How long will a commercial dispute case take to come to court?

The defendant has 14 days maximum to respond to a claim and a total of 28 days to deliver it to court with a fully-reasoned defence to the claim. The court will generally send the claim form to the defendant, which is deemed to be served two business days after posting. You should carefully check the date the claim is deemed to be served, the date you must acknowledge the claim by and the date by which you must defend.

The court then sends a questionnaire to the parties, the results of which are used to assign the case to a ‘track’: small claims, fast-track, or multi-track. Which track is allocated depends on the value of the case. In general, small claims are usually for low-value, simpler cases not greater than £10,000; fast-track is usually for cases exceeding £10,000 but not exceeding £25,000; and multi-track is assigned to complex or high-value cases exceeding £25,000 where the trial will potentially last for more than one day.

The tracks also determine how quickly the case is heard in court. Small claims usually take three to six months to be heard; fast-track can take six to nine months; while multi-track claims may take significantly longer dependent on the complexity of the case.

These timeframes are a guide based on the average case. If further complex issues arise during proceedings, the process may take longer.