After the claim form is issued by the court at the request of the Claimant, it must be served on the Defendant within 4 months. ‘Particulars of claim’ must either be contained in or served with the claim form, or be served on the Defendant by the Claimant within 14 days of service of the claim form, so long as this additional 14 days does not exceed the 4-month deadline for serving the claim form. In other words, it is not possible to serve the claim form four months after it is issued, and then serve the particulars of claim 14 days thereafter. The particulars of claim can be served 14 days after the claim form is served but this is subject to the rule that both must be served within 4 months of the claim form being issued.
The particulars of claim must include a concise statement of the facts on which the Claimant relies. The Claimant should state all the facts necessary for the purpose of establishing that he has a cause of action or a claim against the Defendant. The Claimant may refer in his particulars of claim to any point of law on which his claim is based, he may give in his particulars of claim the name of any witness whom he proposes to call, and he may also attach to or serve with the particulars of claim a copy of any document which he considers is necessary to his claim. Particulars of claim not included in the claim form must be verified by a ‘statement of truth’.
If the Claimant wishes to seek interest on damages, he must expressly say in his particulars of claim that he is seeking interest, he must say on what basis that interest is being sought, he must specify the percentage rate of interest that he is seeking, he must set out the period over which interest is being sought, he must specify the total amount of interest he is claiming, and he must set out the daily rate at which interest continues to accrue. If these details are not included, the Claimant could have difficulty in persuading a court at a later stage that the whole or any of his claim for interest should be allowed.
In personal injury claims, there are additional matters that must be included in the particulars of claim. The Claimant must specify his date of birth, and give brief details of his personal injuries. He must attach to his particulars of claim a schedule of details of any past and future expenses and losses which he claims. If the Claimant is relying on the evidence of a medical practitioner, the Claimant must attach to or serve with particulars of claim a report from that medical practitioner about the personal injuries the Claimant alleges that he sustained.
The above is not an exhaustive list of the matters that may need to be included in particulars of claim. The issue of what should or should not be included can become quite technical, and so you may wish to contact one of the solicitors in our directory to guide you through the process of completing the particulars of claim accurately, and also in a manner that presents your case in the strongest possible light to the court.