How to file by fax

Before filing a document by fax, make sure your document or form is not on the list of items that cannot be faxed and that the court location where the case will be heard accepts document by fax.

Step 1: Important - Complete the appropriate cover sheet. If you do not use the right cover sheet, your documents will not be considered filed.

• Supreme court (civil) cover sheet
• Supreme court (family) cover sheet
• Small claims court cover sheet
• Provincial court (family) cover sheet

Step 2: Make sure all your documents are related to a single claim being made. Documents for multiple claims must be faxed separately – each with a different cover sheet.

Step 3: Confirm that the fax is not longer than 20 pages including the cover sheet for provincial court and 30 pages for supreme court – anything longer will not be considered filed.

Step 4: Fax your documents to the appropriate court registry – only one copy is required.

Step 5: Keep a copy of your faxed documents and bring them with you when you come to court.

Fees

Each court document may have a fee associated with it – this is called a statutory filing fee.

You will also need to pay a $10 fax confirmation fee, unless you are fax filing family documents in provincial court.

• Document filing fee schedule for:
  • provincial small claims
  • supreme court civil
  • supreme court family

Pay using a VISA, MasterCard, American Express or BC OnLine account – enter payment details on the fax cover sheet.

Confirmation

Once the registry accepts documents for filing, you will receive a confirmation fax that includes:

• The fax cover sheet with a receipt for fees paid
• The first page of each document with the registry date stamp showing the date your document was accepted for filing
• Any other pages altered by the registry as part of processing documents

Rejected documents: The registry also sends a fax confirmation when documents are not accepted for filing – it will include:

• The fax cover sheet with a receipt for the $10 confirmation fee
• A letter that outlines the reason for the rejection

Documents may be rejected for a number of reasons, including:

• A document is exempt from fax filing
• The payment could not be processed
• A document is incomplete or not readable

The registry does not keep faxed documents have been rejected for filing.

Resubmitting: You can resubmit rejected documents as long as they are eligible for fax filing. If resubmitting by fax, make changes to the documents noted in the rejection letter, and then fax the package again, but with a new cover letter.

Documents that are rejected because they are exempt from fax filing need to be resubmitted either by mail or in person.