Guidance

Create and manage your account

Updated 22 November 2021

漏 Crown copyright 2021

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This publication is available at /government/publications/how-to-use-the-hmcts-e-filing-service/create-and-manage-your-account

1. Before you start

Before using this guide, please visit our main guidance page on the HMCTS E-Filing service for citizens and professionals. This explains:

  • what the E-Filing service is
  • what you need to know before you start
  • what happens after you have submitted a filing
  • other ways to submit filings (if you cannot use the E-Filing service)
  • how to get further advice and support

To use the E-Filing service, you鈥檒l need to make sure that you have all your documents and information to hand. This includes:

1. digital versions of anything you wish to send to HMCTS:

  • court or tribunal forms
  • evidence in support of a claim

2. your payment details

If you experience any technical issues, please email [email protected].

2. Create an account and log in

1. Visit the and select 鈥楻egister as an E-Filer鈥�.

2. Complete the registration form using your email address as your username. There is guidance on the screen for creating your password. Select 鈥榯erms and conditions鈥� to understand how HMCTS uses your data.

3. If you are representing yourself choose 鈥極ther鈥� in 鈥楾ype of User Account鈥�.

4. If you are a legal professional choose 鈥楽olicitors Firm鈥�. If your firm is registered, your email address will link your account to your firm. If your firm is not registered, an error will show. Choose 鈥極ther鈥� and then contact E-Filing support to register your firm. Your account will then be linked to your firm within 24 hours.

5. If you are a barrister or counsel you can use 鈥楤arrister Chambers鈥� in 鈥楾ype of User Account鈥�. You will have access to submit filings but will not be able to access cases 鈥� these will be for your instructing solicitors to manage.

6. For 鈥楧efault Location鈥� the options are 鈥楢ll Courts鈥�, 鈥楲ondon Courts鈥� or 鈥極utside of London Courts鈥�. Choose 鈥楢ll Courts鈥�.

You can change this later by clicking on your name in the homepage heading bar and selecting 鈥楳y Account鈥�. You will be able to edit your information in the same way as the registration form.

7. Once the form is complete select 鈥楽ave & Next鈥�.

8. A confirmation message will appear when your account is created. You will also receive an email.

9. Follow the link in the email to go back to the login page. If you have not received the email, please check your junk folder. If it鈥檚 not in there, please contact [email protected].

10. Enter your email address (username) and password and select 鈥楲ogin鈥�. If you forget your login details, please select the forgot password link underneath the login page and follow the instructions provided.

11. When you have logged in, you will see a homepage where you can customise your dashboard.

12. If you enter your password incorrectly, your account will lock. You must wait 2 minutes before you can log back in. You can reset your password from the login screen.

On the homepage you will find buttons for specific actions you can take.

1. 鈥楥ase Search鈥� 鈥� this is where you can search for any cases where you are a party.

2. 鈥楥reate Filing鈥� 鈥� this is where you create the filing.

3. 鈥楩ilings鈥� 鈥� you can select to see your filings ordered, or 鈥榪ueued鈥� by status (draft, submitted, rejected, approved, error).

4. My Matters 鈥� for legal professionals only. Search and find cases that are associated to your solicitors firm.

5. 鈥楶ublic Search鈥� 鈥� this is where you can search for other cases on the system.

6. 鈥楥reate Office Copy Request鈥� 鈥� this is where you can request copies of documents.

You can get back to the dashboard from any other screen by clicking on the 鈥楬M Courts & Tribunals E-filing Service鈥� heading at the top of the screen.

The speech bubble icon next to your name tells you how many notifications you have.

4. Change your notification preference

You can select if you would prefer to receive any notifications by email, within the portal or both. If you do not change this, you will receive notifications in both ways by default.

1. Select the arrow next to your name in the heading at the top of the screen and then choose 鈥楳y Account鈥�.

2. This will open the 鈥楿ser Administration鈥� window. In 鈥楿ser Information鈥� select the 鈥楴otification Type鈥� dropdown and choose 鈥楢ll鈥� for both, 鈥楢pplication Notifications鈥� or 鈥楨-Mail鈥�.

3. Select the 鈥楽ave鈥� button to save the changes.

4. If you want to stop getting emails, go back to 鈥楳y Account鈥� and under 鈥楴otification Type鈥� select 鈥楢pplication Notifications鈥�.

5. If you will be filing on behalf of a legal firm, you can link your account with your firm by selecting 鈥楳y Account鈥�, navigating to the bottom of the page and selecting 鈥榁iew Associated Legal Organisations鈥�.

5. Customise your dashboard

You can customise the dashboard to display boxes showing statuses of filings so you can view any alerts or activity on your account. The E-Filing service calls these boxes 鈥榳idgets鈥�

Follow these steps to add each widget.

1. From the 鈥楬ome鈥� box, select the 鈥楥onfigure鈥� cog button.

2. From the 鈥楨dit Dashboard鈥� box, select the widgets you want to see on the dashboard. Then select 鈥楽ave鈥�.

The widgets will appear on your dashboard. Updates to your filings will appear within the appropriate boxes.

3. You can move the widgets into a different order on the screen using 鈥榗lick and drag鈥�. Click on the black title bar of the widget you want to move and drag it to a new position.

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