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Ontario|Small Claims CourtDefending a Lawsuit 546 Preparing a Statement of Defence To defend a Small Claims Court lawsuit, you must file a Statement of Defence within 20 days of receiving a Statement of Claim. If you do not file a Statement of Defence, the plaintiff may automatically win the lawsuit and be able to collect money from you. To file a defence, you should use the standard Statement of Defence form available at the Small Claims Court office. If you already have a Statement of Defence form, you may want to look at it as you consider the following information. There are five sections of the Statement of Defence that must be completed.
- Plaintiff and defendant information
First, fill out the boxes at the top of the form to identify who is involved in the lawsuit. Where it says "plaintiff", you should write the name, address, and telephone number of the person suing you, and the name, address, and telephone number of the plaintiff's lawyer or agent, if there is one. You can find all this information on the Statement of Claim. Where it says "defendant", you should write your own name, address, and telephone number.
Make sure that you fill in the Claim number that is on the Statement of Claim you received. There is a box for the Claim number at the top corner of the Statement of Defence. Second, you need to check-off one of three boxes that best describes your response to the lawsuit.
If you do not admit any of the plaintiff's claim, or if you deny that you owe any money to the plaintiff, you should check off the first box, which says "I dispute the full claim made by the plaintiff".
If you accept that the claim made by the plaintiff is valid, and that you owe the money claimed, you should check off the second box, which says "I admit the plaintiff's full claim". If you are admitting the claim, you should carefully check the amount being claimed to make sure that it is accurate.
If you admit that you owe some of the amount claimed, but not all of it, then you should check off the third box, which says "I admit part of the plaintiff's claim". There is a space for you to write in the amount that you admit you owe. Be sure to fill in this part.
If you have checked off the 2nd or 3rd box, you are permitted to write in a proposal for how you wish to pay the amount you are admitting you owe to the plaintiff. You should make sure that any payment plan you propose is one that you will be able to carry out until the debt is paid off. If the plaintiff accepts your payment plan, they will get a judgment from the court for that amount and they will be paid according to your plan. If the plaintiff does not accept the payment plan, they will still get a judgment for the amount that you have admitted you owe, but the payment terms will still have to be worked out.
If you have admitted you owe part of the amount claimed, the plaintiff may still proceed to trial to prove the entire amount.
- Reasons for disputing the claim
The third part of the Statement of Defence, is the section of the form that says "Reasons For Disputing The Claim and Details". On the blank lines, you should write a separate, short paragraph for each point you are making. You may want to begin by listing all the facts that you agree with. For example, if the plaintiff's Statement of Claim says that you entered into an agreement, and that is true, then you should say so. After you have agreed with some statements, you should state which of the statements you do not agree with.
You then must list the facts that you are going to use to prove your side of the case. You do not have to follow the Statement of Claim in filling out this part of your defence. You may write down your own version of the events. Make sure that your statements are clear and readable, and try to be brief. If you run out of space for this section, you can attach extra pages to the Statement of Defence.
If you are relying on documents that are not attached to the Statement of Claim, you should make sure to attach a copy to your Statement of Defence. This would include contracts, leases, receipts, payment records, cancelled cheques, and similar documents. If you are relying on a document but you do not have it in your possession, you must write on the form the reason you do not have it. To complete the Statement of Defence, you must sign and date the bottom of the form.
After you have filled out the Statement of Defence, you will need to file it at the Small Claims Court office together with a fee of $25. The court will then notify you of a trial date. The staff at the Small Claims Court office can provide printed information on how to fill out the Statement of Defence. If you need legal advice and assistance with a Statement of Defence, you should consult a lawyer.
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