Claim Preparation Checklist

Claim Preparation Checklist

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Note: this tool is an organizational aid, not legal advice. It helps you confirm you've gathered and considered the right things before filing — it can't tell you whether your specific claim will succeed, and it doesn't replace reading the actual court forms and instructions when you're ready to file.

What this tool actually does

Most people who lose momentum in a Small Claims Court case don't lose it at the courtroom — they lose it earlier, scrambling to find a document, a date, or a receipt they should have organized before filing. This checklist walks you through the categories of information a typical claim needs, prompting you to confirm or gather each one before you move on to actually filing.

It doesn't draft anything for you the way the demand letter builder does — instead, it functions as a structured readiness check, surfacing gaps while there's still time to fix them cheaply, rather than after you've already filed and are working against a deadline.

Why preparation matters this much

A Plaintiff's Claim form has limited space, and once it's filed and served, amending it later can mean extra steps, extra fees, or delay. Organizing your facts, documents, and figures before you fill it out — rather than while you're filling it out — produces a noticeably stronger, cleaner claim the first time.

The same discipline pays off well past the filing stage. A settlement conference or trial can happen months after you file, and memory fades. A well-organized file from day one means you're not trying to reconstruct your case from scratch under time pressure later — you're simply opening a folder you already built.

What you'll need before you start

Have the following nearby so you can move through the checklist efficiently:

• The other party's correct legal name and address — an individual's full legal name, or a business's precise registered name.
• Any written agreement, invoice, or contract related to the dispute.
• Proof of payment or loss — receipts, bank records, or photos.
• A timeline of key dates — when the agreement was made, when things went wrong, and any deadlines already passed.
• Copies of any communication — emails, texts, or letters exchanged with the other party, including a demand letter if you sent one.
• Your calculation of the amount you're claiming, and how you arrived at it.

Using the checklist, step by step

1. Confirm the basics. The correct parties, the amount, and whether it fits within Small Claims Court's monetary limit.
2. Work through each document category the checklist prompts you for, marking what you already have and noting what you still need to track down.
3. Fill any gaps it surfaces — request a missing receipt, locate an old email, or confirm an address — before moving on.
4. Review your completed checklist as a whole, treating any remaining gaps as your to-do list before filing.
5. Move on to preparing and filing your claim once everything is accounted for.

The document categories it covers

While the exact prompts may vary, a thorough preparation checklist generally touches on the same broad categories:

• Identity and contact information for both you and the other party, including the correct legal name of any business involved.
• The agreement or relationship at the centre of the dispute — a contract, invoice, lease, or informal arrangement.
• Evidence of the breach or problem — what went wrong, and how you can show it.
• Evidence of your loss — what it actually cost you, backed by documentation rather than estimate alone.
• A record of your attempts to resolve it directly, such as a demand letter or other communication.
• Timing information — confirming you're within your limitation period and have a clear sequence of dates.

Organizing evidence as you go, not later

It's tempting to treat "organizing evidence" as a task for later, closer to a settlement conference or trial. In practice, the easiest time to organize anything is the moment you first gather it — before you've forgotten where a document came from or why it matters.

A simple approach that works well: keep a single folder (physical or digital) for the entire case, and add a short note to each document explaining what it is and why it's relevant, at the moment you save it. Six months later, when a settlement conference is scheduled, that habit is the difference between confidently locating what you need and re-reading a pile of paper trying to remember the story behind each piece.

What to do once the checklist is complete

Once you've worked through every item and closed any gaps, you're in a strong position to move on to preparing and filing your claim. If you haven't already sent a demand letter, consider doing that first — see the demand letter builder — since many disputes resolve at that stage without needing to file at all.

If the checklist surfaced a gap you can't easily close — for example, you can't confirm the other party's correct legal name, or you're unsure whether you're still within your limitation period — treat that as a priority to resolve before filing rather than something to work around. See can I sue? and the filing deadline calculator if either of those is the sticking point.

Gaps the checklist often catches

• An outdated or incomplete address for the party being sued, which can complicate service later.
• A claim amount that isn't clearly broken down into its components, making it harder to explain and support later.
• Missing proof of a payment or loss that was assumed to be "obvious" but isn't documented anywhere.
• No record of attempting to resolve the dispute directly before considering court.
• Uncertainty about the correct business name to sue, versus the name on a sign or website.

Official sources

• Ontario Court Forms — the official source for current court forms.
• Guide to Small Claims Court Process — the official step-by-step process guide.

Frequently asked questions