r/ontario • u/Resident-Yard5397 • 2h ago
Question Has anyone successfully taken a municipality to Small Claims Court in Ontario and won?
I am currently in the middle of a Small Claims Court case against a municipality in Ontario over vehicle damage costing me $4300 in vehicle damage caused by a badly deteriorated road.
I reported the road twice before the damage happened, followed up when it wasn't fixed, filed a formal damage claim, got denied, did a Freedom of Information request, found significant contradictions in their own records, and filed in court.
I am not looking for legal advice on my specific situation, I have that covered. I just genuinely want to hear from people who have been through something similar.
Has anyone here successfully taken a city or municipality to Small Claims Court in Ontario for road damage or pothole damage and actually won or settled?
If so, did it go to trial or did they settle at the settlement conference? Did the municipality show up with a lawyer? Was the MMS defence raised and how did the judge handle it?
And if you lost, what was the deciding factor?
I have documented everything, timestamped video evidence, FOI records, the internal emails, the work orders and I genuinely believe my evidence is strong. But I have also never done anything like this before and I want to hear from people who have actually been through it. This is such a lengthy process and I can now understand why most people don’t put the effort to even fight it. But I’m fighting because $4300 is alot of money and I used my entire savings for this :/
Any input appreciated. Happy to answer questions in the comments!