Steps in a claim process

You’ve filed a claim against the licence security? You should be aware that processing this type of claim can take several months. The following sets out the steps involved, depending on whether your claim is made with or without judgement.

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You’ve submitted a claim to the RBQ after having obtained a ruling against the company with which you’ve had problems? Your claim will go through the following steps, presented in the form of a schema. You will find below the details of these steps.

Step 1: Claim analysis

When we receive your claim, we will ensure that it is complete and eligible.

• If information or documents are missing, we will contact you.
• If your claim is ineligible (see eligibility criteria on the Filing a claim against the licence security page), you will receive a notice of intent to decline. You can then provide us with any observation likely to change our position, within the timeframe stipulated in the notice. Once this period has expired, a decision will be rendered.
• If your claim is complete and eligible, you and the surety will be notified.

If we note that your contractor holds both an RBQ licence and an itinerant merchant’s permit, your file will be forwarded to the Office de la protection du consommateur (OPC – consumer protection office), which will conduct its own analysis of the situation. Regardless of our analysis of your file, the OPC will conduct its own analysis

Step 2: Opening a claim file

Once your claim has been deemed eligible, we will open a claim file in the contractor’s name. If a file is already open in this contractor’s name, your claim will be added to it.

Contractors’ claim files are open for a period of 6 months, during which other citizens can add their claim to the file. Visit the Contractors with claims on their record page to learn more.

Step 3: Calculating the compensation amount

After the 6-month period, we will calculate the amount that you could receive based on the amounts requested by other claimants, the maximal amount of the security and the damages covered. See the Filing a claim page for information on losses covered.

The maximum amount that can be paid to eligible claimants as a whole is $20,000 in the case of a specialized contractor and $40,000 in the case of a general contractor. If the total amount of these claims exceeds the amount of the bond, money will be distributed among claimants on a prorated basis. Individuals (natural persons) are compensated before companies (legal entities) or corporations, in keeping with article 44 of Regulation respecting the professional qualification of contractors and owner-builders.

If your claim is received after the 6-month period, it is possible that no compensation can be paid, if no money remains in the bond.

File opened at the OPC

If a file has also been opened at the OPC, we will take into account monies paid by that organization in order to avoid double compensation. In this case, additional delays could apply.

Step 4: Decision

Following this calculation, we will notify you and the surety of our decision including the compensation amount that the latter is required to pay.

If you or the surety disagree with the decision rendered, you have the option of asking that the decision be reviewed or contesting it.

Step 5: Sending the funds

The surety has 30 days to send us, by cheque, the funds needed to pay the claims. As soon as we receive your cheque, we will forward it to you.

If the surety fails to meet this obligation within the 30 days, we will follow up to ensure that it sends us the payment as quickly as possible.

Step 1: Claim analysis by the RBQ

When we receive your claim, we will ensure that it is complete and eligible.

• If we are missinginformation needed to complete the analysis, you will receive a notice specifying the additional information that must be provided. If we do not receive that information, we will forward your claim “as is” to the surety.
• If your claim is ineligible (see eligibility criteria on the Filing a claim against the licence security page), you will receive a notice of intent to decline. You can then provide us with any observation likely to change our position, within the timeframe set in the notice. Once this period has expired, a decision will be rendered.
• If your claim is eligible, it will be forwarded to the surety for analysis.

Step 2: Claim analysis by the surety

When we send your file to the surety, we put forth elements that can lead to a decision favouring an agreement between you and the surety. However, it is up to the surety to analyse your file and decide whether or not to offer you a compensation amount.

If the surety refuses to make you an offer, its response will be forwarded to you. You will then receive a notice of intent to refuse after which you can provide us with any observation likely to modify their position within the timeframe stipulated in the notice. Once this period has expired, a decision will be rendered.

If the surety makes you an offer, it will be forwarded to you so that an agreement can be concluded.   

Step 3: Acceptance or refusal of the offer

If you refuse the offer and no agreement has been concluded with the surety, it is will not be possible for your claim to be deemed eligible and no claim file will be opened. You will then receive a notice of intent to refuse after which you can provide us with any observation likely to change the surety’s position. Once this period has expired, a decision will be rendered.

If you accept the offer, we will move on to opening the claim.

Step 4: Opening a claim file

After you have accepted the offer, we will open a claim file in the contractor’s name. If a file for this contractor is already open, your claim will be added to it. 

Contractors’ claim files are open for a period of 6 months, during which other citizens can add their claim to the file. Contractors with claims in their file are listed in the Contractors with claims on their record page.

Step 5: Calculating the compensation amount

After the 6-month period, we will calculate the amount that you could receive based on the amount offered by the surety, the amounts requested by other claimants and the maximal amount of the security.

The maximum amount that can be paid to eligible claimants as a whole is $20,000 in the case of a specialized contractor and $40,000 in the case of a general contractor.

 If the total amount of eligible claims exceeds the amount of the security, money will be distributed among claimants on a prorated basis. Individuals (natural persons) are compensated before companies (legal entities) or corporations, in compliance with article 44 of Regulation respecting the professional qualification of contractors and owner-builders.

If your claim is received after the 6-month period, it is possible that no compensation can be paid, if no money remains in the bond.

File opened at the OPC

If a file has also been opened at the Office de la protection du consommateur (OPC – consumer protection office), we must first determine if you will be receiving money from this other surety, since you cannot be compensated twice for the same loss. If this is your case, it could take longer to process your claim.

Step 6: Decision

Following this calculation, we will notify you and the surety of our decision including the compensation amount that the latter is required to pay. 

If you or the surety disagree with the decision rendered, you have the option of asking that the decision be reviewed or contesting it.

Step 7: Sending the funds

The surety has 30 days to send us, by cheque, the funds needed to pay the claims. As soon as we receive your cheque, we will forward it to you.

If the surety fails to meet this obligation within the 30 days, we will follow up to ensure that it sends us the payment as quickly as possible.