District Court
Step 1 - Serve an Appearance and Defence Form
In order to defend a District Court debt claim, you, the respondent, must first complete, submit and serve an Appearance and Defence form (Form 42.03). By completing these actions, you are defending the claim being made against you.
Complete Your Appearance and Defence Form
The Appearance and Defence form has two sections. The first section is the 'Appearance' and the second section is the 'Appearance and Defence'.
You must complete both sections with the following information:
- The District Number and name of the District Court Area in which the claim is being defended. You will find these details on the Claim Notice you received.
- The person on whose behalf the Appearance and Defence form is being submitted.
- Details of the parties involved, such as name, address and occupation, and their legal representative's details.
- Grounds of defence. This is where you provide clear information about how you intend to defend the claim. In your grounds of defence you must:
- Clearly outline which claims in the Claim Notice you admit, do not admit, or deny, including reasons for denial.
- Include a list of any correspondence or documents that you will rely on in your defence.
- Date and written signature of you (the respondent) or your solicitor.
Submit the Appearance Section of the Form
Once you have completed this form, you must submit a copy of the Appearance section of the form to the court office named on the Claim Notice. You do not have to pay court fees to do this.
You do not need to submit the Appearance and Defence section of the form to the court office unless you wish to make a counterclaim. Fore more information on making a counterclaim, please see step 2.
Serve the Appearance and Defence Section of the Form
You must serve the Appearance and Defence form on the claimant or their solicitor within 28 days of receiving the Claim Notice. If you do not serve this form within the 28 days, you must get written permission for late service from the other party before serving them.
For more information on serving and proof of service, please see our Serving and Proof of Service page.