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If you have been served with a statement of claim, you must respond. If you do not, you may be noted in default of defence. This means that the case is automatically decided against you.
There are several different ways to initially respond to a statement of claim. This includes a statement of defence or a notice stating your intent to defend the claim.
A statement of defence is the primary way to respond to a claim made against you. A statement of defence must be made using Form 3-15A of the King’s Bench Forms. It contains the same things as a statement of claim. The difference is that you must set out the parts of the claim that you deny. If you do not deny a part of the claim, you are deemed to have admitted them. Statements of defence will typically state that they deny the entire claim except for whatever parts are agreed.
Statements of defence have different timelines for filing them with the court depending on where the defendant is located. If the defendant is located:
You can still file a statement of defence after these times as long as the plaintiff has not noted you in default of defence.
Before filing a defence, you can file a notice of intent to defend. This must be done in Form 3-15B. Doing this extends each of the timelines mentioned above by 10 days.
A defendant can also serve and file a demand for notice in Form 3-18. This can be done any time. Once the demand is served and filed, the plaintiff must provide the defendant with notice of any future proceedings in the matter. Normally, if you do not file a defence, you are not entitled to notice of any future proceedings.
A demand for notice does not affect the timelines for filing a defence. As such, you can still be noted in default of defence. This demand is typically only used where a defendant is not contesting the claim but still wants to know what is going on.
If no defence has been filed within the timelines mentioned above, the plaintiff can note the defendant in default. This means that the plaintiff can get an automatic judgment in their favour. A defendant can apply to have the noting in default set aside. They would, however, need a satisfactory explanation for why they did not file a defence on time.
There are some specific situations where you can ask the court to strike out a statement of claim. The court can make an order to strike out a claim that does not show a valid cause for a lawsuit or does not comply with the rules. There are other situations as well. Rule 3-13 of Part 3 of The King's Bench Rules outlines these situations.
If an originating application is brought against you, you must respond. If you do not, the court may decide the matter without hearing your side of the story. Any evidence that a respondent intends to rely on must be submitted 10 days before the hearing. Both sides must also submit a brief of law containing their argument. The respondent’s brief must be submitted 5 days before the hearing. Division 3 of Part 3 of the King’s Bench Rules deal with originating applications.
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