How to use the deemed service calculator
- Choose how the claim is run. A paper or CE-File claim under CPR Part 7, or the Damages Claims Portal, with the issue date.
- Enter how the claim form was served. The method and the date of the step, or the deemed date in the court’s notice if the court served it.
- Enter the particulars of claim. In the claim form, served with it, or to follow, with how and when they were served.
- Add the response. Whether an acknowledgment of service was filed, and any extension agreed for the defence.
- Read the dates. Each date shows whether it is a service or a filing deadline, the rule, the latest days to email or post, and any court closure.
- Copy them for the file. Copy the dates and notes for the file or the diary.
Deemed service of a claim form
The claimant must complete the step for the chosen method before midnight on the calendar day four months after the claim form was issued (CPR 7.5(1)). The claim form is then deemed served on the second business day after that step (CPR 6.14). Because the test is the step, a claim form is served in time if the step was taken in time even where the deemed date falls later (T&L Sugars Ltd v Tate & Lyle Industries Ltd [2014] EWHC 1066 (Comm)).
| Method | The step |
|---|---|
| First class post or another next-business-day service | Posting it, leaving it with or delivering it to the provider, or its collection by the provider |
| Document exchange | Leaving it with, delivering it to or its collection by the DX provider |
| Delivering it to or leaving it at the address | Delivering or leaving it |
| Personal service | Leaving it with the individual, or with the person CPR 6.5(3) names for a company or partnership |
| Fax | Sending it |
| Email or another electronic method | Sending it |
Where the defendant has given a solicitor’s business address in writing for service of the claim form, or the defendant’s solicitor has notified the claimant in writing that it is instructed to accept service of the claim form, the claim form must be served at that solicitor’s business address (CPR 6.7(1)), and not on the defendant personally unless personal service is required (CPR 6.5(1) and (2)(a)).
Deemed service of other documents
Every document other than the claim form, including particulars of claim served separately, follows the table in CPR 6.26. The 4.30pm rule applies to delivery, fax, email and personal service, and 4.30pm exactly counts as after it. If you leave the time blank for one of those methods, the calculator takes it as 4.30pm or later for default judgment and for whether service was in time, and as before 4.30pm for the strict reading and your own filings, such as the certificate of service, so each gives the safer date; each card says which it used.
| Method | Deemed served |
|---|---|
| First class post, or another next-business-day service | The second day after posting, if a business day; otherwise the next business day |
| Document exchange | The second day after leaving it with the provider, if a business day; otherwise the next business day |
| Delivering it to or leaving it at the address | That day, if before 4.30pm on a business day; otherwise the next business day |
| Fax | That day, if the transmission is completed before 4.30pm on a business day; otherwise the next business day |
| Email or another electronic method | That day, if sent before 4.30pm on a business day; otherwise the next business day |
| Personal service | That day, if before 4.30pm on a business day; otherwise the next business day |
The response deadlines
| Step | Time | CPR |
|---|---|---|
| Serve particulars that follow the claim form | Within 14 days after service of the claim form, and no later than the four-month time | 7.4 |
| Acknowledgment of service | 14 days after service of the claim form, or of the particulars where they followed | 10.3 |
| Defence, with no acknowledgment | 14 days after service of the particulars | 15.4(1)(a) |
| Defence, after an acknowledgment | 28 days after service of the particulars | 15.4(1)(b) |
| Agreed extension of the defence | Up to 28 more days; the defendant must notify the court in writing | 15.5 |
| Default judgment | Once the time for the acknowledgment or defence has expired, if none has been filed | 12.3 |
The defence periods are the general rule. They are subject to CPR 3.4(7), 6.12(3), 6.35, Part 11 and 24.4(4) (CPR 15.4(2)): for example, where summary judgment is applied for before a defence is filed, the defendant need not file one before the hearing (CPR 24.4(4)).
Counting days and court closures
Periods in days are clear days: the day of service is not counted, so 14 days after service on 2 October ends on 16 October (CPR 2.8). Where the last day for a filing at court falls on a day the court office is closed, the filing is in time on the next day it is open (CPR 2.8(5)); the closed days are in Practice Direction 2A, including one further day over Christmas. That rule does not move a deadline for serving a document, or the four-month time for the claim form. The step to serve the claim form must be taken by the last day of the four months; for particulars that follow, the calculator gives the latest days to email or post so that they are deemed served in time. If you file by email, a document received at or after 4pm is treated as filed on the next day the office is open (PD 5B para 4.2); on CE-File the time of submission counts (PD 5C).
Particulars served with the claim form
The rules do not say whether particulars served with the claim form, but as a separate document, are deemed served with it under CPR 6.14 or on their own under CPR 6.26. Where the two differ, the calculator shows both: the earlier date is the safe one for a filing deadline, such as the defence or the claimant’s certificate of service, and the later one for the claimant’s default judgment.
Service by email
Email is a valid method only where the party, or its solicitor, has said in writing beforehand that it will accept service by email and given the address (PD 6A para 4.1). An email address on a solicitor’s writing paper is not enough unless it says it may be used for service. In Barton v Wright Hassall LLP [2018] UKSC 12 a claim form emailed without that was not good service, and the Supreme Court refused to validate it.
The Damages Claims Portal
Damages claims brought by represented claimants must be issued on the Damages Claims Portal where the conditions in Practice Direction 51ZB para 1.6(3) are met, including, since 1 October 2026, housing disrepair claims that also seek specific performance. Service takes place when the portal sends its notification. The claim must be notified before midnight at the end of the notification longstop date, four months after issue. The details of claim must follow by 4pm on the 14th day after that, and no later than the longstop date, or the claim is automatically dismissed (para 4.3). The defendant may then acknowledge the claim by 4pm on the 14th day after the details, and must respond by 4pm on the 14th day, or the 28th after an acknowledgment, with one agreed extension of 28 days recorded on the portal. Choose the portal at the top of the calculator for those dates. They assume the defendant’s solicitor was registered with the portal when the claim started; if not, paragraph 3.11 applies: the claimant serves the claim form generated by the portal under CPR 7.5(1), and unless the defendant gives notice that it is represented, the claim transfers out of the portal to continue under Part 7.
Related tools
Sources
- Civil Procedure Rules Part 2 (rules 2.8, 2.10 and 2.11), Part 6 (rules 6.2, 6.5, 6.7, 6.14, 6.17 and 6.26), Part 7 (rules 7.4, 7.5 and 7.6), Part 10, Part 12, Part 13 (rule 13.2), Part 15 (rules 15.4, 15.5 and 15.8), Part 24 (rule 24.4) and Part 26 (rule 26.4)
- Practice Direction 2A, Practice Direction 5B, Practice Direction 5C, Practice Direction 6A and Practice Direction 51ZB
- Barton v Wright Hassall LLP [2018] UKSC 12 and T&L Sugars Ltd v Tate & Lyle Industries Ltd [2014] EWHC 1066 (Comm)
- GOV.UK: bank holidays in England and Wales