Being sued in small claims court

A notice of claim may be handed to you personally by the party suing you or by another person. Or it can be sent to you by registered mail. If you’re hard to find, the court may order that you be notified in some other way, such as by a notice posted on your front door or an ad in the local newspaper.

Once you receive the notice, don’t ignore it. If you do nothing, the other party can get a judgment against you — and your part of the story won’t get heard. 

You must respond to the notice of claim within 14 days. (If you live outside BC, you have 30 days to respond.) You can respond by filing a reply with the court. We explain how shortly. 

“I hired a web designer to build a new website. We agreed on the price and deliverables, and signed a contract. But after a few months, I realized it wasn’t a good fit. Sure, they’d done a website for me, but it fell far below my expectations. They demanded payment, but I refused, and then just stopped responding altogether. Then an envelope arrived at my door with a formal claim for $15,000. I ignored it, wanting to put it all behind me. A few months later I noticed a lot of money was being taken off my paycheque. I learned the web designer had gotten an order from a judge to take money directly from my paycheques (‘garnishing’ my wages). There wasn’t anything I could do.”

– Shawn, Langley, BC

If you receive a notice of claim and do nothing, the other party can get a judgment against you, just as if there had been a trial. This is called a default order. 

After the time for you to reply has passed (14 days if you live in BC), the other party can apply to court for the default order. If their claim is for a debt, a default order may be made without a hearing. If the claim is not for a debt, the court will schedule a default hearing, where a judge decides the amount you’ll have to pay.  

If you admit the claim and intend to pay, you can contact the other party and tell them. You can pay the amount claimed directly to them. Make sure you get a receipt.

If you admit the claim, but can’t pay the amount involved, you should file a reply to the claim. On the reply, list the amount you can pay and when you will pay. (For more on filing the reply, see below under take action.) 

The registry will send a copy of your reply to the other party. They will decide whether to accept your proposed payment plan.

If the other party accepts your reply, you will receive a consent order to sign. It will end the lawsuit. If the other party doesn’t accept, you (or they) can ask for a payment hearing, where the court will set a payment schedule.  

If you disagree with part of the claim, fill out and file the reply form. (More on this below, under take action.) Explain in the form what parts of the claim you disagree with and what parts you agree with.  

If you deny the whole claim, fill out and file the reply form. (Details below.) List the reasons why you deny the claim. You do not need to describe everything in detail, as you’ll get a chance to present your case later. Evidence is not submitted at this stage, and the reply should be brief, factual and specific. 

If the case goes to trial and you lose, you’ll have to pay the amount of the judgment, plus the other party’s fees and costs for getting the court documents to you. For more information on what a small claims court trial is like, have a look at our guidance here.

It’s worth thinking twice about disputing a claim when you don’t have a good argument to back it up. The judge can order you to pay an additional 10% of the amount claimed if you file a reply and go to trial when you had no reasonable chance of winning. 

If the other party offers to settle the case, consider it. If you refuse, and the trial judgment is more than or equal to their offer, you may have to pay a penalty of up to 20% of the offer.

If you have your own claim against the other party relating to the matters in dispute, you can file a counterclaim. There’s space on the reply form for you to describe your counterclaim. If your case goes to trial, the judge will decide on both the original claim and your counterclaim.

If you admit the claim, but believe the other party also owes you money for some other reason, you can file a counterclaim claiming a set-off. A set-off involves using the money the other party owes you to reduce the amount you owe them.  

Each of these options require you to pay another filing fee.

You may think there’s another person in the mix, a third party, and that they should be the one to pay all or part of the claim against you. If so, you can file a third party notice to bring that other person into the lawsuit. You can get the third party notice form online or from any small claims court registry.

Getting a notice of claim can be daunting. The document can look complicated and intimidating. Take a breath. Go slow. Read it a few times. Sleep on it. Consider having a friend or family member weigh in — they can help you understand the claim, and give you a “reality check” as to whether or not you have a good counterargument.

Think realistically about what happened. Is the claim completely baseless? If it isn’t, do you have a good excuse for what happened? You’ll want to consider what proof you might have to counter their assertions. It might be emails, text messages, or other statements they made. You might also want to get a statement from somebody who can corroborate your point of view — typically, you’d get a sworn statement witnessed by a lawyer or notary public to make this more solid for court.

Remember, at any time in the court process before an official judgment is handed down, you can reach out to the other side to try to settle things. We’ve got great tips on how you can avoid going to court.

A blank reply form should have been attached to the notice of claim. If you didn’t get a blank reply form with the notice, you can get it online or from any small claims court registry.  

Fill out the reply form. Be brief, factual and specific. This guide walks you through filling out each part.

Then, file your reply with the small claims court registry shown on the notice of claim. You must pay a filing fee. 

Remember, you’ve got 14 days from when you received their notice of claim to file a reply (30 days if you’re outside of BC). 

Once you file your reply, the court registry will send a copy of it to the other party. If you file a third party notice, the registry will send it to the third party you added. 

For most claims, the court will schedule a settlement conference. The registry will tell you the date and time for the conference. You must attend. The judge will give their opinion of the case during the conference. If the claim cannot be settled, it will go to trial.

You can try to resolve the claim any time before trial. If the claim is over $10,000, you or the other party can file a notice to mediate, which will result in a mediation session. There, a neutral mediator will try to help you both come to an agreement on the issues. 

See going to trial in small claims court for more on this, as well as what happens at trial.  

You do not need a lawyer to go to small claims court. But you'll probably better understand the process, as well as the strength of your case, if you get legal advice. There are low-cost options for advice. That page also explains how if you have limited means, you might be able to get legal help from pro bono services, a student legal clinic, or an advocate.