1. Decide whether to accept

If the defendant admits part or all of the claim, they can suggest terms of payment in their Defence. This means they can decide how much money they will pay you each week or month until they have paid the full amount.

You agree

If you agree with the terms of payment, you don't have to take any other steps. The defendant must pay you according to the schedule they proposed.

If the defendant doesn't pay, you can fill out a Form 20L: Notice of Default of Payment and serve it on the defendant.

The defendant then has 15 days to contact you about paying the amount they missed. If you agree to accept the missed payment, you or the defendant must file a Form 13B: Consent. In the form, explain that you have agreed to “waive the default”. You must both sign the form.

If you don't want to accept the missed payment, after 15 days you can fill out a Form 20M: Affidavit of Default of Payment. Attach a copy of the Notice of Default of Payment. In your affidavit, you should say:

• the defendant didn't make the payments they said they would, as set out in their Defence
• you served the defendant with a Form 20L: Notice of Default of Payment and 15 days have passed
• the amount of money owing

You must serve the Affidavit of Default Payment on the defendant. You must also file the Affidavit of Default Payment, Notice of Default of Payment, and Affidavit of Service with the court.

The court clerk will sign a default judgment for the amount owing. A default judgment means that all the money the defendant agrees they owe is due immediately.

You can then choose what steps to take to get the money and court costs the defendant owes. For example, if the defendant has a job, you can ask the court to take the money owed directly from the defendant’s paycheque. The court can also sell property that the defendant owns.

Once the defendant has paid you everything they owe, you must tell the court. To do this, fill out Form 11.2A: Request for Clerk’s Order on Consent. Check off the box that says “note that payment has been made in full satisfaction of an order or terms of settlement”. If you got them, you should also check off the boxes withdrawing the writ of seizure and sale of land, writ of seizure and sale of personal property, or terminating the notice of garnishment. Both you and the defendant sign the form and keep copies for yourselves. Then, file the form with the court.

If you told a credit bureau, like Equifax or TransUnion, that there was a court decision requiring the defendant to pay money, you should now tell the credit bureau that the judgment is “satisfied”.

You don’t agree

If you don't agree with the terms of payment, you have 20 days from the day you were served the Defence to ask for a terms of payment hearing. At this hearing, a judge will decide on fair terms of payment.

You might not agree with the terms of payment because you think:

• it will take too long to get the money you're owed
• the weekly or monthly amounts are too small
• there is too much of a delay before you start getting the money you're owed

If you don't ask for this hearing in 20 days, you automatically accept the defendant's terms of payment.