Be Small Claims Wise guides › Process servers and tracing agents

Process servers and tracing agents

Most small claimants never need either. The court posts the claim form for you, and a tracing agent is only useful when you genuinely do not know where the defendant is. This guide explains what each does, what they charge and when the money is well spent.

Checked against official sources on 30 September 2026. Court fees from 13 July 2026; enforcement agent fees from 1 May 2026.

Do you need either?

Usually not. Under CPR 6.4 the court serves the claim form unless a rule requires you to, you tell the court you wish to, or the court directs otherwise. Online Civil Money Claims (the gov.uk "Make a money claim" service) and Money Claim Online both send a printed copy of the claim to the defendant's postal address, and the court tells you the deemed date of service. A paper N1 sent to the Civil National Business Centre is served by the court in the same way. Nothing in the rules requires a claim form to be handed to the defendant in person.

Two situations change that. The first is where you do not know the defendant's current address: both online services require a postal address in England or Wales, and the rules expect you to take reasonable steps to find one before the court will consider an alternative (CPR 6.9(3)). The second is after judgment, when certain enforcement documents must be served personally. A process server or tracing agent earns its fee in those cases and rarely otherwise.

What a process server does

A process server hand-delivers court documents. Personal service on an individual means leaving the document with that person; on a company, leaving it with a person holding a senior position; on a partnership, with a partner or the person managing the business at its principal place (CPR 6.5(3)). The server then gives you a signed statement or certificate of service, which you file with the court on form N215 if you served the claim form yourself. You cannot obtain default judgment without a certificate of service on file (CPR 6.17(2)).

Prices. Fixed-fee instructions advertised on 30 September 2026 ranged from £90 to £130 plus VAT for a standard job, usually covering up to three attempts at one address within about five working days and a statement or certificate of service. Urgent or same-day service costs more (roughly £175–£210 plus VAT). Where charged separately, extra attempts run at about £40–£60 each, and a sworn affidavit of service adds around £10–£25 (some London firms quote up to £85). One provider warns that very cheap quotes which charge per attempt, or add the certificate afterwards, can double by completion.

What to ask for.

• a fixed fee that includes a stated number of attempts and the statement of service;
• a statement of service verified by a statement of truth, or an affidavit if the court will require one;
• if service fails, a written report of every attempt (dates, times, what was seen, who answered), and if possible photographs. That report is evidence you can use in an application for service by an alternative method under CPR 6.15, where the court wants to know what you tried and why the proposed method is likely to reach the defendant.

When personal service is worth paying for

• Orders to obtain information (form N316 or N316A). The order requiring a judgment debtor, or an officer of a debtor company, to attend court and answer questions about their means must be served personally not less than 14 days before the hearing unless the court orders otherwise (CPR 71.3). It may be served by you, a process server, a High Court Enforcement Officer or a county court bailiff; bailiff service costs a further £139. If you cannot serve it, you must tell the court not less than 7 days before the hearing.
• Statement of means orders in attachment of earnings proceedings. If a debtor ignores the N56 reply form, the court's order for a statement of means is served personally with a penal warning (CPR 89.8).
• A defendant likely to deny receipt. A signed statement from an independent server that the claim form was handed to the defendant on a given date answers any later application to set aside a default judgment on the ground that the papers never arrived.
• Where the court has ordered it. An order for alternative service under CPR 6.15 must be followed to the letter, and where it specifies delivery by hand a server's statement proves compliance.

For the claim form itself, most claimants let the court serve by post. Deemed service is the second business day after posting (CPR 6.14), and the date is confirmed to you in the notice of issue. See What happens after you issue.

What a tracing agent does

A tracing agent finds a current address. A desktop trace draws on credit reference agency data (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion buy the full electoral register), the open electoral register, telephone and directory data and public records. Most agents need the person's full name plus either a previous address or a date of birth, and quote 7 days for a standard trace and up to 30 days for a difficult one. A written report of the confirmed address can be exhibited to a witness statement if the court later needs to see what steps you took.

Prices. Advertised desktop traces on 30 September 2026 ran from about £25 to £100 plus VAT on a "no trace, no fee" basis, with premium investigations at £150 or more charged regardless of result. Some firms treat private individuals differently from businesses: one quotes £185 plus VAT for a private client's trace together with a non-refundable compliance fee of £80 plus VAT to cover its data-protection checks. Ask before instructing whether any part of the fee is payable if the trace fails.

Free steps first. Before paying, many claimants ask the defendant, check the records they already hold (bank payee details, invoices, delivery addresses), search Companies House for a business defendant (free; an officer's page shows a correspondence address and month and year of birth), look at the open electoral register through the local electoral registration office or a directory site, and check HM Land Registry if a property is known (£7 for a title register). The Finding someone's address guide walks through these in order.

The lawful basis for tracing

Looking for someone who owes you money is lawful, but the way it is done matters. Under UK GDPR the usual basis is legitimate interests, which the ICO explains as a three-part test: a genuine purpose, necessity, and a balance against the individual's interests. The ICO's own worked example is a creditor using a debt collection agency, where recovery of a debt is something the debtor can reasonably expect. The Data Protection Act 2018 (Schedule 2, paragraph 5) also lifts several GDPR duties where disclosure is necessary for legal proceedings, including prospective proceedings, or for establishing or defending legal rights. Reputable tracing agents will ask what your lawful basis is and will decline instructions that lack one; some state publicly that they only use credit agency data for debt, financial claim or asset purposes and do not trace family or friends where consent would be needed.

What you can recover from the defendant

On the small claims track the court may not order the losing party to pay the winner's costs except in the limited categories in CPR 27.14(2): the fixed costs attributable to issuing the claim, court fees paid, reasonable travel and subsistence for a hearing, loss of earnings up to £95 a day, expert fees up to £750, and further costs only where a party has behaved unreasonably. A process server's or tracing agent's invoice does not fall within those categories.

The fixed-costs tables in Practice Direction 45 do contain small sums connected with service:

Those tables sit in a section of Part 45 headed as legal representatives' charges, and the rules do not state in terms whether an unrepresented claimant may claim them. Even where allowed, £15 against a £120 invoice shows the scale. The practical position is that a process server or tracing agent is a cost of doing the claim which you bear yourself, weighed against the value of the debt. Ask ClaimsBot whether your situation is one where paying for either is likely to make a difference.

Sources

• CPR Part 6 – Service of documents
• CPR Part 71 – Orders to obtain information from judgment debtors
• Practice Direction 45 – Fixed costs tables
• CPR Part 27 – Small claims track (rule 27.14 costs)
• ICO – What is the legitimate interests basis?
• Data Protection Act 2018, section 170 – Unlawful obtaining of personal data
• Form N215 – Certificate of service
• House of Commons Library – The electoral register (SN01020)