Free tool

Free N215 Certificate of Service Builder

Led by Diellza Nika Hyseni and Mentor Nika · Updated 21 October 2026

Fill in the official HMCTS certificate of service in minutes, with the deemed date of service worked out under CPR 6.14 and 6.26, the 4.30pm cut-off, weekends and bank holidays, and the date to file it by. From DMD Costs, law costs draftsmen in Westhoughton, Bolton.

Free, with no sign-up
No paywall, no watermark
The official HMCTS form
Nothing leaves your browser

Fill in how and when you served. The deemed date of service is worked out as you type, and the N215 downloads filled in, ready to check, sign and file.

Court

Claim number

Claimant

Defendant

What did you serve?

The claim formAnother document

Documents served

On whom (with their position, such as partner or director)

Method of service

Day served (posted, left, sent…)

First line of address

Second line of address

Town or city

County (optional)

Postcode

DX number

Email address

Fax number

Other electronic identification

Being the address of the

Location

I believe that the facts stated in this form are true

Signed by

Full name

Date

Legal representative’s firm

Position or office held

Signature (leave blank to sign by hand)

The builder applies CPR Parts 2, 6, 7 and 22 and Practice Direction 6A, with the bank holidays in England and Wales, as they stood on 21 October 2026, to the official form N215 (06.26). Check every box against your file before filing. It is a guide, not legal advice.

Key points

DMD Costs’ N215 builder is a free online tool that fills in the official HMCTS Form N215, the certificate of service, with the deemed date of service worked out for you, and downloads it as a PDF ready to sign and file.
It is completely free, with no sign-up or paywall, and runs in your browser; nothing you enter is sent to DMD Costs.
A claim form served in the UK is deemed served on the second business day after the step required by CPR 7.5(1), such as posting, leaving it or sending the email (CPR 6.14).
Any other document is deemed served on the day the CPR 6.26 table gives: first class post or DX on the second day after posting if that is a business day, otherwise the next business day; delivery, fax, email and personal service that day if done on a business day before 4.30pm, otherwise the next business day.
A claimant who serves the claim form must file a certificate of service within 21 days of service of the particulars of claim, unless every defendant has acknowledged service within that time, and cannot get default judgment without one (CPR 6.17(2)).
A certificate of service must be verified by a statement of truth (CPR 22.1(1)(d)) and state the details CPR 6.17(3) or 6.29 require for the method used, such as the date and time of sending an email.

How to use the N215 builder

Say what was served. Choose the claim form or another document, list what was served and on whom.
Choose the method. Pick the method of service from the form’s list: post, leaving at a place, personal service, a method the court permitted, DX, fax or another electronic method.
Enter the day and time. Enter the day of posting, leaving, handing over or sending and, where the 4.30pm cut-off matters, the time. The builder works out the deemed date.
Give the address or number. Enter the address, DX number, fax number or email address used, and whose address it is.
Sign. Tick the statement of truth, choose who signs and enter the name, firm and date.
Download. Download the filled N215, check it, sign it and file it; for a claim form, within 21 days of service of the particulars of claim.

The deemed date of service

The builder uses the same rules as the free deemed service calculator. A claim form is deemed served on the second business day after the step required by CPR 7.5(1) (CPR 6.14); the claim form itself must be served by taking that step before 12 midnight on the calendar day four months after the date of issue (CPR 7.5(1)). Any other document follows the CPR 6.26 table. Where the time is not entered for a method with a 4.30pm cut-off, the builder assumes it was 4.30pm or later, which gives the later date, and says so. To count any other time limit, use the CPR deadline calculator.

The term, defined: deemed service
Other free form builders: the N244 application notice, the N434 notice of change and the N252 notice of commencement
Every free tool in one place: costs help for solicitors

Sources

Form N215: certificate of service (HMCTS, GOV.UK)
CPR Part 6 (rules 6.2, 6.14, 6.17, 6.26 and 6.29) and Practice Direction 6A (paras 4.1 and 4.2)
CPR Part 7 (rule 7.5), CPR Part 2 (rule 2.8) and CPR Part 22 (rule 22.1)

Frequently asked questions

Yes. It is completely free, with no sign-up, no paywall and no limit. It fills in the official HMCTS form in your browser, and nothing you type is sent to DMD Costs.

Where the claimant serves the claim form, it must file a certificate of service within 21 days of service of the particulars of claim, unless all the defendants have filed acknowledgments of service within that time, and it may not obtain default judgment under Part 12 until a certificate has been filed (CPR 6.17(2)). Other rules, practice directions and orders require certificates for other documents, for example an order that a solicitor has ceased to act, where a party serves it (PD 42 para 3.3).

On the second business day after completion of the relevant step under CPR 7.5(1), such as posting it, leaving it at the address, handing it over or sending the email, if it was served within the United Kingdom (CPR 6.14). A business day is any day except a Saturday, Sunday, bank holiday, Good Friday or Christmas Day (CPR 6.2(b)), and the bank holidays are those of the part of the United Kingdom where service takes place (CPR 6.2(a)); the builder counts those in England and Wales.

By the table in CPR 6.26: by first class post or document exchange, the second day after posting or leaving it with the service provider, if that is a business day, or else the next business day; by delivering it to or leaving it at a permitted address, by fax, by email or other electronic method, or by personal service, that day if it was done on a business day before 4.30pm, and otherwise the next business day.

Only where the party to be served, or its solicitor, has previously indicated in writing that it is willing to accept service by email and given the address to use (PD 6A para 4.1). An email address on a solicitor’s writing paper is enough only if it says the address may be used for service, and the party serving must first ask whether there are limits, such as on the format or size of attachments (PD 6A paras 4.1 and 4.2).

Usually not. On the online Damages Claims Portal a party notifies the court of service on the portal screens. Paper certificates of service are filed only where a document had to be served on more than one party and they were served on different days, and the claim then leaves the portal (PD 51ZB para 3.13).

No. Neither the Civil Proceedings Fees Order 2008 nor HMCTS’s fees list EX50 sets a fee for filing a certificate of service.

The details CPR 6.17(3) (for a claim form) or CPR 6.29 (for other documents) require for the method used: for example, the date of posting, the date and time of personal service, of delivery or of completing a fax, or the date and time of sending an email. Where the claim form was served at an address under CPR 6.7 to 6.10, the certificate states the category of address, such as usual residence or principal place of business (CPR 6.17(3)(a)). It is verified by a statement of truth (CPR 22.1(1)(d)).

Serving a bill, or replies to Points of Dispute?

We work for claimant solicitor firms: we draft the bill, the notice of commencement and the replies to Points of Dispute, and negotiate the costs to settlement. The fee is fixed and agreed before any work begins.

Request a fixed-fee quote →More free tools