How to Serve Plaintiff’s Claim in a Small Claims Court Case

Service of the plaintiff’s claim is one of the most important steps for the Small Claims Court procedure. Service means delivery of the claim to the defendant. The Rules of Small Claims Court are particular about it. Below, we answer some common questions about serving a plaintiff’s claim in the Small Claims Court procedure in Ontario.

First, let’s talk about:

Why is proper service of the plaintiff’s claim is so important in small claims court?

Upon receiving the claim, the defendant has a set amount of time to respond to it and file a defence. If the defendant does not file a defence within that time, the assumption is that the defendant does not want to dispute the claim.
Therefore, the plaintiff can then go ahead and obtain a “default judgment.” It is a judgment in favour of the plaintiff, granted without the defendant’s input. With a default judgment, the plaintiff can begin collecting on the debt.
However, the defendant’s obligation to answer the small claim and file his or her defence depends on the proper service of the claim.
The plaintiff needs to show that she or he served the defendant properly to receive a default judgment.
If it later turns out that the service wasn’t proper, the defendant may set the default judgment aside (reverse, simply speaking).
The defendant can do that by filing a motion stating that he or she did not receive the plaintiff’s claim.

How to serve the claim

This depends on whether the defendant is an individual or a corporation, or another type of entity.

Service of claim on an individual

Individuals can get service by registered mail or personally.
While registered mail is acceptable, personal service is generally the most reliable to serve a plaintiff’s claim.
Personal service means delivery of the claim directly into the defendant’s hands. In this case, it is hard for the defendant to deny delivery.
Plaintiff’s claims can also be served on an individual by leaving a copy with an adult member of the individual’s household and sending another copy by mail.

Service of claim on a corporation

A Corporation must get service personally at its place of business.
The claim can be left with a director, agent or officer of the corporation or the manager of the place of business.
If the corporation is not at its place of business as it is recorded with the Ministry of Government Services (on the corporate profile report), the plaintiff can mail the claim to each of the directors, and the place of business, at the addresses recorded with the Ministry of Government Services (on the corporate profile report).

The above are the two most common defendants in the Small Claims Court. However, there are specifics about serving other defendants: persons under disability, municipal corporations, etc. We can discuss these particulars in a later post.

How to prove the service of the plaintiff’s claim in court

It is a common misconception that the court requires a witness of service or a photograph of the service in progress.
The small claims court rules require an affidavit of service by the person who performed service.
This last part is key: another common misconception is that the plaintiff must make an affidavit. This is only the case if it is the plaintiff who performed the service. In reality, any person can do service of the claim.
The affidavit must include a statement of that person about the date, place and way of service. In addition, in case of service by registered mail, the recipient’s signature confirming the receipt of the registered letter should be attached to the affidavit.

What if the defendant refuses to accept personal service?

The court rules do not require signature of the defendant to confirm service.
It is not uncommon for the defendant to refuse to take the claim. If this happens, the person serving the claim can just notify the defendant that the plaintiff claim he or she is serving the claim and leave the document in the vicinity of the defendant, where the defendant can easily pick it up. Generally, a person performing the service can drop the claim on the ground at the defendant’s feet.