How to sue someone in Ireland: a District Court claim up to €15,000

The District Court hears civil claims up to €15,000: unpaid invoices, loans, deposits, contracts not performed, damage to property, and the disputes that are too big or the wrong shape for the Small Claims procedure. In 2025 it received 136,736 civil matters and resolved 112,604. This guide explains how a claim is brought from the claimant's side: whether to use the Small Claims procedure instead, the letter before action, the claim notice and its fees, service, what the respondent can do in 28 days, the hearing, the decree, costs, and how a decree is enforced. The page explains the lawful route and nothing else.

Before anything, run the claim through the small claims checker. A consumer, property-damage, holiday-deposit or business-services claim up to €2,000 belongs in the Small Claims procedure, for €25 and with no costs risk. A debt, or any claim over €2,000, belongs here.

Is the District Court the right court?

You cannot split one claim into several to stay under €15,000. You can claim €15,000 and abandon the balance, which is sometimes the better course where the costs and time of the Circuit Court outweigh the excess.

The claim is issued in the District Court area where the respondent lives or carries on business, or where the contract was made or the damage happened. The Courts Service's find your District Court area page gives the district; find a court gives the office.

Check the time limit before you spend anything. Most contract and tort claims must be brought within six years of the breach or the damage, and personal injuries within two years; the Courts Service asks you to verify the period for your own case. A claim issued late can be defeated by the Statute of Limitations alone.

The letter before action

Write to the respondent first: what is owed or what went wrong, the amount, the documents you rely on, and a date (14 days is usual) by which you expect payment or a reply, failing which you will issue proceedings in the District Court. Send it by registered post and keep a copy. It is not a legal requirement for an ordinary claim, but judges expect to see it, it often produces payment, and it supports your claim for costs later. If the respondent is a company, check its exact registered name and address on the Companies Registration Office website; a claim against the wrong entity is a claim against nobody.

The Mediation Act 2017 requires a solicitor to tell a client about mediation before issuing proceedings. If you are acting for yourself you have no such duty, but a judge can adjourn a case to let the parties mediate, and a letter that offers it costs nothing.

The claim notice and the fee

A District Court civil claim starts with a claim notice under the District Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2014. The form is on the Courts Service forms page, and since the District Court (Digital) Rules 2025 took effect on 28 May 2025, civil claims can be lodged online through CSOL. The notice contains a statement of claim: who you are, who the respondent is, what happened and when, what you are claiming and how it is calculated, and any interest. Write it in plain words, in numbered paragraphs, in date order. Attach nothing to the notice itself; the documents come to the hearing.

The fee, under the District Court (Fees) Order 2014 as amended and the Court Fees Schedule published on 8 September 2025:

The office stamps and issues the notice, and the record number on it follows the case.

Service

You serve the claim notice on the respondent yourself: by registered post to their address, or by handing it to them in person. A company is served at its registered office. You then swear a statutory declaration of service, before a commissioner for oaths, a peace commissioner or a solicitor, and file it at the court office. Ordinary post, email and text do not count, and a claim that cannot be proved served goes nowhere: the office will not mark judgment and the judge will not hear it.

If the respondent cannot be found or is evading service, you can apply to the court for an order for substituted service, for example by ordinary post to a last known address, with a sworn statement of what you have tried.

The respondent's 28 days

The respondent has 28 days from service to enter an appearance and defence. The debt claim notice guide describes that side. From your side there are three outcomes:

• Payment or an offer. Take payment in full in writing and withdraw the claim; or agree instalments in writing and hold the claim rather than withdraw it, so that a broken plan can go straight to judgment.
• A defence (and perhaps a counterclaim). The office lists the case for hearing on a civil day. Both sides are told the date. Where the defence is plainly no defence, you can apply for judgment on the basis that it discloses no real answer, but the judge is slow to shut a respondent out and most defended claims go to a hearing.
• No response. For a liquidated claim you apply to the office to have judgment marked in default of appearance, with the declaration of service. No hearing is needed. In 2025, 8,315 judgments were marked that way. For an unliquidated claim (damages), you apply for a date and prove the amount before a judge in the respondent's absence.

The hearing

The case is heard in public on a civil day in the District Court, usually weeks to months after the defence is filed, depending on the district's list. Bring three copies of every document: the contract, invoices, delivery notes, correspondence, photographs, bank records, the letter before action, and any expert's report, with a short chronology on top. Bring the witnesses who can speak to the facts; a letter from someone who is not there carries little weight. The court day checklist builds the list.

The clerk calls the case. You give evidence on oath first, taking the judge through what happened and the documents; the respondent or their solicitor can cross-examine. The respondent then gives evidence and you can ask questions. Address the judge as "Judge" and keep to the facts. The judge decides on the balance of probabilities and gives the decision from the bench, with reasons.

The judge may grant a decree for the sum claimed or a lesser sum, dismiss the claim, or allow a counterclaim in whole or in part.

Costs

Unlike the Small Claims procedure, costs follow the event in the civil list: the court can order the losing side to pay the winning side's costs on the District Court scale, which is a fixed schedule of amounts by claim value, plus the court fees and witness expenses. If you act for yourself you recover your outlay and fees but not a fee for your own time. If you lose, you can be ordered to pay the respondent's scale costs, which is the risk to weigh before issuing a defended claim.

Enforcing the decree

A decree is an order that the respondent pay. If they do not, you enforce it; the court does not do it for you. The routes are:

• Execution: a warrant to the sheriff (Dublin and Cork) or the county registrar to seize and sell the respondent's goods.
• An instalment order: summon the respondent to an examination of means and ask the court to order payment by instalments; the instalment orders guide explains it. In 2025 the District Court made 1,144 such orders.
• A judgment mortgage on property the respondent owns.
• A garnishee order attaching money owed to the respondent by a third party, such as a bank.

A judgment lasts twelve years. The enforcement costs are added to the debt.

Appeals

Either side can appeal to the Circuit Court within 14 days of the decree by lodging a notice of appeal at the District Court office, with a €25 fee, and serving it on the other side. The appeal is a full rehearing. Costs in the Circuit Court are higher, which is a consideration for both sides.

When a solicitor is worth it

Many people issue and present their own District Court claim for a debt or a simple contract. A solicitor is worth considering where the respondent is represented, where the facts or the law are genuinely contested, where the sum is near the €15,000 limit, or where the respondent is a company with lawyers on retainer. The court can order the losing side to pay scale costs, so a solicitor's fee may be recovered in part if you succeed; it is not recovered if you lose. Civil legal aid from the Legal Aid Board does not cover ordinary civil claims. The Free Legal Advice Centres give free initial advice.

Where this leaves you

Check the claim against the small claims checker first; if it does not fit, send the letter before action by registered post today, and if the date passes, issue the claim notice through CSOL or the office with the fee from the table above, serve it by registered post and file the declaration of service. The 28 days then run, and the debt claim notice guide tells you what the respondent is being told. For a claim about an injury, the personal injuries guide explains the Injuries Resolution Board step that comes first.