Damages Claims Portal (DCP) and Online Civil Money Claims (OCMC) – July 2025 Update

In our March 2025 update we reported that the development of the Damages Claims Portal (DCP) remained stalled due to lack of funding and because mandatory use of the Online Civil Money Claims (OCMC) platform for specified claims had been paused. We also highlighted the increasing reliance on these digital platforms and the operational challenges still faced by users, including issues with Directions Orders and the absence of end-to-end digital integration.

Since then, a number of key developments have taken place across both the DCP and OCMC. HMCTS has now confirmed that the OCMC will become mandatory for professional users by the end of July 2025. Meanwhile, changes to court rules mean that claimants using either portal are now required to notify the court of settlement or discontinuance directly within the platform as well providing written confirmation to the local Court. Below we summarise the main updates and what they mean for you.

1. Mandation of OCMC by End of July 2025

HMCTS has announced that from the end of July 2025, use of the Online Civil Money Claims (OCMC) platform will become mandatory for legal representatives issuing or responding to eligible specified money claims under PD 51R.

After this date, paper issue and response will no longer be accepted and will be returned to sender.

Clients already using the OCMC will need to ensure their law firm representatives are registered as professional users via MyHMCTS. Registration requires an SRA number. Where cases are issued against insured parties, firms should continue to ensure nominations are in place to avoid defendants receiving direct links from the portal.

Older digital platforms, such as MCOL, are now in run-off and expected to be decommissioned as OCMC and DCP move into full mandation. Access to these legacy systems is now typically restricted to existing registered users only.

2. Settlement and Discontinuance Must Now Be Reported Via the Portal (from 19 June 2025)

The 184th Practice Direction Update introduces new mandatory steps for reporting settlement and discontinuance:

Settlement:
Claimants must use the DCP or OCMC to notify the court that a claim has been settled in full. This notification stays proceedings. Defendants will be informed and can raise an objection within 19 days. Where there are disputes on costs or parties want terms incorporated into an order, applications will still be needed.
Discontinuance:
If a legally represented claimant discontinues in full against all defendants, the portal must be used. If not all parties are discontinuing, or if the claimant is not legally represented, discontinuance must be filed via the Civil National Business Centre (CNBC), taking the case outside the digital process.
These updates represent a further shift in procedural responsibility onto digital systems and reinforce the importance of active monitoring and prompt action when claims settle or discontinue.

3. New ‘Query Management’ Tool Now Live in the DCP

A new Query Management function has been added to the DCP, allowing claimant users to raise technical or procedural queries within the portal and track their progress – a move intended to increase transparency and efficiency.

However, key limitations include:

While the tool is available to all legal representatives, the functionality within it to notify the court of settlement or discontinuance is only available to claimants.
The same tool is now used to notify the court of settlement, which must still also be followed up by email to the local court. This dual process lacks cohesion and may cause confusion.

The feature also provides a channel for broader procedural notifications within the DCP file, but its effectiveness will depend on court adoption and clarity of process.

4. The Relationship Between the DCP and OCMC: One Platform, Two Journeys

Although the DCP (under PD 51ZB) and OCMC (under PD 51R) are technically distinct pilot schemes, they are hosted on the same digital platform. The difference lies in the claim type:

Specified money claims proceed via the OCMC journey.
Unspecified damages claims follow the DCP path.

Despite the separate Practice Directions, both claim types flow through a unified system. As long as representatives are registered , they will be able to issue and respond to both specified and unspecified claims.

Clients should ensure they are registered to use the MyHMCTS portal (a SRA number is required for registration), particularly as mandation takes effect. Unregistered firms will be unable to issue or respond once mandation is in place.

5. Funding for Further Development Remains Unclear

HMCTS has not confirmed whether additional funding has been secured for further development of the DCP. While technical features like query management have been introduced, broader ambitions – such as full end-to-end integration, enforcement functionality, and API compatibility – remain unfulfilled.

A list of proposed future enhancements is expected from HMCTS and we will share updates once sight of that roadmap has been provided. Continued investment will be essential to deliver the functionality required by insurers and legal users.

What Clients Should Do Now

Ensure your panel firms are registered to use MyHMCTS and the relevant portals (you will need an SRA number to do this).
Nominate panel firms promptly in all new proceedings to avoid claims being issued directly against insureds.
Be aware of new procedural requirements to report settlements and discontinuance within the portals, especially if you use the portals as a claimant in recovery cases.
Monitor any communications from HMCTS or the court closely to avoid missed objections or deadlines.
Be aware that OCMC and DCP have different procedural rules for filing an Acknowledgement of Service (AOS):
- Under OCMC, no AOS is required; the defence is due 28 days after service.
- Under DCP, an AOS must be filed, and all steps must be completed digitally — paper filings will not be accepted.
Nominating your panel firm in the DCP is critical. Without nomination, there is a high risk that claimant solicitors will serve documents directly on the defendant, increasing the risk of deadlines being missed and default judgment being entered. Nomination ensures service drops directly into the panel firm’s DCP list, enabling timely response and reducing exposure to unnecessary judgments.

Please get in touch with your usual contact at the firm if you would like any support with the DCP and OCMC. We will continue to monitor developments and share further updates as soon as they become available.