Making a claim

If you decide to start a case against an individual in court, you will need the correct name and address of the person (not a PO Box) to serve them the court papers.  

If you have a claim against a person, you will need:

• ​the first name and family name of the person
  
• an address for the person (not a post office box).
  

If you don't have an address for the person, here are some ways you can out their details. If you have tried these options and still cannot find the person, you should get legal advice.

Search the White pages

To search the White Pages, go to the White Pages website. 

Contact by email or social media

If you have another way of contacting a person, for example by email or online such as Facebook, you could contact them this way. You will usually need their street address if you want to go to court.

Asking other people

You could try to find the persons address by asking family or friends,  or asking other people who know the person. You could try writing to the person's last known residential address, or writing to their workplace.

Private investigator

You could hire a private investigator to find the person. You can find private investigators through internet searches or the Yellow Pages directory. 

You should make sure any investigator you choose is licensed and that you have discussed the fee before deciding if this is an affordable option for you.

Car accidents

If your claim is the result of a car accident, you might be able to get the name and address of the owner of the other car from Roads and Maritime Services (RMS), by making an access application under the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009. For more information, see Identif​y the other party​ in the Car accid​ents topic. ​

If your claim  is against a business, you will need to work out who owns the business. A business could be owned by a:

• ​sole trader (one person)
  
• ​​a partnership (two or more people) or
  
• a company (corporation).
  

If you don’t have the name or address of the business, here are some ways you can find this information. 

Sole trader or partnership

If a person or a partnership runs the business, you must make a claim against the individual business owner or the partners.

If you decide to start a case in court, you claim would name the defendant as:

• 'Fiona Frame trading as Fantastic Florists ABN 11 123 123 000'.

All business names are registered with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).  You can do a free business name details check on the ASIC business names register. This will tell you:

• the business name
  
• registration date and registration status and next renewal date
  
• current address for service of documents
  
• current principal place of business
  
• business name holder.
  

You can also search the Australian Business Register at ABN Lookup​, which has a record of all individuals, businesses, companies and organisations that have an Australian Business Number. This search can tell you the trading name of an individual, business or organisation and whether it is a sole trader, partnership, company or some other kind of entity. 

If a business name is not registered, you will need to find out who owns the business. If you can’t do this, you can make a claim against the business name. 

If you start a case in court, you will need to amend the statement of claim form after you find out the name and address of the owner of the business. If you can’t find the name of the business owner after doing a business name details check on the ASIC register, you should get legal advice​.

Companies (corporations)

If the business is run by a company, you must make a claim against the company. A company may have a trading name that is different. You still need to make the claim against the company name. For example, your claim would be against 'Frame Ltd trading as Fantastic Florists'.

If you decide to start a case in court, you claim would name the defendant as:

• 'FF Holdings Pty Ltd ACN 111 222 111 trading as Fantastic Florists'.

You can do a free search for information on a company on the ASIC organisations and business names register. The free search will give you the locality of the company but not the full address.

If you want the address you will need to pay for a more detailed search. You can do a paid search on the ASIC website. For more information on how to do this and the fees go to How to search ASIC registers on the ASIC website. 

You can also use an information broker to get information. To get the contact details, go to Information Brokers on the ASIC website. 

You can get the full name and address of an Incorporated Association from NSW Fair Trading. 

To do this you can request an extract from the Register of Incorporated Associations. You will neeed to fill out a 'Incorporated associations search request form'. You can lodge the form: 

• In person, at a Service NSW Centre (see ‘Counter services’ on the NSW Fair Trading​ website)
  
• By email,  registrysearches@customerservice.nsw.gov.au.
  
• By posting it to: 
  Registry and Accreditation
  PO Box 22
  Bathurst NSW 2795.

The fee for the extract is $21.00 for the first page and $1.00 for each other page (as at July 2023).  For more information see, Accessing associations public records, on the NSW Fair Trading website.

You can also search ABN Lookup, which has a record of all individuals, businesses, companies and organisations that have an Australian Business Number (ABN), which is used to administer the goods and services tax. 

This search can tell you the trading name of an individual, business or organisation and whether it is a sole trader, partnership, company or some other kind of entity. This ​information may help you with further searches on the internet.

If a NSW government department owes you money, your claim would be against 'The State of New South Wales'. 

If a Commonwealth government department owes you money, your claim would be against 'The Commonwealth of Australia'. 

If your claim is against a government department, you should get legal advice. 

It is important to clearly tell the other party that you believe they owe you money, and how much. They may have forgotten or not realised that they owed you money, or there could be some other misunderstanding. 

By sending a simple letter setting out your claim, you might convince them to pay the money and therefore avoid the need to start a case in court. This will save you time and money. If you end up having to go to court, the letter is evidence of you asking for your money back.

If there is an Apprehended Violence Order (AVO) against you, protecting the other party or anyone they have a domestic relationship with, you should get legal advice before sending a letter of demand. Sending a letter of demand may be a breach of the AVO.

When writing your letter, make sure you include: 

• ​the date
  
• your full name
  
• your contact details so the other party can respond to you, for example, your telephone or fax number, email or postal address. 
  

Your letter of demand should tell the other party:

• ​they owe you money
  
• how much money is owed
  
• when the money should have been paid back, if the debt was due by a certain date
  
• the date when you want them to pay you the money by
  
• how the money should be repaid, for example in cash or deposited into your bank account
  
• legal action may be started if the debt is not repaid by the time specified in the letter
  
• they may be liable (responsible) to pay your costs and interest on the debt.
  

Once you have written the letter: 

• ​make a copy to keep for your records
  
• send the original by post, fax or email, or hand it to the person 
  
• keep a record of where, when and how you delivered the letter. 
  

Samples: 

​Sample letter of dema​​nd 1

Sample letter of demand 2

After the other party gets your letter of demand they might:

• ​​​​​​admit they owe you the money and make arrangements to pay you
  
• deny they owe you the money
  
• ask for more inform​ation
  
• negotiate with you, by offering to pay you a lesser amount
  
• ask if you want to go to mediation
  
• do not​hing. 
  

If you cannot reach an agreement with the other party, you will need to decide whether to start a case in court. It is a good idea to try to resolve your dispute with the other party, before going to court. For more information, see Resolving your dispute.

If you have tried to resolve your matter without going to court and the other party still won't pay the money owed, you may need to start a court case. For information about starting a court case, see Going to court.

Which court you apply to will depend on how much money you are claiming. You can start a court case to recover a debt in:

• ​​​the Small Claims Division of th​e Local Court if the claim is for up to $20,000  
  
• the General Division of the Local Court if the claim is for more than $20,000 and up to $100,000 (or $120,000 in some limited circumstances)
  
• the District Court or the Supreme Court if the claim is for more than $100,000 (or $120,000 in some limited circumstances), or
  
• the Supreme Court where the claim is for possession under a mortgage.

For information about going to court to recover a debt of $20,000 or less, see Going to court.

If the claim is for more than $20,000 it is dealt with by the Local Court General Division. You should get legal advice if the amount of debt claimed is more than $20,000.  For more information, see Local Court - General Division.

A judgment from a cour​t can help you get your money back, but going to court will cost you time and money. 

Before you start a court case, here are some things to think about when you are deciding if it is worth it.

Can you find the other party?

To make a claim in the Local Court you have to serve a copy of the court documents on the other party and the court must have an address so that it can send letters and documents to them. You cannot start a case unless you can find out the correct address for the other party. If you don't serve documents on the correct address you may have trouble running a case against them.

Are you within the time limit for starting a court case?

The time limit to start a court case to recover a debt is six years from when the money became owed, when the last repayment was made, or when the debt was last acknowledged in writing (whichever comes last). If you are unsure, you should get legal advice​. 

Does the debt have a connection with NSW? 

To start a case in a NSW court, your claim must have some connection with NSW. For example:

• ​​the loan was made in NSW
  
• the goods and/or services were supplied in NSW
  
• you or the other party live or have a business in NSW.​
  

If you are not sure whether you can file your claim in NSW, you should get legal advice​. 

Do you have evidence to prove your claim? 

To win a court case, you need to have evidence to support your claim. Evidence to support a claim could include:

• ​​copies of contracts, receipts, bank statements, invoices, emails or letters that support what you say happened
  
• witnesses who can make a statement.
  

You should consider the strength of your claim before going to court, and get legal advice​.

Do you need a lawyer? 

You can have a lawyer if you want one, but you may not need one. The Small Claims Division of the Local Court was set up to help people run their case without a lawyer. You will usually have to pay for a lawyer if you use one, and even if you win you will probably not get all your legal costs back. 

Do you have time to go to court? 

Going to court can take up a lot of your time. If the other party disputes your claim, you will usually need to go to court twice and possibly more often. You may also have to spend time doing research, serving court papers, gathering evidence, and writing statements. 

Can you afford it? 

If you decide to start a case in the Local Court, you will have to pay filing and service fees. 

You may also need to pay:

• ​costs of enforcing judgment, if you win
  
• professional (lawyer's) costs, if you lose.
  

You can claim some of these costs from the other party. But even if you win, there is no guarantee that you will get all your money or your costs back.

Will you get your money back if you win?

Getting your money back depends on whether the other party has any savings, income or property that can be used to pay the debt. 

Even if you win your case, unless the other party actually has money or assets that can be used to pay the debt, you may never get your money back.