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Alternative service is the court's power to permit service of a claim form by a method or at a place not normally allowed, where there is good reason to do so. It is the answer to defendants who cannot be served conventionally: the court can authorise service by email without prior consent, by message platform, through a relative or at an address the evidence connects to the defendant, and can even declare retrospectively that steps already taken count as good service.
Rule 6.15 exists because the standard methods assume a defendant with a findable address and ordinary habits, and litigation regularly involves neither. Rather than let service defeat the claim, the rule lets the court redesign service around the defendant.
The applicant must show good reason, a deliberately practical threshold, not an exceptionality test. The core question the court asks is whether the proposed method can reasonably be expected to bring the proceedings to the defendant's attention. Classic good reasons: a defendant evading documented attempts at a verified address; a defendant abroad or of no fixed address who actively uses a known email account or platform; urgency where conventional methods cannot complete in time. What sinks applications is thin evidence, a single failed visit and a hopeful email address persuades nobody.
The rule works in both directions. Prospectively, the court specifies the substitute method and when service will be deemed to occur. Retrospectively, under 6.15(2), the court can order that steps already taken, documents emailed, handed to a spouse, left at premises the defendant controls, stand as good service, a provision that has rescued many technically defective services where the documents plainly arrived. Related powers complete the picture: CPR 6.16 can dispense with service altogether in truly exceptional cases, and 6.27 extends the alternative service approach to documents other than the claim form.
These orders are granted on evidence, and the evidence is field work: a professional server's attempt log with dates, times and observations; address verification or a trace report closing off the possibility of a better address; and proof connecting the defendant to the proposed channel. Tremark prepares exactly this package on evasion instructions, because the application is only ever as strong as the attempts behind it.
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This page provides general information about the law and practice in England and Wales and is not legal advice. Rules change and individual circumstances vary; always take advice from a solicitor on your specific situation. Prices shown are indicative, exclusive of VAT and confirmed in writing before any work begins.