Make a debt claim in the High Court

High Court

Step 1 - Where to Make Your Debt Claim

Claims above €75,000 can only be made in the High Court. You can make a debt claim in the High Court for less than this amount, but you should note that the costs involved are much higher than in the District or Circuit Court.

To make a claim to the High Court:

• the contract must be made in Ireland, or;
• the respondent must live or work in Ireland.

For any exceptions to this, please see Order 11 of the Superior Court Rules.

All High Court claims are made in the Central Office of the High Court. The Central Office of the High Court is on the ground floor (east wing) of the Four Courts building on Inns Quay, Dublin 7.

High Court

Step 2 - Complete Your Debt Claim Form

Once you have decided to make your debt claim in the High Court, you or your solicitor must complete the initial debt claim form. The form you need to complete is called a Claim Notice (known as a Summary Summons in the High Court).

You must include the following information in your Claim Notice:

• A description 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 description of your claim (this is known as the special endorsement of claim in the High Court). 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 date and signature of you or your legal representative.

High Court

Step 3 - Submit Your Claim Notice

You must submit the completed original Claim Notice (known as a Summary Summons in the High Court), and one copy of it, to the Central Office of the High Court. This is called submitting your claim. The documents can be submitted by post or in-person in the Central Office. The Central Office runs an appointment booking service for in-person submissions. For more information on booking an appointment, please see the Appointment Booking Service page.

On the day of your appointment, you must first pay the appropriate court fee on the copy before submitting your original Claim Notice. This court fee can be paid at the Stamping Office in the Áras Uí Dhálaigh building in the Four Courts complex in Dublin. You can pay these fees by card or cash.

• For claims up to and including €100,000, the court fee is €150.
• For claims greater than €100,000, up to and including €150,000, the court fee is €170.
• For claims greater than €150,000, up to and including €500,000, the court fee is €190.
• For claims greater than €500,000, up to and including €1,000,000, the court fee is €250.
• For claims greater than €1,000,000, the court fee is €400.

When you submit your Claim Notice (and copy) in the Central Office, it is checked by a member of the Courts Service staff. If the Claim Notice is incorrectly completed, the Central 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 Central 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.

High Court

Step 4 - Serve Your Claim Notice

Once you have submitted the Claim Notice (known as a Summary Summons in the High Court), and it has been issued by the Central Office of the High Court, 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.