DMBM665030 - Enforcement action: CCP: general: County Court Bulk Centre
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County Court Bulk Centre
The County Court Bulk Centre (CCBC) was set up by the Lord Chancellor’s Department (now the Ministry of Justice (MoJ)) in 1992 to relieve local county courts of routine processing work.
Membership of the Bulk Centre is open to any claimant who wishes to make use of its facilities. In common with other customers, HMRC must comply with the Bulk Centre’s Rules of Membership. These rules impose certain restrictions that mean that not all debts suitable for county court action can be commenced through the CCBC (DMBM665050).
All claimants using the Bulk Centre have to submit court data in electronic format. The electronic link (interface) between IDMS and the Bulk Centre enables you to use IDMS to
- issue claims
- enter judgment
- apply for warrants of execution
and where appropriate
- transfer actions to the local county court or
- withdraw from the proceedings.
Using the interface reduces the amount of clerical work associated with the early stages of the county court process and automates some of the follow-up actions. The speed of the process means that claims are issued and judgment obtained faster than through the local county courts.
Remember though, that not all debts on IDMS are supported by the interface and that it is not possible to start proceedings through the Bulk Centre for cases that include debts not currently on IDMS.
You should use the County Court Bulk Centre (CCBC) for all cases suitable for CCP unless specifically excluded from doing so.
You may find the list at DMB665050 helpful in determining whether cases are suitable for recovery through CCBC.
Claims Production Centre
CCBC claims are produced and issued by the Claims Production Centre (CPC). You will see references to both the CCBC and the CPC, on IDMS screens and in ACTION HISTORY but for practical purposes you can regard these two centres as one organisation. The term ‘Bulk Centre’ is used throughout this section when referring to either the CCBC or the CPC.
Shut down periods
The Bulk Centre is closed at weekends and Bank Holidays as well as an extended period over the Christmas holidays. IDMS will also not send data to the Bulk Centre during the Annual Balance period.
Role of Northampton County Court
The Bulk Centre is a separate county court unit and all actions commenced through the Bulk Centre are issued in the name of Northampton (CCBC) County Court and fall under the jurisdiction of the judges of that court.
No hearings relating to Bulk Centre claims are heard in the Northampton (CCBC) County Court. If a hearing is required you will need to transfer the case out of the Bulk Centre. This is the situation even when the defendant’s ‘home’ court is Northampton. In such circumstances the case will be transferred from the Northampton (CCBC) County Court to the conventional Northampton County Court.
You will also need to transfer cases out of the Bulk Centre if you want to enforce judgment by any enforcement method other than warrant of execution.