Enforcing a court judgement

I have won a small claims court award here in Ontario Canada against HJ HEINZ (UK). How can I collect on this judgement? Can I persue collection against HJ HEINZ (Canada) or their head office HJ HEINZ. What good is there in having a judgement if it cannot be collected ? The award was for a default judgement because the defendant Heinz (UK) did not file a defense. It was for damages resulting from a foreign product in found in food (see foreign object in food thread in personal injury forum) Any help as to the relationship between Heinz (UK) Heinz (Canada) and HJ Heinz and as to their onus lies for this lawsuit award. How could I here in Canada enforce this judgement against a UK Company?

You will only be able to collect if they have assets located in Canada. That is why it is always better to sue where corp has its principal place of business. If you are having difficulty speak to an attorney who specializes in collections otherwise your judgement is just a piece of paper.

How much is the is the award for? This may determine how much you want to invest in order to collect.

$2350. CDN$ + expenses total of about $2500.00 CDN$ HJ Heinz is the parent Co. of Heinz UK & Heinz Canada, and I would imagine that they do have assests (Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, just joking of course!) Is a claim against one the same as against all ? Could I add lawyers fees for any attempt to collect this default judgement?

Hi Duf,
This link may help you find some answers on how to do it correctly. Good Luck
http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpajump.htm

I would assume that in order to collect in the states it would need to be recognized by courts in the states. Then the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act would come into play. I don't think it applies to Canandian judgments being enforced in Canada.

Also, your judgement is typically only good for the corp you got the judgement against. Say a parent corp has alot of money and bank account is in parent corps name you most likely will not be able to freeze bank account because it is in a different name.

Assuming that Heinz (UK) does not have any assets within the jurisdiction then you would be able to apply to the English courts to enforce your judgement. This is a relatively straight forward process however it is unlikely that your application would be granted as Heinz UK never accepted the jurisdication of the original Canadian court (i.e. by refusing to file a defence/ instruct counsel). You may be able to by pass this if you can demonstrate that Heinz UK had "a presence within the jurisdiction at the time of the original proceedings"

If I can help further email me. I'm a UK barrister and I specialise in this type of work.