Process serving is the act of giving notice of legal action to either the court, or defendant. The court documents are named the ‘process’ and they are delivered to the person to be served.
To simply put, it is the legal way to serve your documents quickly and in complete accordance with Civil Procedure Rules (CPR). It is one of the most common requests individuals have when it comes to dealing with court orders and legal documents in the UK. For the procedure to be effective, it is imperative that the correct standards are followed with no margin for error. In order for documents to be served according to the law, you will need to employ the services of a certificated enforcement officer.
How does process serving work?
UK legal procedure requires that a party should be informed in due time if an action is taken against them in a court of law. For many people who have never worked in the industry or who are on their first legal action taken against someone, the process of informing parties in due time may be a bit confusing.
When you employ the services of an enforcement agency such as Able Investigations, your documents will be served personally and a certificated enforcement officer will attend the serving to comply with CPR. Using our service as an example, there will be up to three visits per instruction, which means that the enforcement officers will visit the address up to three times to serve the documents. Moreover, you can have the documents served in 24 hours from the time of instruction helping with those fast turnaround jobs.
After the papers have been served, you will receive an update by phone or e-mail, depending on your preference. You will also get e-mail updates after each visit even if the documents have not been served yet. One of the three visits to private addresses will generally be made outside of working hours, unless the client specifies otherwise.
What might you need to serve legal papers for?
Serving legal papers or a court order can range from a seven day letter to injunctions, and will depend on the individual case. For recovering outstanding debt, a statutory demand is typically the format required. The legal papers must be combined with the correct forms that can be obtained online, in order to deliver them in accordance with Court Procedure rules.
Some common examples of papers that you may need to serve someone include bankruptcy petitions, claim forms, applications, notices to quit, divorce petitions, residence orders, notices seeking possession, witness summons, subpoenas, and more. Once the papers have been served successfully, you will receive an Affidavit of Service or a statement (depending on the type of document served).
Who needs to serve them?
If you are starting the case yourself, you will not be able to serve papers. A third party will have to serve them on your behalf, which is why hiring a professional enforcement agency is essential to ensure the process is carried out correctly. At Able Investigations, our process serving team aim to serve all documents personally and within 24 hours of instruction for timely and efficient service.
What can you expect afterwards?
Once the papers have been served, a certificated process server will provide you with a certificate, statement or affidavit. Whichever your preferred method, this will act as sufficient proof that the legal papers have been served within the time schedule and can be presented to the court.
Why would you need a Process Server?
The main reason for which you may need to employ the services of a process server is to be sure the due process is served professionally and to have confirmation the respondent/debtor has received the documents and is aware of them. Because a judge may rule that an order is void by virtue of how the process was undertaken, in case the respondent was not made aware of the documents. You need to have everything served according to the letter of the law to avoid the entire case being thrown out and your money having been wasted.
At Able Investigations, we have never had a case thrown out of court in 20 years because of our statements, so we can help you serve papers, even within 24 hours, anywhere in the UK or worldwide. We offer UK Process Serving at a fixed fee of £125 + VAT and can offer a discount on volume work (more than 10 cases a week). Get in touch with our experienced process serving team to discuss your requirements or if you require more information. Call us on 0345 366 0000 or fill out our contact form.
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