DA1 form: apply for a domestic abuse protection order (pilot courts)
Form DA1 is the application for a domestic abuse protection order (DAPO) under Part 3 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. A DAPO can stop someone coming to or near your home, decide who can stay or return to your home, or require the person to attend a behaviour change programme or wear an electronic tag. DAPOs are being piloted. GOV.UK says you can only apply in a family court if the person you need protection from lives in Greater Manchester, the London boroughs of Croydon, Bromley or Sutton, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar, Cleveland or Stockton-on-Tees, or North Wales, and only at the family courts in Manchester, Stockport, Wigan, Croydon, Bromley, Teesside, Caernarfon, Prestatyn and Wrexham. Elsewhere, an FL401 non-molestation or occupation order is the route.
Fill in the DA1 form with Wren
How Wren helps with the DA1
Official forms are written for lawyers. With Wren you do not have to decode this one on your own, and you still follow the court’s procedure.
- Plain questions, one at a timeEach part of the DA1 becomes short questions in everyday words. Answer at your own pace and come back to it.
- Help beside each questionWhat the question is asking and what the official guidance says about it, in plain English.
- The official form, filled inYour answers go into the official DA1. You check it, sign it and send it yourself. Nothing goes to the court for you.
- What comes next, kept with your caseWhat usually happens after you send it, with the dates worked out from the published rules.
Time and money
- On your own
- A day or more
- With Wren
- About an hour for most forms
- Solicitor for this form
- £740 to £1,2403 to 5 hours
A solicitor’s time for the DA1 can run to £1,240. With Wren it is part of £19.99 a month, and it takes about an hour for most forms rather than a day or more.
Times and hours are Wren’s estimates for a typical case, not quotes. Solicitor costs are those hours at £247 an hour, the courts’ guideline rate for a solicitor with over four years’ experience, outside London (GOV.UK, Solicitors' guideline hourly rates (in effect from 1 January 2026)). The guideline runs from £200 to £295 an hour outside London depending on experience, firms set their own rates, and VAT is added on top.
Key facts
- Official title
- Apply for a domestic abuse protection order in a family court: Form DA1
- Edition
- 01.25Source: official page (external source, opens in a new tab)
- Where it is available
- Only in the pilot areas, at the listed family courtsSource: official page (external source, opens in a new tab)
- Fee
- There are no court fees for applyingSource: official page (external source, opens in a new tab)
- Supporting statement
- The application must be supported by a witness statementSource: official page (external source, opens in a new tab)
- Service
- You must not serve the application or order yourself; if you have no legal representative, complete Form D89 so a court officer canSource: official page (external source, opens in a new tab)
Who uses the DA1
The person who needs protection, or someone with the court's permission applying on their behalf (who also completes Form DA2). The person the order is against is the respondent and must be 18 or over. If you are in immediate danger, call 999.
When it is used
When you need protection from domestic abuse by someone you are personally connected to, and that person lives in a pilot area. There are no court fees.
Before you start
- Check that the person you need protection from lives in a pilot area.
- Your details, and the respondent's name, address and, if you know them, date of birth and routine.
- Details of any bail conditions, other orders, injunctions or notices, and other court cases involving you both.
- If you are asking about your home: its address, who lives there, and any mortgage lender or landlord.
- Your supporting witness statement. GOV.UK has a template.
- If you want your contact details kept from the respondent, Form C8 instead of putting them on the DA1.
How to fill in the DA1
Open each part for what it asks and how to answer it. In Wren, each part is a few plain questions, and your answers fill in the form.
Before you start and section 1
You say whether you are applying for yourself or for someone else, and your age band. Section 1 asks whether you want the order made without notice to the respondent and why, and about bail conditions and other orders.
Sections 2 to 4: the people
Your details, the details of anyone applying on your behalf, and the respondent's details, including where they work or study and their religious commitments if you know them.
Sections 5 and 6: relationship and family
How you are connected to the respondent, any ongoing court cases, and any children affected.
Sections 7 and 8: what you want the court to order
The behaviour you want stopped, anything you want the respondent to do, whether you want them tagged, and any order about your home.
Section 9 and the statement of truth
Interpreter, disability and special measures at court, then the statement of truth, which you sign on the printed form.
Prepare your DA1 with Wren Family
Wren Family turns official forms into short, plain-English questions you can answer at your own pace. You check everything before you send it: nothing goes to the court for you.
Get startedFree for 14 days, no card. Then £19.99 a month, with your money back within 14 days if it’s not right.
What happens after you send it
The court deals with the application under Practice Direction 36ZG. If the court hears it without notice, a further hearing is held later with notice to the respondent. If an order is made, it has to be served on the respondent before the police or court can act on a breach, and certificates of service go on Form DA415. You can prepare the form in Wren once it is available in the Forms list. Wren does not file, serve or send anything for you.
Common mistakes
- Applying when the respondent does not live in a pilot area. Use Form FL401 instead.
- Putting your contact details on the form when they must be kept private. Use Form C8.
- Forgetting the supporting witness statement.
- Serving the application on the respondent yourself.
Common questions
Is there a fee for a DAPO application?
No. GOV.UK says there are no court fees for applying.
Can I apply for someone else?
Only with the court's permission, which you ask for on Form DA2, sending the DA1 with it.
What if the respondent does not live in a pilot area?
GOV.UK says you can apply for a non-molestation or occupation order on Form FL401 instead.
Where these facts come from
These are the official rules and pages this page is based on. They are listed so you can check a detail for yourself; you do not need them to use Wren. They are outside Wren and open in a new tab.
- GOV.UK: Form DA1 (external source, opens in a new tab)
- Form DA1 (01.25) PDF (external source, opens in a new tab)
- GOV.UK: Apply for a domestic abuse protection order in a family court (external source, opens in a new tab)
- Practice Direction 36ZG (external source, opens in a new tab)
- GOV.UK: Form C8 confidential contact details (external source, opens in a new tab)