What Is a Directions Questionnaire (N180) and How Do I Fill It In?

A form has arrived from the court, it runs to eight pages, and the deadline is short. That form is the N180 directions questionnaire. It sounds alarming. In practice it is an administrative step, not a test of your case, and most of it takes twenty minutes to complete. This guide walks through every section and explains what each answer actually does.

Why the N180 landed on your doormat

The court sends this form once a defence has been filed. Up to that point, your claim was uncontested. Now there is a genuine dispute, so the court needs to work out how to manage it.

Alongside the N180 you will have received a notice of proposed allocation, form N149A. That notice tells you three things: the date your form must be back, the court address to send it to, and which track the court proposes. Read it before anything else. The return court is sometimes different from the court where the claim started.

You get the N180 whether you are the claimant or the defendant. Both sides complete their own copy.

If you are the defendant and this is all moving faster than you expected, our guide on what to do when you are served with a county court claim covers the earlier stages.

The deadline, and what happens if you miss it

Your N149A states the date. For the small claims track that is usually 14 days from when the notice was served. Claims heading for the fast, intermediate or multi-track use form N181 instead, with a longer window, normally 28 days.

Two points matter here. The parties cannot agree an extension between themselves. Only the court can move that date.

Miss it and the court will make whatever order it thinks appropriate under CPR 26.4(10). Options open to the judge include striking out your claim, striking out the defence and entering judgment, or listing a case management hearing. Costs consequences usually follow for whoever caused the problem. So put the date in your phone the day the form arrives.

There is no fee for filing the N180. That part, at least, is free.

How to fill in the N180 directions questionnaire, section by section

The current version is dated 11.24. Download it from the court and tribunal forms collection on gov.uk rather than a third party site, so you know you have the right edition.

Header. Court name, claim number, and whether you are the claimant, defendant or Part 20 claimant. Copy the court name and claim number exactly as they appear on the N149A.

Section A: Settlement and mediation. This section is information rather than a question. For money claims of £10,000 or less, attending a mediation appointment is a requirement, not a choice. Personal injury and road traffic accident claims sit outside the scheme.

Section B: Your contact details. Full name, address for service, phone, mobile and email. Give an address you actually check. Court post goes here for the rest of the case.

Section C: Track. One question: do you agree the small claims track is right? Answer yes if the claim is under £10,000 and reasonably straightforward. Answer no only where you have a real reason, and then say which track you think fits and why. Disagreeing without a reason achieves nothing.

Section D: Determination without a hearing. The court asks whether a judge could decide the case on the papers, without either side attending. Say yes if the dispute turns on documents. Say no where the judge needs to hear from witnesses directly, or where the issues need arguing out loud. Give your reason if you answer no, and name the factual dispute and the witnesses involved.

Think about this one properly. A paper determination is quicker and cheaper. It also means nobody gets to explain themselves, and a judge who has only read the file may miss something a hearing would surface.

Section E: About the mediation appointment. Provide the name and contact details of whoever will attend. Get this right. No usable contact details means no appointment, and non-attendance carries sanctions. List any dates in the next three months when you cannot attend. Appointments run Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm, excluding bank holidays. Flag an interpreter here if you need one. Section E also asks whether you are vulnerable or need adjustments. Answer honestly. Mediators can accommodate a great deal when they know in advance.

Section F: About the hearing. Four things get asked here.

• Venue. Name your preferred County Court hearing centre and say why. Designated money claims usually transfer to the claimant’s preferred court or the defendant’s home court. Nothing is guaranteed.
• Expert evidence. Only tick yes if you genuinely need an expert. The court has to grant permission, and only £750 of expert fees can be recovered on the small claims track.
• Witnesses. State how many people will give evidence for you, counting yourself. Whoever calls a witness pays that witness’s travel, accommodation and lost earnings.
• Dates to avoid. Cover the next nine months for yourself, your expert and any essential witness. Be thorough. Getting a listed hearing moved later is difficult.

Section F also asks about interpreters and vulnerability, this time for the hearing itself rather than the mediation.

Section G: Other information. Three questions about Welsh and English. Answer them even if Welsh has no bearing on your case.

Signature. Sign it yourself. Then, before you post anything, send a copy to every other party. People forget this step constantly. The form says it, and the court expects it.

Common mistakes worth avoiding on N180

Leaving the mediation contact details blank causes more problems than any other error on this form. The appointment cannot be arranged and you face sanctions for something that was never a deliberate refusal.

Other frequent slips: forgetting to serve copies on the other parties, understating dates to avoid and then finding the hearing clashes with a holiday, ticking yes to expert evidence without a real need, and disputing the track without explaining why.

What happens next

Once both sides have filed, a judge allocates the claim to a track and issues a notice of allocation with directions. Those directions set the timetable: dates for exchanging documents, filing witness statements, and paying the hearing fee.

Watch for the hearing fee deadline in particular. Missing it can get your claim struck out. Our guide on how to make a small claim in England and Wales sets out the fee levels and where they land in the process.

The mediation appointment usually comes before the hearing. A large share of small claims settle at that stage, so go in knowing your lowest acceptable figure.

Where we come in

We are a paralegal service for litigants in person. Plain about the role: we are not solicitors and we do not conduct litigation. Nothing goes on the court record in our name. You sign the form and you send it, exactly as the statement of truth requires.

Our job is what goes on the page beforehand. That covers the track question, the reasoning if you disagree with the proposed track, your answer on paper determination, how to frame dates to avoid, and whether an expert is worth requesting. Getting those right early shapes the whole case management timetable.

Not sure how to answer a particular section? Our free case assessment is a good place to start. Tell us what the notice says and where you are stuck. No charge, no obligation.

See our fixed fees or get in touch.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)