Private beta · UK

Issue court claims programmatically.

A single API to file claims in the County Court and High Court of England & Wales — money claims, possession, Part 8, Part 7, applications, enforcement. One JSON request. One claim issued.

Request beta access →See the schema

POST /v1/claims

// File a money claim
curl https://api.justclaim.co.uk/v1/claims \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $JC_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "form": "N1",
    "claimant": { "name": "Acme Ltd", ... },
    "defendant": { ... },
    "value": { "amount": 2400, "currency": "GBP" },
    "particulars": "Unpaid invoice ..."
  }'

// 202 Accepted — court issue is async
{
  "id": "clm_8h2k...",
  "status": "submitted",
  "submitted_at": "2026-05-13T..."
}
// court_reference arrives later via webhook
// (instant for MCOL · typically 1–4 weeks otherwise)

Built for

Teams that need to issue claims at scale.

⚖️

Law firms & legal-ops

Replace clerk-driven CE-File workflows with a single API. Volume billing on a per-claim basis.

💼

B2B platforms with late-payment exposure

When a customer goes 90+ days past due, escalate to a county court claim from inside your own admin UI.

🏘️

Landlords & property managers

Issue possession claims (N5/N5B), rent arrears (Part 7), and applications (N244) from your property system.

Coverage

Every form, one API.

All civil claim and application forms in England & Wales. Scotland & Northern Ireland on the roadmap.

Money claim

Specified & unspecified sums, Part 7.

N208

Part 8 claim

Declarations, construction of documents, non-contentious matters.

N5 / N5B

Possession claim

Section 8, Section 21, accelerated possession.

N244

Application notice

Set-aside, summary judgment, strike-out, costs orders.

N293A

Combined application & writ of control

High Court enforcement transfer.

N323

Warrant of control

County Court enforcement against goods.

N337

Attachment of earnings

Enforcement against an individual's wages.

N443

Charging order application

Secure judgment against debtor's property.

N180 / N225 / N279

Track, judgment & notice forms

DQs, judgment in default, notice of discontinuance.

Quickstart

From JSON to submitted claim in one request.

Authenticate with a bearer token. Send a JSON body that mirrors the N1 (or any other form) fields. Receive a claim ID synchronously. Court reference and sealed PDFs arrive via webhook once the court has issued — instant for MCOL, typically 1–4 weeks for paper / CE-File routes.

POST /v1/claims

cURL

Node

Python

{
  "form": "N1",
  "jurisdiction": "england_and_wales",
  "claimant": {
    "type": "company",
    "name": "Acme Trading Ltd",
    "company_number": "09876543",
    "address": {
      "line1": "12 Old Street",
      "city": "London",
      "postcode": "EC1V 9BX",
      "country": "GB"
    },
    "email": "claims@acme.example",
    "phone": "+442071234567"
  },
  "defendant": {
    "type": "individual",
    "name": "John Doe",
    "address": {
      "line1": "42 Elm Road",
      "city": "Manchester",
      "postcode": "M14 5RT",
      "country": "GB"
    }
  },
  "value": {
    "amount": 2400.00,
    "currency": "GBP",
    "specified": true
  },
  "interest": {
    "basis": "late_payment_act",
    "from_date": "2025-09-12"
  },
  "particulars": {
    "mode": "inline",
    "text": "Invoice INV-2031 dated 12 August 2025 for goods supplied..."
  },
  "statement_of_truth": {
    "signatory_name": "Jane Smith",
    "signatory_role": "Director",
    "signed_at": "2026-05-13T10:14:00Z"
  },
  "court_fee": {
    "payment_method": "jc_balance"
  },
  "webhook_url": "https://app.acme.example/jc/webhooks",
  "idempotency_key": "acme-claim-INV-2031"
}

Request schema

The N1 fields, mapped to JSON.

Every field on the paper form has a typed JSON equivalent. Validation happens before the claim is submitted to the court — bad data never reaches the clerk.

Identification

form

enum

Required. "N1", "N208", "N5", "N5B", "N244", "N293A", "N323", "N337", "N443", and others — see coverage list.

jurisdiction

enum

Required. "england_and_wales". Scotland and NI on the roadmap.

Claimant (boxes 1–2 on N1)

claimant.type

enum

"individual" · "company" · "llp" · "partnership" · "sole_trader" · "public_body" · "trust"

claimant.name

string

Full legal name. For companies: as registered at Companies House.

claimant.company_number

string

8-digit Companies House number, required when type is company or llp.

claimant.address

object

{ line1, line2?, city, county?, postcode, country }. UK postcodes validated; international addresses accepted.

claimant.email

string

For service of court correspondence under CPR 6.

claimant.phone

string

E.164 format. Optional.

claimant.dx

string

Document Exchange number, if used. Optional.

claimant.solicitor

object

For represented claimants — SRA number, firm name, fee-earner. Optional.

Defendant (box 3 on N1)

defendant

object | array

Same shape as claimant. Pass an array for multiple defendants — limit 8.

Claim value (boxes 4–5 on N1)

value.amount

number

Required for money claims. Principal sum claimed, excluding court fees and interest.

value.currency

ISO 4217

Defaults to "GBP".

value.specified

boolean

true for specified (debt) claims, false for unspecified (damages).

value.track_preference

enum

"small_claims" · "fast" · "intermediate" · "multi" · "auto". Defaults to auto from amount.

Interest (box 6 on N1)

interest.basis

enum

"late_payment_act" (B2B, 8% + base) · "s69_county_courts_act" (8%) · "contract" · "none".

interest.from_date

date

Date interest started accruing (ISO 8601).

interest.daily_rate

number

Only required for "contract" basis. Otherwise computed.

Particulars of claim (box 7 on N1)

particulars.mode

enum

"inline" (text in this request) · "attached" (separate document) · "to_follow" (served within 14 days per CPR 7.4).

particulars.text

string

Markdown supported. Renders to PDF with proper heading hierarchy.

particulars.document_id

string

ID from a prior POST /v1/documents upload, when mode = "attached".

Statement of truth (box 8 on N1)

statement_of_truth

object

Required. { signatory_name, signatory_role, signed_at }. We attach the CPR-compliant wording.

Fee & metadata

court_fee.payment_method

enum

"jc_balance" (pre-funded) · "card" (one-off) · "help_with_fees" (provide HwF reference).

webhook_url

url

Endpoint to receive lifecycle events for this claim.

idempotency_key

string

Strongly recommended. 24h replay protection — same key returns the original claim, never duplicates.

metadata

object

Up to 16 string keys for your own correlation (e.g. invoice_id, tenant). Returned on every webhook.

Lifecycle

Track the claim from issue to enforcement.

Webhook events for every state change — signed with HMAC SHA-256, replayable from the dashboard for 30 days.

Pre-issue & issue

claim.validated

Schema accepted, court fee held.

claim.issued

Court has sealed the claim form. court_reference populated.

claim.served

Deemed service date reached (CPR 6.14).

claim.rejected

Court rejected the issue request. Reason in payload.

Response & outcome

acknowledgment.filed

Defendant filed N9 acknowledgment of service.

defence.filed

Defendant filed a defence. PDF attached.

judgment.default

No response within deadline — judgment in default entered.

judgment.final

Final judgment after hearing or admission.

enforcement.transferred

Transferred to High Court enforcement (N293A).

paid

Judgment debt marked satisfied.

Pricing

Per-claim fee. Court fees passed through.

Pricing is per-claim, volume-tiered.

Court fees are passed through at cost. Final pricing depends on volume, claim mix, and SLA tier — we'll quote you on the discovery call.

✓

One per-claim fee covers form generation, validation, filing, and lifecycle webhooks.

✓

Court fees billed at HMCTS rates — no markup.

✓

Sandbox is free. Production access requires a signed agreement.

✓

Annual commit discounts at 1k, 10k, and 50k claims/yr.

Get a quote

FAQ

Questions developers ask before signing.

Is there a sandbox?

Yes. Sandbox mirrors the production API, returns realistic court references, and fires all lifecycle webhooks on simulated timelines (default: compressed to minutes; configurable). No real filings, no real court fees.

Which jurisdictions are supported?

Supported: England & Wales (County Court, High Court, Money Claim Online, CE-File). On the roadmap: Scotland (Simple Procedure, Sheriff Court Ordinary Cause), Northern Ireland (Small Claims, County Court).

How is authentication handled?

Bearer tokens with per-environment scopes. Optional IP allowlisting. Mutual TLS available on the enterprise tier.

What's the SLA?

Standard tier: 99.5% monthly availability, best-effort issue within 1 business hour. Enterprise tier: 99.95%, P95 issue under 10 minutes for valid requests, 24/7 incident contact.

How is litigant-in-person status handled? Can I file as a represented party?

Both. Pass a claimant.solicitor block to file as a represented party (we'll surface the firm on the sealed N1). Omit it to file as litigant-in-person.

Where is the data stored?

UK-only data residency (London region). GDPR-compliant. We're the data processor; you're the controller. DPA on request. PII purged 7 years post-conclusion per limitation rules.

What happens if the court rejects the claim?

You get a claim.rejected webhook with the structured reason (e.g. missing particulars, fee underpaid, defendant address unverifiable). Court fee is refunded automatically.

Can I download the sealed PDFs?

Yes — GET /v1/claims/{id}/documents returns sealed N1, particulars, service envelope, and any subsequent court documents (defences, judgments, orders). Retention: 7 years.

Private beta

Get early access.

We're onboarding a small cohort of design partners. Tell us your expected volume, claim mix, and use case — we'll be in touch within 24 hours.

Request access →

mrmichael@justclaim.co.uk