District Court
Step 1 - Where to Make Your Debt Claim
You can choose where to make your claim depending on:
- where the contract was made, or
- where the respondent lives or works.
To make your claim you will need to find your relevant court office. You will also need to identify the district number and district court area to complete your claim form (as outlined in step 2). Please follow the steps below to find this information:
- Decide whether to make your claim based on where the contract was made or where the respondent lives or works and note that address.
- Go to the map of District Court areas , select the 'District Court Districts' and the 'District Court Areas' layers in the menu on the left panel of the screen. You can search for the above address or Eircode to find the District Court area, number, and the supporting court office for that area (Note: you need to click on the map to view these details, which will appear on the left panel of the screen).
District Court
Step 2 - Complete Your Debt Claim Form
Once you have identified where to make the debt claim, you or your solicitor must complete the initial debt claim form. The form you need to complete is called a Claim Notice (Form 40.02).
You must include the following information in your Claim Notice:
- Details of the parties involved , such as their name and occupation. You should also include their legal representative's details if known. The addresses of both parties, where court documents are to be sent, should also be included, along with email addresses for electronic service, if appropriate.
- A statement of the claim. You must clearly set out the full details (facts) of your claim, a list of correspondence and other documents which you may rely on in court, and the amount of debt (or other remedy) you are seeking.
- The district number and district court area where you are submitting your claim.
- The legal options available to the respondent. These options are already outlined on the Claim Notice template form.
- The date and signature of you or your legal representative.
District Court
Step 3 - Submit Your Claim Notice
You must submit the original completed Claim Notice, and two copies of it, to the relevant court office. This is called submitting your claim.
You must pay the appropriate court fee when submitting your original Claim Notice. This court fee can be paid at your local court office (or in Dublin, at the Stamping Office in the Áras Uí Dhálaigh building in the Four Courts complex). You can pay these fees by card or cash.
For claims up to and including €5,000, the court fee is €25.
For claims greater than €5,000, up to and including €10,000, the court fee is €70.
For claims greater than €10,000, up to and including €15,000, the court fee is €80.
When you submit your Claim Notice (and copies) in the court office, it is checked by a member of the Courts Service staff. If the Claim Notice is incorrectly completed, the court office cannot accept it and will return it to you to be corrected. When you have corrected it, you can resubmit the forms to the court office.
Once the Claim Notice is correctly completed and checked, the office will give it a case record number, issue it, and return the form to you. You must then send a copy of your Claim Notice to the respondent. This is called serving the claim (for more information on serving, please see step 4). The court office will keep a copy of the Claim Notice for their records.
Note: It is very important that you keep the original document as you will need it later in the process if you proceed with the claim.
District Court
Step 4 - Serve Your Claim Notice
Once you have submitted the Claim Notice, and it has been issued by the court office, you must then send a copy of the Claim Notice to the respondent. This is called serving the claim.
For more information on serving and proof of service, please see our Serving and Proof of Service page.
Note: It is very important that you keep the original document as you will need it later in the process if you proceed with the claim.
After serving the document(s), the person who served them must sign the original document(s) within 3 days and include the time, date, method, and place of service. This is called endorsing.
District Court
Step 5 - After the Claim Is Served
When you serve the Claim Notice, the respondent can choose to repay, ignore, or defend the claim. You can take the following action depending on the option the respondent chooses:
- If the respondent repays the debt, plus legal costs if applicable, within 10 days of receiving the Claim Notice, you can discontinue court proceedings by submitting a Notice of Discontinuance (Form 47B.01) in the court office where the claim was made.
- If the respondent ignores the claim, you can apply for a judgment in default of appearance without the need for a court hearing. You must wait at least 28 days after service of the claim to do this. For more information on how to apply for a judgement in default of appearance, please see our Summary Judgments page.
- If the respondent defends the claim and/or makes a counterclaim , you will need to apply to have the case listed for a hearing before a court. For more information, please see the section below.
Other options available to both you and the respondent include mediation or alternative dispute resolution processes. For more information on these options, please see our Legal Advice and Mediation page.
Applying to Have Your Case Listed in the District Court
If you wish to have the case listed for court, you must:
- Complete a Notice of Trial (Form 49.01) and a separate copy for each respondent. 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 the respondent(s) 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.
Note: If you do not submit any legal documents to the court office, or take any step in progressing the claim in the previous 12 months, you must give a month's notice of your intention to proceed with the claim. To do this, you must serve a Notice of Intention to Proceed (Form 39.01) on the respondent.
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 respondent. For more information, please see our What to Expect in Court page.
How cases are listed for hearing can be different between District Court areas, depending on the number of sittings and court directions. You should contact the court office where you are making your claim for more information on the local District Court procedures.
Note: If you do not serve a Notice of Trial, the respondent can choose to serve a Notice of Trial on you if they have submitted a counterclaim and wish to proceed with it.
