Notice of discontinuance

The formal way a claimant stops a claim they have started — simple to file, and outside the small claims track, quietly expensive if you file it at the wrong moment.

Can I stop my claim at any time?

Usually yes. A claimant may discontinue all or part of a claim at any time, and in most straightforward money claims no permission is needed. Permission is required in specific situations, including where the court has granted an interim injunction or where a party has given an undertaking to the court, and where there is more than one claimant the consent of the others or the court is needed.

Will I have to pay the other side's costs if I discontinue?

In most civil claims, yes: unless the court orders otherwise, a claimant who discontinues is liable for the defendant's costs up to the date the notice was served. The important exception is the small claims track, where that automatic costs rule does not apply and the limited small claims costs regime governs instead.

Form N279, the notice of discontinuance. You file it at court and serve a copy on every other party. The discontinuance takes effect against a defendant on the date the notice is served on that defendant.

Can the defendant challenge my discontinuance?

Yes. A defendant may apply to set aside the notice of discontinuance, but must do so within 28 days of the date the notice was served on them. Applications succeed rarely, and usually where the discontinuance is being used tactically to avoid an adverse ruling.

Can I bring the same claim again later?

Sometimes, but not freely. Where a claim was discontinued after the defendant filed a defence, the claimant needs the court's permission to make another claim against the same defendant arising out of substantially the same facts. And the ordinary limitation period keeps running throughout, so a second attempt may be out of time anyway.

Is discontinuing the same as settling?

No. Discontinuance is a unilateral act that ends your claim. A settlement is an agreement, usually recorded in a consent order or a Tomlin order, that binds both sides and can be enforced. If you have agreed terms with the defendant, record them properly rather than simply walking away.

What discontinuing actually does

Starting a claim is a decision. Stopping one is also a decision, and the Civil Procedure Rules treat it as such rather than letting claims quietly evaporate. Part 38 gives a claimant the right to discontinue all of a claim, part of a claim, or a claim against one of several defendants, and requires that the decision be recorded on form N279, filed at court and served on everyone else in the case.

The discontinuance takes effect against each defendant on the date the notice is served on that defendant. From that moment the claim against them is over. It is not a judgment, nobody has won, and no findings have been made — but the proceedings have stopped.

Most of the time no permission is needed. The rules carve out situations where it is: where the court has granted an interim injunction, where any party has given an undertaking to the court, where a claimant has received an interim payment, and where there is more than one claimant, in which case the consent of the others or the court’s permission is required. Outside those, filing and serving the notice is enough.

People discontinue for good reasons: the defendant has paid, the evidence has not come together, a key witness has become unavailable, or the sums involved no longer justify the time. The important thing is to understand what it costs before you do it.

The costs rule — and the small claims exception

In ordinary civil litigation, discontinuance carries a default costs consequence: unless the court orders otherwise, a claimant who discontinues is liable for the costs which the defendant incurred on or before the date the notice was served. The logic is straightforward. The defendant was dragged into proceedings, spent money defending them, and the claimant has now walked away without proving anything.

That default can be an unpleasant surprise on the fast or multi-track, where a defendant’s costs can dwarf the sum in dispute. It is why claimants who intend to stop are usually better off negotiating a settlement that includes a costs term than simply filing a notice.

is different, and the difference matters to almost everyone reading this. The automatic discontinuance costs rule does not apply to claims allocated to the small claims track. There, the restricted small claims costs regime governs, and recoverable costs are broadly limited to fixed costs, court fees, limited witness expenses and — where a party has behaved unreasonably — the costs that behaviour caused. Discontinuing a small claim rarely exposes the claimant to a large bill; it simply means the

already paid is gone.

Allocation is therefore the question to answer first. A claim that has not yet been allocated to a track is not yet inside the small claims costs protection, which is a reason to think carefully before discontinuing very early in a borderline-value claim.

How to do it properly

• Check whether permission is needed.
• Interim injunctions, undertakings to the court, interim payments and multiple claimants are the flags. If any apply, apply for permission on an
• , stating whether you are discontinuing the whole claim or part of it, and against which defendants.
• File it at the court and serve it on every other party.
• Keep proof of service — the effective date runs from service, and that date decides the costs cut-off and the defendant’s 28-day window to object.
• Deal with costs explicitly if you can.
• If the defendant has agreed there will be no order as to costs, get it in writing before you serve, or record the settlement in a consent order instead of discontinuing.

Discontinuance is the wrong instrument for a settled case. If the defendant has agreed to pay you in instalments, a notice of discontinuance leaves you with nothing to enforce: your claim is over and your only remedy for non-payment is a fresh claim on the settlement agreement. A

or a consent order keeps the case alive as the enforcement route.

It is also the wrong instrument for a claim brought against the wrong party or in the wrong court. Amending the claim or transferring it is generally better than discontinuing and starting again, because the limitation clock does not stop while you regroup and the permission requirement for re-issuing after a defence has been filed can bite.

Finally, if you have simply run out of appetite mid-case, consider whether the

could resolve it. A mediated outcome that recovers part of the claim is usually better than a discontinuance that recovers none of it.

A claimant issues a £2,300 claim against a builder. After the defence lands, the builder pays £2,300 in full to avoid the hearing. The claimant wants the claim closed.

Automatic costs liability on discontinuing

does not apply on this track

only if agreed or ordered

The safer sequence is to agree in writing that the builder also reimburses the issue fee, wait for cleared funds, and only then file and serve form N279. Filing the notice first removes the leverage: once the claim is discontinued there is nothing left to withdraw in exchange for the fee.

Application notice (N244)

Civil Procedure Rules, Part 38 — discontinuance

Civil Procedure Rules, Part 27 — the small claims track

Make a court claim for money

Notice of Discontinuance — Small Claims Glossary

How a claimant stops a claim using form N279, when permission is needed, why the automatic costs rule does not apply on the small claims track, and safer alternatives.