Form N9: Acknowledgment of Service and Defence

Form N9 is the response pack the County Court sends alongside a money claim, or a combined possession-and-money claim, telling the recipient how to reply. It is principally a tenant's form -- but landlords need to understand it in detail, because how a tenant responds decides what happens next, how long the case takes, and whether it turns into a straightforward debt recovery or a contested claim carrying counterclaim risk. This guide covers the current version of the form, the four linked response forms (N9A, N9B, N9C, N9D), the deadlines, current CPR track allocation, mandatory mediation for small claims, and the tenant counterclaims landlords most often face.

Since 1 May 2026, the Renters' Rights Act 2025 abolished Section 21 and converted all assured shorthold tenancies to periodic assured tenancies. That change affects the possession side of a combined claim -- landlords now rely on Section 8 grounds rather than Section 21 -- but it does not change how Form N9 itself works on the money side of a claim. Where this guide refers to possession proceedings, it assumes a post-abolition Section 8 claim; the accelerated route (Form N5B) is now relevant only to transitional claims issued before the cut-off.

What Form N9 is

Form N9 is not, on its own, a defence or an admission -- it is the covering "response pack" that explains the options and directs the recipient to the correct follow-on form. The current gov.uk edition sits at the Form N9 response pack page, published by HM Courts & Tribunals Service. Four linked forms sit behind it:

• Form N9A — admit a claim for a specified (fixed) sum, with or without a proposal for time to pay.
• Form N9C — admit a claim for an unspecified sum, or a non-money claim, with a proposal for how to satisfy it.
• Form N9B — dispute a specified sum in whole or in part, and/or bring a counterclaim.
• Form N9D — dispute an unspecified sum or non-money claim, and/or bring a counterclaim.

A tenant admitting part of a claim and defending the rest files N9A and N9B together. Form N9 turns up in two distinct landlord-tenant contexts. First, in a combined claim where the landlord has claimed rent arrears or other money alongside possession -- typically Form N5 (possession claim) with Form N119 (particulars of claim for rent arrears) -- the possession element is defended on Form N11 or N11R, while the money element is defended separately using the N9 suite. Second, Form N9 appears in a standalone money claim brought after the tenancy has ended, issued on Form N1, to recover arrears, damage costs, or other sums.

What the tenant can do on Form N9

The tenant has 14 days from service of the particulars of claim to respond. Filing the acknowledgment of service within that window automatically extends the deadline for a full defence to 28 days from service -- this is stated directly on the gov.uk response pack page. The realistic options are:

• Do nothing — risks default judgment being entered against them.
• File the acknowledgment of service only — buys the extra 14 days (28 total) without committing to a position yet.
• Admit the claim (N9A/N9C) — in whole or in part, optionally proposing a repayment plan.
• Defend the claim (N9B/N9D) — disputing the sum claimed, the calculation, or liability altogether.
• Counterclaim — raised on N9B/N9D alongside a defence, asserting the landlord owes the tenant money (see counterclaims below).
• Dispute jurisdiction — used rarely in residential claims, where the tenant argues the court should not deal with the case at all.

A defence must set out which allegations are admitted, which are denied and why, and which the tenant cannot admit or deny but requires the claimant to prove -- the standard content rule for a defence under CPR Part 16 (Statements of Case).

How the tenant's response affects the case

• No response — the claimant can normally apply for default judgment without a hearing once the deadline passes.
• Acknowledgment of service only — extends the defence deadline to 28 days; no substantive position is taken yet.
• Admission — the court can enter judgment on the admitted terms, or on payment terms the tenant proposes (which the claimant can accept or ask the court to decide).
• Defence filed — the claim is defended and is allocated to a case management track once both sides have filed directions questionnaires.

Track allocation is where landlords most often rely on outdated information, because the rules changed materially on 1 October 2023. There are now four tracks under CPR Part 26, not three:

• Small claims track — claims up to £10,000 (lower limits apply to personal injury and some housing disrepair claims).
• Fast track — claims above £10,000 up to £25,000, where trial is expected to last no more than a day.
• Intermediate track — claims above £25,000 up to £100,000 that are not complex enough for the multi-track, where trial is expected to last no more than three days.
• Multi-track — claims above £100,000, or any claim unsuitable for the other three tracks regardless of value.

Most residential rent-arrears money claims fall on the small claims track. That matters because small claims track money claims are now routed through the Small Claims Mediation Service as a matter of course once a defence is filed -- a free, court-run telephone mediation session that both sides are expected to attend, with cost or case sanctions possible for simply not turning up. This mediation step is now referenced directly on the gov.uk Form N9B page and is worth flagging to landlords who assume a small claim goes straight to a hearing.

Current court fees for issuing or responding to a claim change from time to time -- always check the current figures on gov.uk court fees rather than relying on a fixed figure quoted elsewhere.

Tenant counterclaims — the strategic risk

The biggest risk for a landlord in a money claim is not non-payment -- it is the tenant using the defence/counterclaim forms (N9B/N9D) to raise their own money claim back. Common counterclaims in residential arrears claims include:

• Disrepair — breach of the landlord's repairing obligations under section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, or a failure to meet the fitness-for-habitation standard under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, used to argue rent should be reduced or set off against arrears.
• Deposit protection failure — if the deposit was not protected in an authorised scheme, or the prescribed information was not served, within the required timescale, the tenant can apply under section 214 of the Housing Act 2004 for compensation of between one and three times the deposit amount, at the court's discretion.
• Unlawful fees or holding deposits — charges that breach the Tenant Fees Act 2019 can be reclaimed by the tenant; see our Tenant Fees Act 2019 guide for what is and is not permitted.
• Harassment or breach of quiet enjoyment — conduct amounting to unlawful eviction or harassment under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977 can found a separate claim for damages.

A counterclaim does not have to succeed in full to complicate a straightforward arrears recovery -- it can delay judgment, force disclosure of the tenancy's full history, and materially change the sum eventually recovered (or owed).

Time extensions

• Automatic — filing the acknowledgment of service extends the defence deadline from 14 to 28 days after service, with no application needed.
• Agreed — under CPR 15.5, the claimant and defendant can agree in writing (an email exchange is sufficient) to extend the defence deadline by up to a further 28 days without a court order. The claimant must still notify the court of the agreement.
• Court-ordered — any extension beyond that combined window needs an application to the court, which the court decides on the usual case management principles.

Form N9 in possession claims

Where possession and money are claimed together, the case is defended on two separate tracks of paperwork: the possession element on Form N11 (or N11R for rented residential possession claims -- see our N11R guide), and the money element on the N9 suite. The court will usually deal with both together at the same hearing, but a tenant can, in principle, admit the money claim while still defending possession, or vice versa. Since Section 21 was abolished from 1 May 2026, the possession side of a combined claim is necessarily brought under Section 8 grounds; landlords should read our Renters' Rights Act 2025 guide alongside this page if a possession claim is also in play.

From the landlord's perspective

• Read whatever is filed carefully -- an admission with a repayment proposal is not the same as a defence, and the court's next step differs for each.
• Where a repayment proposal is offered on N9A/N9C, decide promptly whether to accept it or ask the court to fix different terms -- delay can itself be read against the claimant.
• Where a defence or counterclaim is filed (N9B/N9D), assume the case is going to a hearing and start gathering evidence (rent statements, deposit protection certificates, repair records, correspondence) immediately rather than waiting for the directions questionnaire.
• Treat any disrepair, deposit, or fees-related counterclaim as a serious financial exposure, not a delaying tactic to be dismissed -- get it valued properly before deciding how to respond.
• Consider settlement, especially once a claim is heading for the small claims track's mandatory mediation step -- a mediated outcome avoids the cost and delay of a hearing on either side.

Authoritative sources

• Form N9: Ask for more time to file a defence (acknowledgment of service) — GOV.UK
• Form N9A — GOV.UK
• Form N9B — GOV.UK
• Form N9C — GOV.UK
• Form N9D — GOV.UK
• CPR Part 15 — Defence and Reply — Justice UK
• CPR Part 16 — Statements of Case — Justice UK
• CPR Part 26 — Case Management: Preliminary Stage — Justice UK
• Housing Act 2004, section 214 — legislation.gov.uk
• Renters' Rights Act 2025 (c. 26) — legislation.gov.uk
• Court fees — GOV.UK
• Our Court Forms hub
• Our N11R defence form guide
• Our Tenant Fees Act 2019 guide
• Our Renters' Rights Act 2025 guide