Where a claimant has obtained default judgment pursuant to CPR 12.4(1) will the court order a disposal hearing or allocate the case to a track and give standard fast track directions?

Setting aside Default judgment

Where a claimant has obtained default judgment, a defendant may still wish to defend the claim. To do so, the default judgment will have to be Set aside. For further information, see Practice Note: Setting aside default judgment—mandatory grounds (CPR 13.2) and Commentary: Setting aside judgment: Butterworths Personal Injury Litigation Service [65].

Determining loss/damage following a default judgment

Default judgment is defined in CPR 12.1 as a judgment without a trial where a defendant has failed to file an acknowledgment of service or has failed to file a defence. Notably, a default judgment is conclusive to the extent that there is some liability on the defendant’s part. However, the claimant must still prove the loss/damage alleged and so, where a default judgment is granted, the court will give case management directions for the assessment of damages.

A default judgment does not preclude a defendant