Possession Claim OnLine Project
From SR
Background
The Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) and HM Courts Service have introduced The Possession Claim Online Project (PCOL); a web enabled application to manage claims in county courts for possession of residential property for non-payment of rent or mortgage.
PCOL rolled out nationally on 30 October 06 and is HMCS' newest Internet based service. It has major benefits for HMCS in terms of reducing the overall cost of processing possession claims and is a key enabler for the HMCS Business Strategy.
Purpose
PCOL is a simple, convenient and secure way of making or responding to certain types of claim for recovery of property.
It allows banks, building societies, local authorities, housing associations, solicitors, commercial and private landlords to issue claims for possession of land for arrears of mortgage or rent online.
Their aim is that wherever possible, online issue will be the norm, with manual processes the exception. This will transform and improve the service they deliver to their customers making civil justice more accessible, for both claimants and defendants.
PCOL is suitable for possession claims that are for arrears of rent or money due under a mortgage only - including interest and costs. It can only be used where there is an address for service in England or Wales and where the claimant can provide a postcode for the property to be recovered and has an email address.
Benefits
- PCOL allows you to access essential court forms online to make, issue, view and progress a possession claim electronically.
- A court visit is no longer required to commence proceedings
- Customers are no longer restricted to court opening times as the system is available 24hrs a day, 7 days a week allowing the customer to issue at a convenient time, in the convenience of your home or office,
- The system automatically allocates a hearing date at the point of issue and the site includes postcode recognition software which automatically ensures the case is assigned to the correct court for the property to be recovered.
- PCOL allows customers to pay their court fees by either debit or credit card and for the first time for HMCS, Direct Debit. This facility significantly enhances the convenience of the site particularly for high volume issuers by significantly reducing the internal administrative costs of writing individual cheques for each claim.
- PCOL allows HMCS to make significant administrative savings, which have been passed on in the form of reduced court fees as a result the cost of issuing a possession Claim Online is £100 opposed to £150 if issued manually.
