:Allocation questionnaire
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An allocation questionnaire is a form used in English legal practice. After a claim is made, if a defence is filed each party is required to complete and return an allocation questionnaire to the court so that the judge may properly allocate the claim to a track and give further directions towards a final hearing.
Forms on the Internet
Sample allocation questionnaires are available on the Internet. The official UK Courts web site has many forms available, including the allocation questionnaire.{{Cite web |url=http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/claims/index.htm |title=UK Courts forms |access-date=2007-04-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706220941/http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/claims/index.htm |archive-date=2010-07-06 |url-status=dead }} The actual form is available, as of March 2007, as a pdf file.{{Cite web |url=http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/n150_1001.pdf |title=PDF file of the allocation questionnaire |access-date=2007-04-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070108213957/http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/n150_1001.pdf |archive-date=2007-01-08 |url-status=dead }}
The Citizens Advice Bureau provides a generic legal advice web site with information about the words and phrases used in small claims procedure in UK Courts.[http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_rights/legal_system/small_claims.htm AdviceGuide.org.uk] from the Citizens Advice Bureau.
The form itself
The allocation questionnaire is a Pivotal Point in the judicial process requesting the following information:
- Whether you wish to have a month to settle the case.
- What is the location or venue of the case, and why it is chosen.
- Whether any pre-action protocols applied, and whether these were complied with.
- What is the amount of the claim in dispute.
- Who you will call as lay or expert witnesses.
- Whether the case should be considered small claims, or another track.
- How long you think the trial will take.
- How much your costs will be (in Pounds sterling).
Tracks
There are four tracks:{{Cite web |url=https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part26 |title=CPR 26 |access-date=2025-05-06 }}
- Small claims - any claim up to £10,000 and certain personal injury and tenant claims under £1,000.
- Fast track - disputes involving between £10,000 and £25,000.
- Intermediate track - disputes valued at between £25,000 and £100,000, and which could be heard in under three days, and requiring no more than two expert witnesses
- Multi-track - for cases where the value of the claim or the complexity of the evidence and/or legal issues to be decided means the claim is not suitable for the other tracks. All Part 8 proceedings are allocated to the Multi-track.
The Woolf Report had recommended allocation cases to different tracks in 1999.[https://archive.org/details/accesstojusticef0000wool Woolf Report on Archive.org]