When must the insurer or MIB send an RTA Portal CNF response?

For a claim within the low-value RTA Protocol, the insurer must complete and send the CNF response within 15 business days. The qualifying MIB route uses 30 business days. Day one is the first business day after the operative CNF sending event. Confirm the recipient, protocol version and any required resending before counting. This source guide gives no automated or purchasable deadline.

Responsible actor. The defendant acting through the insurer, or the MIB or its agent in the qualifying uninsured route, sending the substantive CNF response to the claimant.

Identify the applicable RTA Protocol version. Paragraph 4.1 governs its current accident and valuation scope. Paragraph 4.2 preserves earlier versions for specified pre-May 31, 2021 accidents and pre-July 31, 2013 CNFs.

Confirm the substantive CNF was sent to the insurer under paragraph 6.1. The separately posted Defendant Only CNF and the insurer’s acknowledgement do not replace that sending event.

Under paragraph 5.2, a CNF sent to the wrong defendant may be sent to the correct defendant. Preserve both transmissions and use the operative corrected sending event.

Under paragraph 6.3A(2), a defendant may require resending with the missing askCUEPI reference. That required resend starts the response period. If the defendant does not require it, paragraph 6.3A(3) preserves the ordinary response duty.

The 30-day MIB route requires no identified insurer and a claim falling to the MIB or its agents. Paragraph 4.5 excludes the Untraced Drivers’ Agreement route. Do not infer 30 days merely from an uninsured or unidentified vehicle.

The low-value RTA Claims Portal Stage 1 response only. Establish that this Protocol applies, including the accident date, valuation and small-claims boundary. This is not the RTA Small Claims Protocol, every uninsured accident, a personal-injury limitation date or an ordinary court defence deadline.

1. Establish protocol scope, version, recipient and the operative sending event.
2. Identify the first following business day and count that day as day one.
3. Count 15 business days for the insurer or 30 for the qualifying MIB route.
4. Exclude every weekend, relevant bank holiday, Good Friday and Christmas Day.
5. Check any required resend, response content and actual transmission evidence.
6. Keep limitation, protocol exit and later litigation separate from this response count.

The first business day after the operative sending event is day one. Count only business days. The protocol excludes Saturdays, Sundays, bank holidays under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971, Good Friday and Christmas Day. These conditional illustrations establish England and Wales holiday facts. Do not exclude day one twice or apply the CPR five-day short-period threshold.

Exclude every nonbusiness day inside the period, not just a closed final day. These are communications between parties, not acts at a court office. A court-office closure or unavailable Portal does not by itself establish an extra protocol day. Preserve the actual sending evidence and review any exceptional event separately.

The protocol fixes business-day response periods, but the current generic market model counts calendar days. Required recipient and resending facts also need to be established. The reviewed source guide therefore gives no automatic date or paid deadline record.

An in-scope current RTA insurer CNF was sent to the correct insurer on August 7, 2026. No required resend or exit event applies. England and Wales holiday facts are established. The first business day after sending is day one. Count 15 eligible days and exclude every intervening defined nonworking day. Conditional source illustration only. The stated 15-day period ends August 28, 2026. The application must refuse an automated result.

No insurer is identified and the established claim falls to the MIB under paragraph 6.13, rather than the Untraced Drivers’ Agreement. The operative CNF was sent August 7, 2026. No resend or exit applies. The first business day after sending is day one. Count 30 eligible days and exclude every intervening defined nonworking day. Conditional source illustration only. The stated 30-day period ends September 21, 2026. The application must refuse an automated result.

The operative in-scope insurer CNF was sent Thursday April 2, 2026. Good Friday, Easter Monday and each weekend are excluded. No reset or exit applies. The first business day after sending is day one. Count 15 eligible days and exclude every intervening defined nonworking day. Conditional source illustration only. The stated 15-day period ends April 27, 2026. The application must refuse an automated result.

An in-scope CNF was first sent August 7, 2026 without the required askCUEPI reference. The defendant demanded correction under 6.3A(2), and the corrected CNF was sent August 11. Count from the required resend. The required August 11 resend is operative under 6.3A(2). August 12 is business day one. Do not keep the original August 7 event or exclude the first following business day twice. Conditional source illustration only. The stated 15-day period ends September 2, 2026. The application must refuse an automated result.

An uninsured or unidentified vehicle is alleged, but the applicable MIB agreement and identified-recipient facts are not established. Establish paragraph 6.13 eligibility and the paragraph 4.5 Untraced Drivers’ Agreement exclusion before selecting 30 days. No applicable automatic date is established. Establish paragraph 6.13 eligibility and the paragraph 4.5 Untraced Drivers’ Agreement exclusion before selecting 30 days.

A CNF lacked the askCUEPI reference, but the defendant did not require a resend. The claimant later repeated the CNF. Paragraph 6.3A(3) preserves the ordinary response duty. Do not assume the repeated sending establishes a fresh period. No applicable automatic date is established. Paragraph 6.3A(3) preserves the ordinary response duty. Do not assume the repeated sending establishes a fresh period.

Current and historical scope

Confirm the full current scope in paragraph 4.1, the special child-whiplash branch in 4.1A, exclusions in 4.5 and the preserved versions in 4.2. A low-value injury does not automatically belong in this Portal. The separate RTA Small Claims Protocol has its own process.

Required CNF correction

Wrong-recipient correction under 5.2 and a demanded missing-reference resend under 6.3A(2) can establish a later operative event. An unsolicited resend or a missing reference that the defendant did not require to be corrected does not automatically reset time.

Response periods cannot be varied by agreement

Paragraph 5.5 excludes both response periods from its power to vary periods by agreement. Paragraph 6.14 expressly provides no extension when the MIB passes the claim to an insurer acting for it.

Protocol exit differs from default judgment

Paragraph 6.15 identifies exit where the response is not completed and sent, liability is not admitted, specified information or allocation issues arise, or contributory negligence is alleged other than the stated admitted seat-belt exception. Silence is not an automatic admission or judgment.

Limitation still needs protection

Paragraph 5.7 permits proceedings and an application for a stay where compliance cannot finish before limitation. The Portal response period does not suspend limitation. Paragraph 5.11 prevents a claim that has left this Protocol from re-entering.

• The low-value RTA Claims Portal Stage 1 response only. Establish that this Protocol applies, including the accident date, valuation and small-claims boundary. This is not the RTA Small Claims Protocol, every uninsured accident, a personal-injury limitation date or an ordinary court defence deadline.
• The 15-day insurer and 30-day MIB options concern the same Stage 1 response within this Protocol. EL/PL response periods, RTA Small Claims responses, acknowledgement, limitation and Stage 2 are distinct questions.

• Preserve the CNF, complete recipient details and the Portal sending record.
• Confirm the accident date, applicable version, valuation and correct protocol.
• Record whether the 15-day insurer or qualifying 30-day MIB route applies.
• Check any wrong-recipient correction or demanded askCUEPI-reference resend.
• Count the first following business day as day one and exclude all intervening nonbusiness days.
• Send the completed substantive response and preserve its transmission evidence.
• Check protocol exit and limitation separately.
• Complete the relevant CNF response section and send it to the claimant by the end of the applicable protocol period through the prescribed channel. The protocol provisions reviewed here do not specify an independent 4 p.m., 5 p.m. or court-clerk cutoff. Do not import one. Preserve the complete response and its Portal transmission timestamp; an acknowledgement or saved draft is not the substantive CNF response.