Default Judgment

Part 12 of the Civil Procedure Rules supplies the operative definition: 'In these Rules, "default judgment" means judgment without trial where a defendant—' either 'has failed to file an acknowledgment of service; or' 'has failed to file a defence.' The judgment is obtained administratively, without the court examining the merits, precisely because the defendant has not engaged with the claim within the deadlines set by the rules.

The rules also carve out situations where this shortcut is unavailable, underlining that default judgment is a procedural sanction rather than a substitute for every kind of claim. For instance, 'A claimant may not obtain a default judgment—' 'on a claim for delivery of goods subject to an agreement regulated by the Consumer Credit Act 1974', reflecting the additional consumer protections that apply to regulated credit agreements.