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Free N316 and N316A Order to Obtain Information Builder

Led by Diellza Nika Hyseni and Mentor Nika · Updated 22 October 2026

Fill in the official HMCTS application for an order that a judgment debtor, or an officer of a debtor company, attend court for questioning: the right form, the words and sections that do not apply struck through, the information PD 71 requires checked, and the fee and the service dates. From DMD Costs, law costs draftsmen in Westhoughton, Bolton.

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

Fill in the boxes below; the checks and the form update as you type. Nothing leaves your browser.

The form and the claim
The judgment debtor is
Enforcing in the
The judgment and the debtor
The judgment creditor is the
The judgment debt or order
The judgment or order
The questioning
Who will serve the order?
Statement of truth
Who signs?
For example Solicitor, Partner or Director.
Address for documents
Once the order is made (optional)
Personal service after 4.30pm, or on a weekend or bank holiday, counts as service on the next business day (CPR 6.26).

The builder applies CPR Part 71 and PD 71, as they stood on 22 October 2026, to the official forms N316 (10.20) and N316A (10.20). It fills in the form; it does not say whether to enforce or which method to use. Check every box against your file before filing. It is a guide, not legal advice. Where a rule does not settle a point, the check says “our reading”.

Key points

  • DMD Costs’ N316 builder is a free online tool that fills in the official HMCTS Form N316, or Form N316A for an officer of a debtor company, the application for an order to obtain information from a judgment debtor, 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 judgment creditor may apply for an order requiring a judgment debtor, or an officer of a debtor company or corporation, to attend court to provide information about the debtor’s means or anything else needed to enforce a judgment or order (CPR 71.2(1)). Form N316 is for an individual and N316A for an officer of a company (PD 71 para 1.1).
  • The application may be made without notice and dealt with by a court officer without a hearing. The questioning is by a court officer, using the standard questions in Form EX140 or EX141, unless the court orders a hearing before a judge, which it does only for compelling reasons (CPR 71.2 and 71.6; PD 71 paras 2.2 and 4.1).
  • The order must be served personally not less than 14 days before the hearing, unless the court orders otherwise; within 7 days of service the person ordered may ask for travelling expenses to and from court, which the creditor must pay (CPR 71.3 and 71.4).
  • The creditor files an affidavit of service (unless the court served the order), of the travelling expenses and of the amount still unpaid, not less than 2 days before the hearing or at the hearing (CPR 71.5); without it, a judge cannot hold the person in contempt for failing to comply with the order, whether by not attending or by refusing to answer (CPR 71.8(2)).
  • The court fee is £69 (fee 8.3 in the County Court, 7.2 in the High Court), and £139 more if a County Court bailiff serves the order (fee 8A.1).
  • The fixed costs for attending questioning before a court officer are £15 for each half hour or part (PD 45 Table 7); before a judge, the judge decides the costs.

How to use the N316 builder

  1. Choose the form. Choose an individual judgment debtor (Form N316) or a company or corporation whose officer is to be questioned (Form N316A), and the County Court or the High Court.
  2. Enter the claim and the judgment. Enter the court, the claim number and the parties, whether the creditor is the claimant or the defendant, the date of the judgment, and the debtor’s name and address.
  3. Name the officer. For a company, give the name, address and position of the officer you want ordered to attend.
  4. State the judgment. For a money judgment, enter what it required the debtor to pay and the amount now owing; for any other judgment, what it required the debtor to do.
  5. Choose the questioning. Say whether you will attach extra questions or a list of documents, whether you ask for a judge (with your reasons), and who will serve the order.
  6. Sign, download and file. Complete the statement of truth and the address for documents, download the filled form, check it, sign it and file it with the fee and any lists.

N316 or N316A

Form N316 is used to question an individual judgment debtor, and Form N316A to question an officer of a company or other corporation (PD 71 para 1.1). The two forms are the same except that N316A adds a section for the officer’s name, address and position in the company (PD 71 para 1.2(4)) and numbers the later sections one higher; the court officer uses Form EX140 for an individual and EX141 for a company officer (PD 71 para 4.1).

What the application must contain

The debtor’s name and address, the judgment or order, the amount presently owed under a money judgment, the officer’s details for a company, any request for questioning before a judge with the reasons, any specific documents to be produced, and, for a judgment that is not for money, the matters about which the debtor is to be questioned (PD 71 para 1.2). Sections 3 to 5 of N316 (4 to 6 of N316A) are completed only if they apply; the builder strikes through those that do not.

Serving the order, travelling expenses and the affidavit

Serve the order personally not less than 14 days before the hearing, unless the court orders otherwise (CPR 71.3(1)), by yourself, a High Court enforcement officer or a County Court bailiff (PD 71 para 3). The person ordered may ask for travelling expenses within 7 days of (deemed) service (CPR 71.4; CPR 6.26). File your affidavit of service, travelling expenses and the amount unpaid not less than 2 days before the hearing, or produce it at the hearing (CPR 71.5). Enter the hearing date from the order and the builder sets out the dates, counting clear days (CPR 2.8).

The court fee and the fixed costs

The court fee is £69 (fee 8.3 in the County Court, 7.2 in the High Court), plus £139 if a County Court bailiff serves the order (fee 8A.1). The fixed costs of attending questioning before a court officer are £15 for each half hour or part (PD 45 Table 7). On a County Court judgment that carries interest, examining the debtor stops the interest unless it produces no payment (County Courts (Interest on Judgment Debts) Order 1991 art 4(1) and (2)). For every enforcement fee and fixed sum, see the civil court fees calculator and the fixed costs lookup.

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.
An order requiring a judgment debtor, or an officer of a debtor company or corporation, to attend court to provide information about the debtor’s means or any other matter about which information is needed to enforce a judgment or order (CPR 71.2(1)). The person served must attend, produce the documents the order describes, and answer questions on oath (CPR 71.2(6)). It recovers nothing itself: it gathers the information for choosing how to enforce.
Form N316 to question an individual judgment debtor; Form N316A to question an officer of a company or other corporation (PD 71 para 1.1). For a company, the application must give the name and address of the officer and their position in the company (PD 71 para 1.2(4)). The builder fills whichever applies.
The court fee is £69: fee 8.3 in the County Court and 7.2 in the High Court (Civil Proceedings Fees Order 2008, Schedule 1). If a County Court bailiff is asked to serve the order, that is £139 more (fee 8A.1). The fixed costs allowed for attending questioning before a court officer are £15 for each half hour or part, unless the court orders otherwise (CPR 45.23; PD 45 Table 7); where the questioning is before a judge, the judge decides the costs.
PD 71 para 1.2 lists it: the judgment debtor’s name and address; the judgment or order to be enforced; for a money judgment, the amount presently owed; for a company, the officer’s name, address and position; if questioning before a judge is wanted, that request and the reasons; any specific documents the debtor should be ordered to produce; and, for a judgment that is not for money, the matters about which the debtor is to be questioned. The form asks for the statement of truth to be completed.
In the court that made the judgment or order, or the court to which the proceedings have since been transferred; to enforce a judgment of the Civil National Business Centre, at the County Court hearing centre for the district where the debtor lives or carries on business (CPR 71.2(2)(b); PD 70A para 9.1). The order will require attendance at the County Court hearing centre serving the debtor’s address, unless a judge decides otherwise (PD 71 para 2.1).
Personally, on the person ordered to attend, not less than 14 days before the hearing, unless the court orders otherwise (CPR 71.3(1)). Service may be by the judgment creditor (or someone acting for them), a High Court enforcement officer or a County Court bailiff (PD 71 para 3); a County Court bailiff serves County Court process, so in the High Court it is the creditor or an enforcement officer (County Courts Act 1984 s.133; our reading). A creditor who is to serve the order and cannot must tell the court not less than 7 days before the hearing (CPR 71.3(2)). The days are clear days (CPR 2.8); the builder works out the dates once you enter the hearing date.
Within 7 days of being served, counted from the deemed date of service (personal service after 4.30pm, or on a day that is not a business day, counts as service on the next business day: CPR 6.26), the person ordered to attend may ask the judgment creditor to pay a sum reasonably sufficient to cover their travelling expenses to and from court, and the creditor must pay it (CPR 71.4).
An affidavit by the person who served the order (unless the court served it) giving details of how and when it was served; a statement that the person ordered to attend has not asked for travelling expenses, or that the creditor has paid them; and how much of the judgment debt remains unpaid. It is filed not less than 2 days before the hearing, or produced at the hearing (CPR 71.5). A judge can hold the person in contempt for failing to comply with the order, whether by not attending or by refusing to answer, only if the creditor has complied with CPR 71.4 and 71.5 (CPR 71.8(2)).
Before a court officer, the creditor or its representative may attend and ask questions, or attach a list of additional questions for the officer to ask (CPR 71.6(3)(a); PD 71 para 4.2). Questioning before a judge is ordered only if the judge considering the request decides there are compelling reasons (PD 71 para 2.2); the creditor or its representative must then attend and conduct the questioning, the standard questions are not used, and the hearing is recorded (CPR 71.6(3)(b); PD 71 paras 5.1 and 5.2).
If the person ordered fails to attend, refuses to take the oath or answer a question, or otherwise fails to comply, the matter is referred to a High Court judge or Circuit Judge, who may, if the creditor has complied with CPR 71.4 and 71.5, hold them in contempt and punish them; the punishment is suspended on terms that they attend and comply (CPR 71.8; PD 71 paras 6 to 8).

Costs to recover before you can enforce them?

DMD Costs does not act in enforcement. We work for claimant solicitor firms on the costs: we prepare the bill, answer the Points of Dispute and negotiate the costs, which ends in an agreed sum or a costs certificate that is enforced like a judgment. The fee is fixed and agreed before any work begins.

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