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Free N265 List of Documents Builder (Standard Disclosure)

Led by Diellza Nika Hyseni and Mentor Nika · Updated 23 October 2026

Fill in the official HMCTS list of documents for standard disclosure: the disclosure statement, the three parts of the list numbered and dated, and continuation sheets for a list too long for the form, checked against CPR Part 31 and PD 31A. 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 the disclosure statement and list the documents. The checks update as you type, a long list runs onto a continuation sheet, and the N265 downloads filled in, ready to check, sign and serve. Nothing leaves your browser.

The claim
Who gives disclosure
The party giving disclosure is the
The search

I did not search for documents

Where the documents were held, whose they were, the dates and any keywords used.

I did not search for the following (page 2)

Devices not searched: whose
Kinds of file not searched: whose
Left blank, the builder strikes through the keywords line, as the form says.
For example the difficulty or expense of a wider search, or the marginal relevance of what was left out. The form has no box for this: it goes on the continuation sheet, the form notes that it is there, and the sheet has its own signature line.
Part 1: documents you do not object to being inspected
Part 2: documents you object to being inspected
Part 3: documents no longer in your control
Inspection withheld, and signing
After serving the list (optional)

The builder applies CPR Parts 2 and 31 and Practice Direction 31A, as they stood on 23 October 2026, to the official form N265 (10.05). It fills in the form: it does not say what to disclose, how far to search or whether a document is privileged, which are for you. Check every box against your file before serving. It is a guide, not legal advice. Where a rule does not settle a point, the check says “our reading”.

Key points

  • DMD Costs’ N265 builder is a free online tool that fills in the official HMCTS Form N265, the list of documents for standard disclosure, and downloads it as a PDF ready to sign and serve.
  • It is completely free, with no sign-up or paywall, and runs in your browser; nothing you enter is sent to DMD Costs.
  • Standard disclosure requires a party to disclose the documents on which it relies, the documents which adversely affect its own case or another party’s, or support another party’s case, and any documents a relevant practice direction requires (CPR 31.6), after a reasonable search for the last two kinds (CPR 31.7). Form N265 is for use where the court has ordered standard disclosure.
  • The list must be in the practice form, Form N265, identify the documents in a convenient order and as concisely as possible, normally in date order and numbered consecutively, and include a disclosure statement (CPR 31.10; PD 31A paras 3.1 and 3.2).
  • The list has three parts: documents in the party’s control that it does not object to being inspected; documents it objects to being inspected, with the grounds; and documents no longer in its control, with what has happened to them (CPR 31.10(4) and 31.19(3)).
  • The disclosure statement is made by the party, or its litigation friend; for a company or other organisation it must identify the person making it and explain why they are the appropriate person (CPR 31.10(6) and (7)).
  • A party with a right to inspect gives written notice, and inspection must be permitted not more than 7 days after the notice is received (CPR 31.15). The duty of disclosure continues until the proceedings end (CPR 31.11).
  • Part 31 does not apply on the small claims track (CPR 27.2(1)(b)), and in the Business and Property Division of the High Court (the Business and Property Courts until 1 October 2026) disclosure is governed by Practice Direction 57AD instead of Part 31 and PD 31A (PD 57AD paras 1.1 and 1.8).

How to use the N265 builder

  1. Enter the claim. Enter the court, the claim number, the parties with their references and the date of the list.
  2. Say who gives disclosure. Choose the claimant, the defendant or another party, and who makes the disclosure statement: the party, a person for a company or other organisation, a litigation friend, or an insurer.
  3. Describe the search. Give the date of the order, any limits on the search (dates, places, categories, electronic documents, devices, kinds of file, keywords) and the reasons for them.
  4. List the documents. Enter or paste the documents for each part of the list, with their dates and a short description. The builder numbers them and can sort them into date order.
  5. Check where it all goes. The builder fits each part into its box on the form and puts anything that does not fit on a continuation sheet, saying so in the box.
  6. Download, sign and serve. Download the filled N265 with any continuation sheets, check it, sign it and serve it on every other party.

The three parts of the list

The list must identify the documents in a convenient order and manner and as concisely as possible, and indicate the documents over which the party claims a right or duty to withhold inspection, and those no longer in its control, with what has happened to them (CPR 31.10(3) and (4)). Form N265 does that in three boxes on its third page: documents you do not object to being inspected; documents you object to being inspected, with the grounds (CPR 31.19(3) and (4)); and documents no longer in your control, with when each was last in your control and where it is now. PD 31A para 3.2 says it will normally be necessary to list the documents in date order, numbered consecutively, each with a concise description, and allows documents of the same kind to be listed as a category. The builder numbers each part from 1, because each part of the form has its own box in which to list and number the documents (our reading: one run of numbers across the whole list is also seen), and shows each document’s number beside it as you type, so the grounds in part 2 can cite the numbers that will be on the form.

The disclosure statement

The statement sets out the extent of the search, and certifies that the party understands the duty of disclosure and has carried it out to the best of its knowledge (CPR 31.10(6)); its form is in the Annex to PD 31A. It should state the limits of the search, such as documents before a date, places or categories not searched, or electronic sources left out, and give the reasons for any limit adopted for proportionality (CPR 31.7(3); PD 31A para 4.2). The form has no box for those reasons, so the builder puts them on the continuation sheet, headed as part of the statement, writes a note beside “I did not search for…” on the form saying they are there, and adds a signature and date line to the sheet: sign it as well as the form. Where inspection of a category or class of documents is not permitted because it would be disproportionate, the statement must say so (CPR 31.3(2)). A false disclosure statement made without an honest belief in its truth can lead to proceedings for contempt (CPR 31.23).

Continuation sheets

Lists of documents often outgrow the boxes on the form. The builder fits as many whole entries into each box as it can at a readable size, ends the box with a line saying which documents are continued, and sets out the rest on A4 continuation sheets after the form, in the same PDF, numbered as on the form and headed with the claim number and the parties. A long explanation, such as the grounds for withholding inspection, goes on the sheet in full in the same way. Nothing is shortened or dropped: the checks say where each part has gone.

The Business and Property Division

In the Business and Property Division of the High Court (the Business and Property Courts until 1 October 2026), disclosure is governed by Practice Direction 57AD, Disclosure in the Business and Property Division, with its Disclosure Review Document and disclosure certificate, not by Part 31 and Form N265 (PD 57AD paras 1.1 and 1.8, with the exceptions in para 1.4). This builder does not cover PD 57AD.

Sources

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.
The list of documents for standard disclosure. Each party giving standard disclosure must make and serve on every other party a list of documents in the relevant practice form (CPR 31.10(2)), and the list should be in Form N265 (PD 31A para 3.1). It contains the disclosure statement and the list itself, in three parts.
First, the documents in your control which you do not object to the other party inspecting. Second, the documents in your control which you object to them inspecting, with your statement that you claim a right or duty to withhold inspection and the grounds (CPR 31.19(3) and (4)). Third, the documents that have been in your control but no longer are, saying when each was last in your control and what has happened to it (CPR 31.10(4)(b)). A document is in your control if it is or was in your physical possession, or you have or had a right to possession of it or to inspect or take copies of it (CPR 31.8).
In a convenient order and manner and as concisely as possible (CPR 31.10(3)). It will normally be necessary to list them in date order, numbered consecutively, each with a concise description such as “letter, claimant to defendant”. Where there are many documents of the same kind, they may be listed as a category, such as “50 bank statements relating to account number _ at _ Bank, 2023 to 2025” (PD 31A para 3.2).
The party disclosing the documents, or its litigation friend (CPR 31.10(6)). Where the party is a company, firm, association or other organisation, the statement must identify the person making it, with their name, address and office or position, and explain why they are an appropriate person to make it (CPR 31.10(7); PD 31A para 4.3). An insurer or the Motor Insurers’ Bureau may sign for a party where it has a financial interest in the result (PD 31A para 4.7). A legal representative must endeavour to ensure that the person making the statement understands the duty of disclosure (PD 31A para 4.4).
It sets out the extent of the search made to locate the documents the party must disclose, and certifies that the party understands the duty of disclosure and has carried it out to the best of its knowledge (CPR 31.10(6)). Where a category or class of document was not searched for because it would have been unreasonable, the statement must say so and identify it (CPR 31.7(3)), and it should draw attention to any limits adopted for proportionality and give the reasons for them (PD 31A para 4.2). Form N265 has no box for the reasons: the builder sets them out on a continuation sheet headed as part of the statement, notes beside “I did not search for…” on the form that they are there, and adds a signature line to the sheet, which the person making the statement signs as well as the form.
The builder puts as many whole entries in each box as fit at a readable size, ends the box with a line saying which documents are on the continuation sheet, and lists the rest on continuation sheets after the form in the same PDF, numbered as on the form, with the claim number on every sheet. Nothing is cut short. The disclosure statement certifies the list “set out in or attached to this form”, so the sheets are served with it.
A party with a right to inspect a document gives the party who disclosed it written notice; inspection must then be permitted not more than 7 days after the date the notice is received (CPR 31.15(b)). A party may also ask for a copy and, if it undertakes to pay reasonable copying costs, the copy must be supplied not more than 7 days after the request is received (CPR 31.15(c)). No rule moves the 7th day if it falls at a weekend or on a bank holiday (CPR 2.8(5) applies only to acts at the court office), so the builder says so when it does.
The duty of disclosure continues until the proceedings are concluded: if documents to which it extends come to a party’s notice, it must immediately notify every other party (CPR 31.11), and serve a supplemental list (PD 31A para 3.3). A party may not rely on a document it fails to disclose without the court’s permission (CPR 31.21).
No. Disclosure in the Business and Property Division of the High Court, called the Business and Property Courts until 1 October 2026, has been governed by Practice Direction 57AD since 1 October 2022, and Part 31 and Practice Directions 31A and 31B do not apply there, except for the provisions PD 57AD itself sets out (PD 57AD paras 1.1 and 1.8). Unless the court orders otherwise, PD 57AD does not apply to some proceedings, such as claims under Part 8 and claims within a fixed or capped costs regime (para 1.4). This builder is for standard disclosure under Part 31 only.
No. Part 31 does not apply to small claims (CPR 27.2(1)(b)), and HMCTS says not to use the form in a claim allocated to the small claims track.
No. Neither the Civil Proceedings Fees Order 2008 nor HMCTS’s fees list EX50 sets a fee for it.

Disclosure done, and costs to come?

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.

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