If you are being sued at the Small Claims Tribunal, you would have already received the claimant’s claim from the Tribunal. From that, there are different ways that you can respond to the claim depending on whether you agree or disagree with the claim:
- If you agree to pay whole or part of the amount claimed: You can pay into court the claimed amount and the claimant’s filing fee (before call-over and a statement of defence is filed) or apply to the Tribunal in writing before making a payment into court (after call-over or after a statement of defence is filed).
- If you agree to pay but ask for payment by instalments or time to pay: You must apply to the Tribunal at the call-over for payment by instalments or for time to pay.
- If you disagree with whole or part of the claim but does not have any counterclaim: You should file a defence (a document that sets out whether the defendant disputes the amount of the claimant’s claim and/or liability) with the Tribunal Registry and send a copy of the defence to the claimant before the call-over date.
- If you disagree with the claim and have a counterclaim: You should file both a defence and a counterclaim (a counter-document that sets out the defendant’s separate and independent claim against the claimant for certain causes of action regarding the claim) with the Tribunal and send a copy of both documents to the claimant prior to the call-over date. It must be noted that you also need to pay a prescribed filing fee for filing your counterclaim.
- If you ignore the claim: The claimant may apply for judgment against you if the claimant can satisfy the Tribunal of their claim and the hearing’s notice has been served on you.
Following the filing of the claimant’s claim and your defence (and any counterclaim), the proceedings are generally divided into three stages, i.e. call-over, mention hearing(s) and trial (which may include a pre-trial hearing). There may also be other subsidiary hearings (e.g. hearing for application to set aside or review the Tribunal’s award or order) depending on the progress and necessity of each case and whether you or the claimant would appeal the Adjudicator’s decision.