Information about what to do before starting a claim against someone who owes you money.
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.
Debts are a very common legal problem that most people experience at some stage in their life. This topic explains what you can do if you are owed money.
If someone owes you money, you can make a claim asking them to repay the money to you, or sending a letter of demand. Before you start a claim against them, you’ll need to find out the correct address, name, or legal entity of the other party.
If you can't resolve your dispute, you may end up in court. However, it is a good idea to try to avoid going to court by settling your dispute, if possible. For more information, see Resolving your dispute.
If you are owed money, you will need to decide whether to start a case. Which court you can go to will depend on the amount of your debt.
If you wish to make a claim against a person, business or a company, you’ll need to find out the correct address, name, or legal entity of the other party. You also need to make sure you are naming the right person or business and you have their correct address.
If you do not have the correct contact details for the other party you won't be able to clearly communicate your claim to them. If you end up going to court, you may not be able to serve (give) court documents on the other party and this will cost you money and time.
If you have not been in contact with them for a while, you will need to find out if the address you have for them is current.
You need to work out whether you are claiming against an individual person or a business.
If the other party is a business you will need to know what sort of business it is: a company, sole trader or partnership. The other party could also be a co-operative or an incorporated association or a government department.
You can find out the name of the other party by looking at any documents you have from them, for example, receipts, invoices, letters and emails.
If you want to make a claim against a business or trader for goods or services, consumer laws may apply. For more information about consumer rights and to lodge a complaint, go to the Fair Trading NSW website or get legal advice.
If you want to make a claim in court, it is very important that start your case against the right person or business and that you use the correct name for them. If you don't name the correct person or business as the defendant, and the claim has to be amended or withdrawn, you may be ordered to pay their legal costs. Also, court fees will not be refunded.
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:
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 Identify the other party in the Car accidents 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:
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:
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 an 'Incorporated associations search request form'. For a copy of the form see, Accessing associations public records, on the NSW Fair Trading website.
You can lodge the form:
Payment of an inspection fee is required when the search request form is submitted. For the list of fees, see Association fees 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.
A letter of demand is a letter to the other party, asking them to pay you the money they owe.
It warns the other party that if this is not done you may start a court case to recover the money they owe you.
The letter should say how much is owed and why, when the money should have been repaid, and what will happen if they don’t pay you back.
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:
Your letter of demand should tell the other party:
Once you have written the letter:
Samples:
After the other party gets your letter of demand they might:
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.
If you are owed money, you should carefully consider whether it is worth starting a court case. Which court you can go to will depend on the amount of your debt.
Before going to court, you should try contacting the other party to resolve the dispute. You can phone them, send them an email or sms, or write them a letter. Whichever method you choose, it is important to make sure you communicate clearly, setting out how much you are claiming and why you believe they owe you the money. For more information, see Resolving your dispute.
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. 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:
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.
The time limit to start a court case to recover a debt is six years from when the money came 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.
A judgment from a court 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.
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.
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.
To start a case in a NSW court, your claim must have some connection with NSW. For example:
If you are not sure whether you can file your claim in NSW, you should get legal advice.
To win a court case, you need to have evidence to support your claim. Evidence to support a claim could include:
You should consider the strength of your claim before going to court, and get legal advice.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
If you’ve tried to resolve your matter without going to court, and the other party still won't pay you, you may need to start a court case. The first step is to complete a Statement of Claim form and file it in the Local Court.
If the claim is for a debt of less than $20,000, this claim is dealt with in the Local Court - Small Claims Division. For information on the steps for staring a case see Going to court.
If the claim is for more than $20,000 it is dealt with by the Local Court General Division. For more information see Local Court - General Division.
We use cookies to give you the best possible experience on our website. By clicking OK, you agree to our cookie policy.
Share with
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn