Consumers, small businesses and solicitors can now make claims over the internet to recover money owed to them by logging on to a cyber-court.
The court service is piloting a web site to allow creditors to make claims.
Over 1.6 million claims were made in 2000 for money owed by one person to another, either through unpaid debts, rent arrears, hire purchase payments or claims by suppliers of goods and services.
Consumers and business will be able to make claims for a fixed amount less than £100,000 from their own home or office, 24-hours a day, seven days a week.
Court chiefs expect to receive 25,000 online claims by the end of the year.
Michael Wills, minister for the courts at the Lord Chancellor's Department, described the scheme as a significant step in modernising the courts.
He said: "Going to court should always be a last resort. That is why the Government is promoting alternative ways of dispute resolution such as mediation or arbitration."
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