Solicitors failed to find out if claim form had been issued

In Bali v 1-2 Couriers Limited & Anor [2025] EWCA Civ 1413 the Court of appeal in a 10th November 2025 judgment dismissed an appeal against a judge's refusal to grant an extension of time for a Road Traffic Accident case.

The central question was "what is the date on which the claim form is "issued" for the purposes of CPR rules 7.2 and 7.5"

The Court of Appeal ruled that the date of issue for a claim is the date it was sealed, not the date it was send out by the court office.

The Claim Form was sealed 13th December 2023 leaving 4 months to serve. However, the solicitors for the claimant did not receive the form from the court until 2nd April 2024, after the deadline had been reached.

No evidence was provided to demonstrate that the solicitors had attempted to discover the reasons for the delay. Furthermore, there was no evidence that the solicitors contemplated creating an application for extending time for service.

Lady Justice Andrews stated that these solicitors should have been "far more proactive".

You can read the full judgment here, or read below what the Law Society Gazette said about the case.