For residential landlords faced with a tenant who is not paying the rent, it may be considered appropriate to issue proceedings for possession of property and to obtain a CCJ for the outstanding arrears.
Of course, before doing so, landlords are required to give the required notice (in England, this is a Section 8 Notice; in Wales it is a RHW20 Notice).
When it comes to issuing proceedings for possession arising from rent arrears, there are 2 methods: paper or online.
Time Comparison between paper and online
Online issue is quicker in that the papers do not need to be posted to the Court and then processed by staff. Once a claim is issued, a hearing date would be set. Based on previous experience (specifically at Manchester County Court), if we sent the papers to the Court by post, the Court can take 4-6 weeks to issue the claim and then it would take between 4-8 weeks to get a hearing date. Based on previous experience (online), the claim is issued within 1 week and it takes around 4 weeks to get a hearing date.
Work comparison between paper and online
With issuing the claim on paper, we can attach the evidence to the particulars of claim. The evidence includes the tenancy agreement, the Section 8 or RHW20 notice (with evidence of service if available) and a rent schedule. This saves time and costs later down the line having to prepare witness evidence to deal with these matters.
With issuing online, you cannot attach the evidence and this means you have to spend time and cost later preparing witness statements and attaching the evidence and then that evidence has to be sent to the court and to the tenants separately.
Wording of the forms comparison between paper and online
The online version of the form is rigid. There is no room to make amendments or put things in the correct box. The online form also limits some boxes to 800 characters. In addition, the online form requires you to insert the rent schedule, line by line which can also take time. If your case requires 2-years worth of rent payments, then paper is certainly quicker as this can be done quickly in a spreadsheet.
The online Particulars of Claim at paragraph 10 also limits the list of things you can ask the Court to order to 4 items. The paper form allows you to edit it to ask for more items. What I have seen in the past is lawyers use Box 8 to add in extra things they wish to ask for. It does however look untidy.
There is no significant difference between either form.
In relation to the claim form, the paper form can also be amended. The online version cannot be edited!
If you have any questions or need support with the above please email us at: philip@whitecollarlegalandadmin.com or phone 0151 230 8931.