How to Respond to A Claim Made Against You When You Are Innocent

Have you ever been served a claim that alleged you owed money but you knew you did not? Have you ever just thought to trash this claim because the allegations were not true? Have you ever had a judgment made against you and you have no idea how that was possible? When you do not respond to a claim whether it’s true or not, you can have judgment made against you. Here are a few hints on how to respond to a claim to avoid this.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• A lawyer
• Information on representing yourself in a court of law

1. Accept the claim and read it over carefully.
2. If you believe that your evidence will prove the claim is wrong and you feel capable, you might want to represent yourself in a court of law. But you need to follow the rules. See articles on: "How to Represent Yourself in Small Claims Court" and "How to Behave in Court."
3. Go to the courthouse and get all the information available on how to defend yourself. See article, "How to Sue Someone in Small Claims Court."
4. File a defence with the court and include all documents that pertain to the issue, including receipts, letters, bank statements, pictures, invoices. See article on: "How to Prepare Evidence for Court."
5. If there is no legality for a claim because the applicant has the wrong name listed, you still need to file a defense stating that.
6. If you feel that you cannot defend yourself adequately or you have questions about the legalities of the matter, you may want to seek legal advice. See article, "How to Choose the Right Lawyer for You."
7. If you successfully defend your case and the applicant loses his claim against you, you will be awarded costs for the trial and costs towards your legal counsel.

Tips & Warnings

• Do not ignore a legal claim made against you even if you believe it is not true. You are given a time period to respond to the alleged claim and if you don’t respond, then it will be assumed that you are admitting to the allegations but choose not to defend yourself. The applicant can then have judgment made against you and you will be charged accordingly, and that will include all their costs.
• You must defend yourself against the claim whether you recognize it or whether it is something that you believe is totally unrelated to you.
• If you wait until there is a judgment made against you before you decide to file a defense, the process is long and costly. And the judge may not even allow you to set the judgment aside so that you can file a defense if the applicant can prove that there were communications between you and that you refused to acknowledge them or to attend court to defend yourself.