, lawyer-optional, each side bearing its own legal costs — which caps your risk. Win, and enforcement (bailiffs, attachment of earnings, charging orders) is a further fee but a real toolkit. Sue inside six years of the debt arising or being acknowledged.
What is this compulsory mediation, and can I refuse it?
Defended money claims under £10,000 are automatically referred to HMCTS's free telephone mediation: an hour, a trained mediator shuttling between you separately, nothing imposed — settle only if you agree. Refusing or no-showing is the expensive choice: judges can strike out claims or defences and load costs onto refusers even when they win. The scheme runs to at least April 2027. Treat it as a free settlement engine: most cases that use it seriously never need the hearing fee.
How long do I have to sue — and when is a debt against me too old?
Both directions run on the Limitation Act: six years for contract and debt, three for personal injury from knowledge, twelve on deeds — stopped only by issuing a claim. A consumer debt with six clean years (no payment, no written acknowledgment, no CCJ) is statute-barred: courts closed, and collectors barred from pressing after you refuse. But payment or written acknowledgment inside the period restarts it — and a CCJ obtained before expiry lasts indefinitely with leave. Check dates before paying anything on an old account.
What does a CCJ actually do to me, and can I get rid of it?
It sits on the public register and your credit file for six years, throttling mortgages, tenancies, some jobs and most mainstream credit — unless you pay in full within one month of judgment, which removes it entirely. Paid later, it stays but shows satisfied (worth doing: get the certificate). Wrongly entered — never served, or a real defence — apply to set aside under CPR 13: £321, promptly, with evidence. The judgment debt itself also accrues enforcement: better to engage at claim stage than after.
Bailiffs are threatening to visit. What are my rights?
Enforcement agents must send a notice giving at least seven clear days before visiting — the £79 compliance stage — and a visit adds £247 to the debt, sale £116 more. For ordinary debts they cannot force entry to your home, cannot enter with only a child present, and must not take essentials or tools of trade within limits. Everything negotiable stays negotiable: controlled-goods agreements, instalments, or Breathing Space to freeze the process. Vulnerability (illness, disability, recent bereavement) triggers extra protections — say so early and in writing.
What is Breathing Space and how do I get it?
A statutory 60-day shield: interest, fees and enforcement frozen and creditor contact banned on included debts, while you work a plan with an adviser — accessible only through a free debt adviser (StepChange, National Debtline, Citizens Advice), usable once in twelve months. Keep paying ongoing bills through it. A separate mental-health crisis version lasts the treatment plus 30 days and is repeatable. It's a regroup, not a write-off — the write-offs come next: DROs to £50,000 (free) or bankruptcy (£680) where the numbers fit.
Can I really write off up to £50,000 of debt for free?
If your numbers fit the debt relief order: qualifying debts under £50,000, assets under £2,000 (a car to £4,000 excepted), spare income under £75 a month, and no recent property giveaways. The fee was abolished — a DRO now costs nothing, entered through an approved adviser. Twelve months later the debts are gone; the order marks your file for six years. Above the thresholds: bankruptcy (£680, most debts gone in a year) or an IVA. Which fits is exactly what the free advisers calculate daily.
The goods I bought are faulty. What am I owed?
Under the Consumer Rights Act your contract is with the retailer: within 30 days, reject for a full refund. After that, one repair or replacement attempt — then price reduction or final rejection — with any fault in the first six months presumed present at purchase unless the seller proves otherwise. Online and doorstep buys add a 14-day no-reason cancellation. Escalation ladder: complain in writing → chargeback or s.75 through your card → ADR/ombudsman where the sector has one → small claims, where the fee is modest and recoverable.
The company went bust / won't refund. Does my card save me?
Often, yes. Credit card and any part-payment on it between £100.01 and £30,000: section 75 makes the issuer jointly liable for the seller's breach or misrepresentation — insolvency included — claimable straight from the bank and appealable free to the Financial Ombudsman (limit £455,000). Debit cards and sub-£100 credit purchases: chargeback through the card scheme, typically within about 120 days of discovering the problem. Airlines, events, sofas that never arrive: card routes usually beat queueing as an unsecured creditor.
Is this a law firm? Is the call really free?
No, and yes. Legal Hotline is not a law firm; the line provides clear legal information about civil disputes, debt and consumer rights in England and Wales — not legal advice on your case — and no solicitor-client relationship arises. Free, 24/7, unlimited questions. When the stakes earn a professional — a defended claim, enforcement against your home, a limitation puzzle — a one-hour solicitor consultation is a fixed £145, bookable on the call.
Defended claims, set-asides, enforcement defence and consumer disputes with real money attached — our 24/7 line pre-triages people who need exactly one hour of expert judgment. If that's your practice, we'd like to hear from you.
General legal information, not legal advice. We research every page from primary sources — legislation, the courts, and government legal-aid bodies — and check it for accuracy. Spotted something out of date? Tell us at admin@platfirm.ai.
Respond in 14, sue within six years, clear a CCJ within one month, breathe for 60 — the outcomes in this jurisdiction belong to people who know which clock is running. Our free line is live now, 24/7, with an AI legal assistant trained on the civil law of England and Wales. We are not a law firm; it's legal information, not legal advice, and no solicitor-client relationship arises. When you want a solicitor's judgment on your deadline, your defence or your debt strategy, a one-hour consultation is a fixed £145 — bookable right on the call.
Free legal information. Not legal advice.