N244 Form (Where to Find & How to Complete!)

• 12 minute read
• Last updated: 13th August 2019

The N244 form is an application notice, used to apply for a court order in the civil courts. The N244 form is used in relation to a number of different applications, normally in relation to monies owed to or by the applicant.

This article covers:

• Where can I obtain an N244 form?
• Do I have to pay a fee?
• Filling in the N244 form
• What next?
• Why legal advice could prove helpful

It could be that this is an application for an initial court order to repay monies owed, a subsequent appeal to have the arranged payments of a CCJ (county court judgement) reduced, or an appeal to evict or repossess.

Where can I obtain an N244 form?

The N244 form and the accompanying guidance notes can be downloaded or printed by visiting here

Alternatively, the court office can provide you with a printed form.

Do I have to pay a fee?

Depending on the type of application you make, you will be required to pay a fee. These vary anywhere from £50 to £255, and are payable at the court by cash, cheque or debit/credit card, or by posting a cheque made out to HM Courts and Tribunal Service.

The court office will tell you the fee that you must pay.

If you are on certain benefits or have a low income and can’t afford this fee, then you may able to obtain financial assistance.

Filling in the N244 form

Name of court

This should be the court where the hearing will take place. If the case has already been heard in court, then this should be the court where these proceedings are currently taking place or have most recently taken place.

Claim number

This can be found at the top right-hand side on the corresponding claim form.

Warrant number

If a court order has already been put in place, then you will have a warrant number. If this is an initial application, there will be no warrant number and you may leave this blank.

Claimant and Defendant’s name

The names of both parties should be entered here, along with any relevant reference.

Date

This is the date that the form is filled out.

Section 1

What is your name or, if you are a legal representative, the name of your firm?
If you are making the application yourself, then enter your name here.

If a solicitor is making the application for you, they should use the name of their law firm to complete this section.

Section 2

Are you a Claimant, Defendant, Legal Representative or Other? If you are a legal representative whom do you represent?

If you are bringing the claim against someone else, tick the Claimant box.

If the claim is being brought against you, tick the Defendant box.

If a solicitor is making the application for you, they should tick the Legal Representative box and fill out your name as the ‘whom’ they represent.

If the form is filled out by anyone other than the above, they should tick the Other box, and may have to fill out the name of the person they are completing the form on behalf of.

Section 3

What order are you asking the court to make and why?

This is where you lay out the details of the order you are asking the court to make, for instance, to set aside a county court judgement, and your reasons for making this request.
To support your application, it’s advised to know which civil procedure rules apply to your case, and to state this when you fill out Section 3 of the N244 form.

The civil procedure rules came into effect in 1998 and set out the rules by which a court case is conducted, for instance, the civil procedure rules state that cases must be dealt with in a way that maintains the equality of both sides of a dispute.

Quote the relevant civil procedure, for example, “In relation to Part … of the civil procedure rules, I seek an order for…”.

Section 4

Have you attached a draft of the order you are applying for?

A ‘draft of the order’ is the wording of the order you are applying for, for instance,
“An order that the judgement of [date] made in court case number [number] is set aside because [reason].”

There is no right or wrong way to word this, as long as it explains to the court what you are asking for and your reasons for doing so.

If you attach a copy of the ‘draft of the order’, tick yes. If not, tick no.

Section 5

How do you want to have this application dealt with? At a hearing, without a hearing, at a telephone hearing.

This is your chance to say whether you wish to attend a hearing and if so, in what form.

Generally, a court hearing will be preferred by the courts and you will be required to attend. It is therefore advisable to supply any dates when you will not be available over the next six weeks in a covering letter that accompanies your N244 form.

The court will decide on a date and time for the hearing and inform you or your solicitor, whoever is making the application, in a notice of allocation, at least fourteen days before the hearing date.

In addition to the time and date, the notice of allocation will also tell you how to inform the court and the other party of any evidence you will be using, including witnesses, your duty to inform the court if the matter is settled before the hearing date, and any special conditions such as a hearing location outside the court.

If the court decides that the application can be dealt with without a hearing, you will be informed of this by notice of allocation too. The court will only make this decision if,

• both you and the other party agree to the terms of the order you have applied for
• both you and the other party agree that a hearing is not necessary
• the court decides that a hearing would not be appropriate

Even if either you or the other party asks that the application be dealt with without a hearing, the court may decide it is still necessary for a hearing to take place.

A telephone hearing will only be granted where at least one party is legally represented. A telephone hearing will not suit all applications and the court may decide to refuse a request for one.

A telephone hearing will not be granted without notice being given to the other party.

Section 6

How long do you think the hearing will last? Is this time estimate agreed by all parties?
If you don’t know the answer to this, leave this section blank. Don’t guess.

Section 7

Give details of any fixed trial date or period.

If your case has been allocated a date for your hearing, or a ‘trial window’ (the ‘period’ mentioned in the question), enter the details here.

Section 8

What level of Judge does your hearing need?

Should your case be heard in a District Registry or the High Court, it will be dealt with by a master, district judge or judge.

Indicate in this section, which of these your case hearing will require.

Sections 9 and 9a

Who should be served with this application? Please give the service address (other than the details of the claimant or defendant) of any party named in question 9.

Who should the court send a copy of your application to? Usually, it will be served on the ‘respondent’, that is, the person or party that the order is made against.

So if a landlord has applied for a court order to evict a tenant, then a copy of their application should be sent to the tenant.

List the name of the party involved with the address the copy should be sent to.

Section 10

What information will you be relying on, in support of your application? The attached witness statement, the statement of case, the evidence set out in the box below.

In this section, you must state what information you are using to support your application.

If a witness statement or a statement of case (a claim form, the details of the claim, or a reply to a defence, for instance) are to be used as supporting evidence, then these must be attached to your N244 form.

Where your supporting information is written on the N244 form, this must be substantiated by the signing of the Statement of Truth and the completion of the details below (name, legal representative’s firm, position or office held).

Any of these, or a combination of the three, may be used as supporting information for your application.

Section 11

Sign the application and add your contact details.

N244 Form: What next?

Make copies of your application (the form, covering letter, attached supporting information) so that there is a copy for each party that is to be served with the application, and a copy for the court.

Ensure that each section is correctly filled out and signed.

Enclose the correct fee, or an application for fee remission.

When you are happy that the above steps have been carried out, send or deliver your application to the court.

Why legal advice could prove helpful

The value of legal advice comes in providing clarity for you when preparing your application.

A solicitor will be able to inform you of the correct wording and terminology to use, the specific civil procedure rules to refer to, and assist you with all your dealings with the court.

Their knowledge and experience will provide you with the best chance to arrive at a conclusion that is right for you.

Legal disclaimer

The matters contained in this article are intended to be for general information purposes only. This article does not constitute legal advice, nor is it a complete or authoritative statement of the law, and should not be treated as such. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the information is correct, no warranty, express or implied, is given as to its accuracy and no liability is accepted for any error or omission. Before acting on any of the information contained herein, expert legal advice should be sought.