How to respond to a District Court debt claim

District Court

Step 1 - Serve an Appearance and Defence Form

In order to defend a District Court debt claim, you, the respondent, must first complete, submit and serve an Appearance and Defence form (Form 42.03). By completing these actions, you are defending the claim being made against you.

Complete your Appearance and Defence form

The Appearance and Defence form has two sections: the “Appearance” and the “Appearance and Defence”.

You must complete both sections with the following information:

• The District Number and name of the District Court Area in which the claim is being defended. You will find these details on the Claim Notice you received.
• The person on whose behalf the Appearance and Defence form is being submitted.
• Details of the parties involved, such as name, address and occupation, and their legal representative’s details.
• Grounds of defence. This is where you provide clear information about how you intend to defend the claim. In your grounds of defence you must:
  1. Clearly outline which claims in the Claim Notice you admit, do not admit, or deny, including reasons for denial.
  2. Include a list of any correspondence or documents that you will rely on in your defence.
• Date and written signature of you (the respondent) or your solicitor.

Submit the Appearance section of the form

Once you have completed this form, you must submit a copy of the Appearance section of the form to the court office named on the Claim Notice. You do not have to pay court fees to do this.

You do not need to submit the Appearance and Defence section of the form to the court office unless you wish to make a counterclaim. For more information on making a counterclaim, please see step 2.

Serve the Appearance and Defence section of the form

You must serve the Appearance and Defence form on the claimant or their solicitor within 28 days of receiving the Claim Notice. If you do not serve this form within the 28 days, you must get written permission for late service from the other party before serving them.

For more information on serving and proof of service, please see our Serving and Proof of Service page.

District Court

Step 2 - Make a Counterclaim (Optional)

If you dispute the claim being made against you, you may decide to make your own claim against the claimant. This is known as a counterclaim. To do this, you must submit a Statement of Counterclaim form (Form 42.08), along with your original Appearance and Defence form (as outlined in Step 1), in the court office named on the Claim Notice. You must also serve both documents on the claimant or their solicitor. For more information on serving and proof of service, please see our Serving and Proof of Service page.

The Statement of Counterclaim should:

• State that you, as the respondent, are making your own claim against the claimant.
• Outline all the claims being made against you.
• State the amount, or other compensation, you are seeking from the claimant.
• Include a list of any correspondence or documents that you will rely on.

You must submit the Statement of Counterclaim form and the Appearance and Defence form with the relevant court office within 28 days of receiving the Claim Notice. When submitting these forms, you must pay a €15 court fee on the Statement of Counterclaim form in the relevant court office (or in Dublin, at the Stamping Office in the Áras Uí Dhálaigh building in the Four Courts complex). You can pay this fee by card or cash.

District Court

Step 3 - Case Proceeds to Court

In most cases, the claimant lists the case for court. However, if the claimant does not do this, you can apply to have your case listed for court. Please see the sections below for more information on how the case may proceed.

Claimant Applies to Have the Case Listed for Court

If you, as the respondent, serve and submit an Appearance and Defence form, and a Counterclaim if you choose to do so, the claimant can apply to have the case listed for court. In this situation, you will receive a document with a date for court from the claimant, known as a Notice of Trial. This means that the case is ready to be heard in court. You will be required to attend court on this date.

For more information on preparing for and attending court, please see our What to Expect in Court page.

Note: If 12 months has passed since the claimant has submitted any legal documents to the court office, or taken any step in progressing the claim, they must give you a month's notice of their intention to proceed with the claim. To do this, they must serve a Notice of Intention to Proceed on you.

If the claimant fails to serve a Notice of Trial, you can apply to have the case listed for court, if you have submitted a counterclaim and wish to proceed with the case.

You Apply to Have the Case Listed for Court

If you (the respondent) wish to have the case listed for court, you must:

• Complete a Notice of Trial form (Form 49.01) and a separate copy for the claimant(s). You will need to contact the court office where the claim was made to obtain a date for court, which you insert on the Notice of Trial.
• Serve a copy of the Notice of Trial on each claimant at least 10 days before the date given by the court office. For more information on serving and proof of service, please see our Serving and Proof of Service page.
• Submit the original Notice of Trial in the relevant court office without delay.

On the day the case is being heard, you must bring all documents including correspondence, contracts, affidavits, forms, and any other documents relevant to your case. Please ensure you bring a copy for the judge and for each claimant. For more information, please see our What to Expect in Court page.

Practices in listing cases for hearing may vary in District Court areas, depending on the number of sittings and court directions. Therefore, it is advisable that you contact the relevant court office where the claim has been made for more information on the local District Court procedures.

Other options available to both you and the claimant include mediation or alternative dispute resolution processes. For more information on these options, please see our Legal Advice and Mediation page.