Customer agreement

Who this is between

This agreement is between CanServe and the firm or organization whose account is being used ("you"). The person who opens the account confirms they are authorized to accept these terms for the firm.

CanServe provides service of process, filing of proof, address investigation, and related administrative services in Canada. We are not a law firm and we do not provide legal advice.

Your account

Accounts are for firms, legal departments, collection agencies, insurers, and public bodies. We review each new account before it is switched on, and we may decline, suspend, or close an account — for example where the account is used for a purpose this agreement prohibits, where invoices go unpaid, or where we are required to.

You are responsible for who you invite to your account and for what they do with it. Each person needs their own login; passwords are not to be shared. Tell us promptly if you think a login has been compromised, and remove members who leave your firm.

Placing orders

You are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of what you give us: the party's name, the address and the pin on the map, the documents, and any instruction about how service must be carried out. We rely on it.

You are responsible for choosing the service and the timing that suit your matter, including whether a deadline in your proceeding requires a faster option. If you are unsure what the rules of a province require, ask your lawyer.

We may decline or stop an order — for example where the documents are incomplete, where the address is not one we can attend safely, or where the order appears to be for a purpose this agreement prohibits.

How we carry out service

We plan service around the rules of the province where the documents are to be served, assign a process server, courier, or bailiff who covers that area, and record every attempt with its time, place, and outcome. You see each update on your case as it happens.

Service is an attempt-based service, not a guaranteed outcome. Some people cannot be served at the address given, or at all. Where service cannot be made, you receive a record of every attempt, which is what a court expects to see if you apply for an alternative to personal service.

First-attempt timing follows the speed you choose, and is set out on our service levels page. Timing promises are about when we attempt, not about when a party is found.

Proof of service

Where service is made, the person who served the documents signs the proof, which you can download from the case. Where service could not be made, you receive a declaration setting out the attempts.

Proof documents describe what the server did and observed. They are evidence prepared by the person who attended; CanServe does not alter them after signature. If you believe a proof contains an error, tell us at once and we will investigate with the server.

You may use proofs and case records in the proceeding they were prepared for, and for your own file. Do not present them as prepared by anyone other than the person who signed them.

Prices, tax, and payment

Prices are shown before you place an order, in Canadian dollars. GST, HST, or QST is added according to your firm's billing province. Court and government fees are passed through at cost and shown as separate lines.

An invoice is raised with the order (Hague work is quoted first). Payment is due by the date on the invoice. Quotations hold a price for the period shown on them.

Promotion codes and account discounts apply to the services they name, come off before tax, can't be combined, and can be withdrawn for future orders at any time.

If an invoice goes unpaid past its due date we may pause new orders on the account. We will always tell you before we do.

Cancelling and refunding

You can cancel an order at no charge until a server has been dispatched. After dispatch, work already done is chargeable; we will tell you what stands.

If we do not attempt within the timing promise for the speed you chose, and the delay is ours, we refund the speed surcharge for that order. Our service levels page explains how to claim it.

Where we have made a mistake, tell us within 30 days of the case closing and we will correct it, re-serve at our cost, or credit the charge, as fits what went wrong.

What you must not do

CanServe must not be used to locate, approach, or intimidate a person for any purpose other than a genuine legal proceeding or a lawful administrative process. Our acceptable use page sets out the detail. Accounts used that way are closed.

Your data and ours

The information you put into CanServe stays yours. We process it to carry out your orders, keep the records the law requires us to keep, bill you, and support you — as set out in our privacy policy.

The platform, its design, and its documentation are ours. Your account gives your firm the right to use it while the account is open.

You can export your firm's records at any time from the dashboard. When an account closes, records are kept for the retention periods in our privacy policy and then deleted.

Availability

We aim for the availability set out on our service levels page and take the platform's security seriously, but no online service is available every minute. Where the platform is unavailable, urgent work can be placed by phone.

Responsibility and limits

We are responsible for carrying out our services with reasonable skill and care, and for the accuracy of the records we create.

We are not responsible for the consequences of information you give us that turns out to be wrong, for a party who cannot be found, for how a court treats a proof, or for a deadline missed because an order was placed too late for the speed chosen.

Except where the law does not allow it to be limited, our liability for a claim connected to an order is limited to the amount you paid for that order. Neither of us is liable to the other for indirect or consequential loss.

Nothing here limits either party's liability for fraud, or for anything else that cannot be limited under Canadian law. Consumer protection legislation, where it applies, prevails over this section.

Changes, law, and disputes

We may change these terms. Material changes are announced in the dashboard and by email to account administrators before they take effect; continuing to place orders after that means the new terms apply.

This agreement is governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the laws of Canada that apply there, and the courts of Ontario have jurisdiction — except where the mandatory law of your own province applies to you.

Before formal proceedings, please raise the problem with us: our complaints page sets out how we handle it and how quickly.