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Under CPR 7.4, particulars of claim not contained in or served with the claim form must be served within 14 days after service of the claim form, but never later than the last date for serving the claim form itself. Serving the claim form at the end of its four month period therefore leaves no extra time: the particulars must go with it.
The apparent 14 day allowance in CPR 7.4(1) is cut down by CPR 7.4(2): particulars must be served no later than the latest time for serving the claim form. Worse, the two documents are timed by different mechanisms. A claim form is served in time if the required step is completed before midnight on the last day, but particulars are subject to the deemed service rules in CPR 6.26, so particulars posted on the final day may be deemed served days later and out of time. The High Court has declined to treat this as an unfair trap, describing it as a rule with a clear purpose that advisers are expected to know.
Unlike the claim form, where CPR 7.6 imposes strict statutory conditions, time for particulars can be extended under the court’s general case management powers, and parties can agree sensible extensions. But where limitation has expired, defendants frequently refuse, and applications made without notice risk being set aside. The practical rule remains: never plan on serving particulars separately when the claim form is going out near its deadline.
Serve the claim form and particulars together, early, by a method that produces immediate evidence. Personal service by a professional server completes the step for both documents at once, with a statement of service to prove exactly what was delivered, to whom, when and where, which closes off later arguments about which document arrived and on what date.
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