Help with court
Welcome to the OIC Help Hub. In this section we will guide you through what happens if you wish to take your claim to court, there are a number of reasons why you might need to take your claim to court. Here you will find useful resources to assist with this stage of the claim process. These include:
- Hints & Tips
- Support Guides
- Walkthrough Videos
- FAQs
- Sample Forms
- Useful Links
Hints & Tips
We are unable to provide any timeline data for this stage in the claim journey as once a case has gone to court it leaves our system and is subject to external legal rules and processes.
You can help keep your claim on track by:
- Ensuring you add losses into the system promptly (you can do this at any time until you ask for an offer to be made)
- Upload any supporting evidence
Support Guides
To provide support with your claims process, we have created a suite of guides which contain step-by-step guidance on how best to navigate various stages during your journey through the OIC Portal.
Here are the support guides available for the Court stage:
Go To Court Liability - This guide covers how you can proceed to court following a denial of liability.
Reopening a claim after court at liability - This guide covers how you can re-open a claim after a court liability decision.
Go To Court Offer - This guide covers how you can proceed to court when you have rejected the compensator's offer.
Non-Protocol Vehicle Costs - This guide outlines what Non-Protocol Vehicle Costs (NVC) are and how to include them in your claim, if required.
Limitation - This guide covers the notifications you will see and how you can proceed to court for Limitation.
Guide to making a claim - This guide, available in English and Welsh, explains all the legal terms and procedures you may come across when making a claim if you need further help.
Walkthrough Videos
We understand that sometimes it is easier to watch a process in order to best understand it. That is why we have created a range of walkthrough videos which lead you through certain steps in your claim journey. There are different videos for each stage of a claim in the OIC Portal, so be sure to check each area of the Help Hub for more walkthrough video content.
Court FAQs
Please take a look below for our most frequently asked questions surrounding the Court stage of the claim process. If you do not find the answer to your query here, please check further down this page for additional supporting documentation which may assist you.
When can I go to court?
There are various points during the claim journey where you can choose to go to court. You will either be prompted through the portal itself or in certain circumstances available in 'My other actions'.
Will I have to pay any court fees?
You will need to pay court fees when you start court proceedings, (although you may be exempt or partially exempt). You will either need to pay a value based issue fee or an application fee, depending on your reason for going to court. If you need to go to court more than once there may be a top up fee to pay if the value of your claim has changed over time. There may also be a hearing fee to pay. You will need to write the fee on the court form after you have printed it off and send the payment to the court with the relevant documents. If your claim is successful the defendant will usually be ordered to pay the court fee to you. Any costs you incur (beyond the fees you need to pay the court) may not be recovered, even if you are successful at court. A breakdown of these costs can be found here.
Can I get help with court fees?
You might be able to get money off the court fees if you have little or no savings, are on certain benefits or have a low income. By following the link below, you will be able to complete an online application form which will confirm whether or not you qualify to pay a reduced fee or no fee at all. In order to complete the online application, you will need details of relevant benefits and, if appropriate, your income. There is a detailed step by step guide on the gov.uk website, here.
Do I need a solicitor to take my claim to court?
This is not a mandatory requirement. The Portal will guide you through the steps to take your claim to court. Should you wish to have representation you would need to seek additional advice from a solicitor, law firm, authorised claims management company or an organisation providing consumer advice.
What are Non-protocol vehicle costs?
Non-protocol vehicle costs are losses with which a company or other organisation has assisted/helped you. For example, your insurer might have paid your repair costs, or a credit hire organisation provided you with a hire vehicle. These losses will be dealt with separately from your portal losses, but these organisations will have a right to claim such costs in your name. If you need to go to court, you will need to add these losses to your claim and, when it is resolved, the organisations would then require you to pay those sums over to them.
Can I add further losses that aren't Non-protocol vehicle costs at the court stage?
Once the court documents are generated you are unable to add further losses.
How do I send my documents to court, is this done through the portal?
The portal will guide you through producing your court pack and documents, however you will need to print these and post them to the court. The address will be found on the last page of the court form.
I have selected to go to court in error but want to accept the offer what do I do?
You will need to make contact with the compensator to discuss.
I have selected to go to court in error, what can I do?
You will need to make contact with the compensator to discuss.
I've chosen to go to court but now wish to withdraw my claim. How do I do this?
This depends on the claim status. If the option 'withdraw this claim' is not available under 'My other actions', please contact the compensator.
What file types can I upload to the portal?
File types/Description
AVI - Audio video interleave
WMV - Windows media video
MOV and QT- QuickTime format
MK - Matroska open-standard multimedia format
MP4 - MPEG-4 Part 14 Video file
AVCHD - Advanced Video Coding High Definition
BMP - Bitmap
JPEG/JPG - Joint Photographic Experts Group
GIF - Graphics Interchange Format
TIFF - Tagged Image File Format
PNG - Portable Network Graphics
PDF - Portable Document Format
DOC/DOCX/ODT - MS Word
TXT - Text file
RTF - Rich text format
HTM / HTML - www format
PPT / PPTX - MS Power Point
XLS / XLSX - MS Excel
EML, MSG, PST - Email message
Please note: The file size limited is 30MB
Do I need the address of the responsible driver to go to Court?
Yes, if you do not have the address for the responsible driver the claim can not proceed to Court.
Why do I not need to go to court over limitation if I have already done so?
Once you have issued proceedings – for whatever reason, the claim is then started and limitation is no longer an issue. You only need to issue for limitation if you are not already in the Court process.
What is limitation?
When you make a claim for compensation for personal injuries following a road traffic accident, court proceedings must be issued within a 3-year time period (also known as the limitation time period). The limitation time period is calculated based on the following conditions:
- If you were above 18 years of age at the time of the accident, then the 3-year time period is calculated from the date of the accident
- If you were below 18 years of age at the time of the accident, then the 3-year time period is calculated from the day you turn 18
- If you do not start court proceedings within the limitation time period, you may lose your right to claim for a compensation. Therefore, if you are approaching the end of the limitation period, then you should start court proceedings for limitation in order to protect your right to the claim.
Sample Forms
Please see below sample versions of forms which will be generated by the Official Injury Claim portal during this stage of the claim journey. We have supplied these so that you can be best prepared for how to populate them or understand their content in advance.
List of Documents for Court - This will be generated by the OICL Portal when you have decided to go to court, it shows what documents have been attached.
Court Valuation Form - This will be generated by the OICL Portal, the form showing the court the details of your claim for the losses and the compensator responses.
Road Traffic Accident Small Claims - Liability - This will be generated by the OICL portal when you have decided to go to court over liability, this is known as the 'court form'.
Road Traffic Accident Small Claims - Direction - This will be generated by the OICL portal when you have decided to go to court for direction, this is known as the 'court form'.
Road Traffic Accident Small Claims - Quantum - This will be generated by the OICL portal when you have decided to go to court for quantum, this is known as the 'court form'.
Road Traffic Accident Small Claims - Other - This will be generated by the OICL portal when you have decided to go to court for another reason (non-payment of agreed sums, fee disputes), this is known as the 'court form'.
Useful Links
Find a court or tribunal - Find contact details and information on courts and tribunals in England and Wales.
If you are at a different stage in your claim or haven't found what you were looking for, please refer to the Help Hub home page for further guides and support.