What Types Of Claims Are Made In The Ontario Small Claims Court

The Ontario Small Claims Court is a less formal court where plaintiffs can make claims

, self represented, up to $25,000. Many individuals and businesses make claims in the Small Claims Court. The largest percentage of plaintiffs claims made in the Ontario Small Claims Court are for unpaid loans, services rendered and damage to property.

An Individual takes out loans from their bank or even privately and then doesnt pay.

A service provider renders a service and is not paid.

An individual or business contracts a contractor who damages their property or dont complete work.

Tenants vacate a rental unit, leaving damages that exceed rental deposits.

These are all common reasons that individuals use the Ontario Small Claims court to find remedies for their disputes.

The process begins by the Plaintiff making a claim against the Defendant. Once the Plaintiffs Claim has been filed with the Ontario Small Claims Court the Plaintiff will have to serve the Defendant with the Claim. In January 2010 the Small Claims Court Rules changed and the limit was increased from $10,000 maximum claim to $25,000 maximum claim. With the limit increase came increased procedure and requirements around the service of documents.

The Plaintiff can serve their documents by registered mail/courier, serving them personally or by hiring a paralegal or process server to serve them.

After the documents have been served the Defendant has 20 days to file a Defence. If no Defence has been filed then the Plaintiff can either ask the court for default judgement or the court could set the matter down for an assessment hearing. At the assessment hearing the Plaintiff will have to explain to a judge why they should receive a judgement and then it will either be granted or denied.

If a Defence is filed by the Defendant, the matter will go to a pre-trial settlement trial where the parties will try to reach a settlement with the assistance of a judge or referee.

Finally if no settlement can be reached, the matter will proceed to trial.

Sound complicated?

Its really not. Every day individuals and business owners regularly use the Ontario Small Claims Court because most matters are resolved on or before pre-trial which means you could see a resolution to your matter in as quickly as 3 months. For more information about the Ontario Small Claims Court visit www.easycourt.ca.

by: Courtney Jewell McElroy

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