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Pre-Action Protocol Deadline Calculator

Led by Diellza Nika Hyseni and Mentor Nika · Updated 20 October 2026

Work out when the response to a letter of claim is due under the main pre-action protocols in England and Wales, and every step after it, counted the way each protocol words it: housing conditions, clinical disputes, personal injury, disease and illness, and more. From DMD Costs, law costs draftsmen in Westhoughton, Bolton.

  • Free, with no sign-up
  • The main protocols
  • Bank holidays to 2028
  • Nothing leaves your browser

Choose the protocol and enter the dates it runs from. Every step appears with its date, how it was counted and the paragraph it comes from.

The protocol
The dates
Receipt is deemed two days after this date (para 6.2), assuming the letter was sent on it.

Protocol dates

Housing conditions (disrepair), England or Wales
  • A rewritten Housing Conditions Claims (England) protocol, reflecting Awaab’s Law, was agreed by the Civil Procedure Rule Committee on 5 June 2026 and recommended to the Master of the Rolls for approval, with implementation intended for “autumn 2026”. It had not been published on 20 October 2026. These dates follow the protocol in force: Housing Conditions Claims (England), in force from 13 January 2020. Check justice.gov.uk before relying on them.
  1. Landlord’s response due–

    Enter the date of the letter of claim (Housing protocol para 6.2)

  2. Inspection by the expert–

    Enter the date of the landlord’s response (Housing protocol para 7.4(a))

  3. Single joint expert’s report–

    Enter the date of the inspection (Housing protocol para 7.4(b))

Nothing you enter leaves your browser. It is a guide, not legal advice: check the protocol and any agreement between the parties.

When the claim gets to costs, that is all we do: for claimant firms we draw the bill, answer Points of Dispute and negotiate the costs. The fee is fixed and agreed before any work begins.

Send us the file

The calculator follows the Practice Direction – Pre-Action Conduct and Protocols and the protocols in force on 20 October 2026. A rewritten Housing Conditions Claims (England) protocol is expected in autumn 2026. It is a guide, not legal advice.

Key points

  • DMD Costs’ pre-action protocol deadline calculator is a free online tool that works out when each step after a letter of claim is due under the main pre-action protocols in England and Wales, with the paragraph each date comes from.
  • It is completely free, with no sign-up, and runs in your browser; nothing you enter is sent to DMD Costs.
  • Housing conditions: the landlord should normally reply within 20 working days of receipt, and receipt is deemed two days after the date of the letter (para 6.2).
  • Clinical disputes: the defendant acknowledges within 14 days of receipt and sends a Letter of Response within four months of the letter of claim (paras 3.23 and 3.24).
  • Personal injury: a reply within 21 calendar days of posting, then up to three months from the acknowledgment (paras 6.2 and 6.3). Disease and illness, including hearing loss: an acknowledgment within 21 days of posting, then a reasoned answer within 90 days of the acknowledgment (paras 7.1 and 7.3).
  • Protocol periods do not stop the limitation clock: if limitation is close, issue and ask the court for a stay (Practice Direction – Pre-Action Conduct para 17).

How to use the pre-action protocol deadline calculator

  1. Choose the protocol. Housing conditions, clinical disputes, personal injury, disease and illness, professional negligence, construction, debt, or no specific protocol.
  2. Enter the dates. The date of the letter of claim, when it was posted or received, and the date of any acknowledgment: each protocol counts from a different event.
  3. Read the steps. Each step shows its date, how it was counted and the protocol paragraph, with the earliest date for issue where the protocol sets one.
  4. Check any flags. Protocol periods do not move off a weekend or bank holiday; a flagged date gives each side the safe reading.
  5. Copy the dates. Copy the timetable into the letter of claim, a diary note or the file.

The main deadlines at a glance

ProtocolAcknowledgmentResponseRule
Housing conditionsNo separate acknowledgment20 working days of receipt (receipt deemed 2 days after the letter’s date)Para 6.2
Clinical disputes14 days of receiptLetter of Response within 4 months of the letter of claimParas 3.23 and 3.24
Personal injury21 calendar days of postingUp to 3 months from the acknowledgmentParas 6.2 and 6.3
Disease and illness21 days of postingReasoned answer within 90 days of the acknowledgmentParas 7.1 and 7.3
Professional negligence21 days of receipt3 months from the Letter of AcknowledgmentParas 7.1 and 8.2
Construction and engineering14 calendar days of receiptLetter of response within 28 days of receiptParas 8.1 and 8.5
Debt claimsNoneReply within 30 days of the date at the top of the letterPara 3.4
No specific protocolNone14 days in a straightforward case; no more than 3 months in a very complex onePD Pre-Action Conduct para 6(b)

How protocol periods are counted

  • No court has decided how protocol periods are counted; these are the general rules for time limits.
  • Each protocol has its own start: receipt, the date of posting, the date of the letter, or the date of the acknowledgment.
  • The day the period runs from is not counted, so “within 14 days of receipt” on 22 October ends on 5 November (Matthew v Sedman [2021] UKSC 19 [28]).
  • Months end on the corresponding date, or the last day of a shorter month (Dodds v Walker [1981] 1 WLR 1027); 90 days is not three months.
  • Working days are Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays in England and Wales.
  • A period that ends on a weekend or bank holiday does not move: CPR 2.8(5) applies only to acts at the court office.

Housing conditions claims

Receipt of the letter of claim is deemed two days after its date (assuming it was sent that day), and the landlord should normally reply within 20 working days of receipt (para 6.2). The inspection should follow within 20 working days of the landlord’s response, and the single joint expert’s report within 10 working days of the inspection (para 7.4). The Civil Procedure Rule Committee agreed a rewritten Housing Conditions Claims (England) protocol, reflecting Awaab’s Law, on 5 June 2026 and recommended it to the Master of the Rolls, with implementation intended for “autumn 2026”; it had not been published on 20 October 2026, and this page will follow it when it is. The letter of claim can also start a social landlord’s Awaab’s Law timescales: see the Awaab’s Law timescales checker.

Limitation

Protocol periods never stop the limitation clock. If a claim has to be issued before the protocol is complete, issue it and ask the court to stay the claim while the parties comply (PD Pre-Action Conduct para 17). A paper claim is brought when the court office receives the claim form (PD 7A para 6.1), but in the Damages Claims Portal a claim is only brought when it is issued, after the fee is paid (PD 51ZB para 2.2(4)): do not leave it to the last day.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

Yes. It is completely free, with no sign-up, no paywall and no limit. It runs in your browser, and nothing you type is sent to DMD Costs. It is a guide, not legal advice.
Under the Housing Conditions Claims protocol the landlord should normally reply within 20 working days of receipt, and receipt is deemed to take place two days after the date of the letter (para 6.2); failing to respond is a breach and the tenant may then issue (para 6.4). The Annex A template counts 20 working days “of this letter”, from its date, which can be up to two working days earlier. A rewritten protocol reflecting Awaab’s Law was agreed by the Civil Procedure Rule Committee in June 2026 and recommended to the Master of the Rolls for autumn 2026; it had not been published on 20 October 2026.
The defendant should acknowledge the letter of claim within 14 days of receipt (para 3.23) and provide a reasoned Letter of Response within four months of the letter of claim (para 3.24); the template letter counts the four months from receipt. Proceedings should not be issued until after four months, unless limitation requires it (para 3.20).
The defendant must reply within 21 calendar days of the date of posting, identifying any insurer (para 6.2); without a reply the claimant may issue. The defendant’s insurer then has a maximum of three months from the date of the acknowledgment to investigate (para 6.3), and these periods “should normally be extended up to” 42 days and six months where the accident was abroad or the defendant is outside England and Wales (para 6.4).
An acknowledgment within 21 days of the date of posting of the letter of claim (para 7.1), all insurers identified within 30 days of the acknowledgment (para 7.2), and a reasoned answer within 90 days of the acknowledgment (para 7.3): 90 days, not three months. Annex E applies to hearing loss claims likely to suit the fast track where the first letter of claim was sent on or after 1 October 2023 (paras 2.2A and E1), with the same timetable.
No. The Civil Justice Council recommended a general protocol, with 21 days to acknowledge and 90 days to respond, in its 2023 report, but it has not been made. Claims with no specific protocol follow the Practice Direction – Pre-Action Conduct: a response within a reasonable time, 14 days in a straightforward case and no more than three months in a very complex one (para 6(b)).
No. CPR 2.8(5), which moves a deadline off a day the court office is closed, applies only to acts done at the court office. The calculator shows the real date with a flag, and the safe reading for each side: the defendant acts by the previous working day, and the claimant treats the period as ended only after the next one.
Not in terms: CPR 2.8 applies to periods set by the rules, a practice direction or an order, and a protocol is not itself any of these; no court has decided the point. The common-law rule gives the same answer for these periods: the day the period runs from is not counted, so “within 14 days of receipt” on 22 October ends on 5 November (Matthew v Sedman [2021] UKSC 19 [28]). Months end on the corresponding date (Dodds v Walker [1981] 1 WLR 1027).
No. The Practice Direction and the protocols do not alter the statutory time limits; if a claim has to be issued to stop time running before the protocol is complete, the parties should ask the court for a stay while they comply (PD Pre-Action Conduct para 17). In the Damages Claims Portal a claim is only brought when it is issued, after the fee is paid (PD 51ZB para 2.2(4)).
Usually, yes. In housing claims time limits “may be changed by agreement” (para 9(b)), and an agreed extension of the landlord’s response also moves the expert steps that run from it, as a county court has held (Lancastle v Curo Group (Albion) Ltd [2025] EWCC 48; not binding). In clinical disputes the claimant should take a reasonable approach to a request (para 3.25.3). In construction claims no extension of a step may exceed 28 days in the aggregate (para 10.1).

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