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The first element of the Online Court went public today, with a beta test enabling people to issue county court money claims for up to £10,000 more easily.
It will in time replace the “outdated” Money Claims Online (MCOL) system, although this will still be available as an alternative during the pilot.
We reported last month that Mr Justice Birss, chair of the Civil Procedure Rule Committee’s Online Court subcommittee, had warned that the public beta “may have been oversold” – though it has different and more advanced features than MCOL system, “it currently does not take the user any further than MCOL”.
The MoJ said over 80% of those users, both individuals and small businesses, found the service very good and easy to use.
“Early evidence suggests that the online system has improved access to justice as engagement from defendants has improved,” it added.
Some 40% of users filed a defence, compared to only 22% in the MCOL system. Just over 15% of cases were referred to mediation, one of the goals of the new service. However, only 27% of referred cases went on to a mediation appointment.
“When it is complete this new online route will give members of the public and small businesses a more user-friendly way to access justice. The system now being made available to the public is the first stage in that new route.”
Laura Iron, head of service at the Personal Support Unit, praised the system for avoiding “most of the formal legal language of traditional court processes”, and being “much more intuitive for users”.
here -> https://www.gov.uk/make-money-claim
Try the new online service
We’re building a new service to make it simpler, clearer and faster to make and respond to claims online.
It’s in the beta phase which means we’re making continuous improvements based on feedback from users. You can still use Money Claim Online (MCOL) (opens in a new window) if you prefer while the new service is in beta.
We’ll ask you some questions to check you can use the new service.
Continue
We’re building a new service to make it simpler, clearer and faster to make and respond to claims online.
It’s in the beta phase which means we’re making continuous improvements based on feedback from users. You can still use Money Claim Online (MCOL) (opens in a new window) if you prefer while the new service is in beta.
We’ll ask you some questions to check you can use the new service.
Continue
