After court

 Reviews 

In the Small Claims Division of the Local Court, registrars often make decisions about applications to the court and at the pre-trial review. 

If a registrar makes a decision that you are unhappy with, you can apply to have the decision reviewed by a magistrate of the Local Court. 

If you apply to review the decision of the registrar you may be ordered to pay some of the plaintiff's legal costs. 

An application to review a registrar's decision must be made within 28 days of the date of the decision. 

If you want to review the decision of a registrar, you should get legal advice​.

For more information, see Apply for a review of a Local Court decision.

Appeals 

Appeals from the Small Claims Division of the Local Court are made to the District Court.  

It is very difficult to appeal a decision of a magistrate or assessor. You cannot appeal just because you do not like the decision. You can only appeal if: ​

• ​you have been denied procedural fairness. For example, you were not given a fair chance to present your case.
  
• the magistrate or assessor acted outside their powers. This means they made a decision or order that they did not have the power to do.
  

An appeal against the decision of a magistrate or assessor must be made to the District Court within 28 days of the decision.  If you appeal a decision and you lose, it is very likely that you will have to pay legal costs. 

Before filing an appeal, you should get legal advice. 

For more information, see Appeal the Local Court decision.

If it has been more than 28 days since you were served with a statement of claim, the plaintiff can get a default judgment against you and then take steps to enforce that judgment. 

If you want to defend the claim you may be able to 'set aside' (cancel)  the default judgment.  

What is a default judgment? 

A default judgment is a judgment made against you without a case being heard in court, because you did not respond to the statement of claim. Depending on what the plaintiff is claiming, the judgment will say that you must pay the plaintiff an amount of money.

Sometimes, the first time you find out there is a default judgment against you is when your wages or bank account is garnished, a sheriff comes to your door or you receive an examination notice in the mail.  

The default judgment will appear on your credit record.

Setting aside a default judgment

Setting aside a default judgment means cancelling the judgment, giving you an opportunity to file a defence. 

If a default judgment was entered against you because you were not aware of the Statement of Claim and you have a genuine defence, you may be able to apply to set aside the default judgment

To get the default judgment set aside you have to show: 

• ​​that you have a good reason for not filing your defence within 28 days from the date the plaintiff says they served the claim on you, and 
  
• that you have some reasons that make up your defence (sometimes called 'grounds of defence'), and
  
• that you have filed the notice of motion to set aside the judgment as soon ​as possible. ​

When you apply to set aside the default judgment you can and should also apply for a stay of proceedings. A stay of proceedings is an order stopping the plaintiff from enforcing the judgment until your application to set aside the default judgment has been dealt with by the court.  

There is no time limit to set aside the default judgment but it's important to apply as soon as you find out about the judgment.

For more information, see Step by step guide - Setting aside a default judgment. 

If the plaintiff has started enforcement action, to force you to pay money, or return the goods see Responding to enforcement .

If you lost the case, there will be a judgment against you. The judgment is a court order that you have to:

• pay money if the claim is about a debt or car accident, or
  
• return goods (if the claim is about recovery of goods).
  

If you cannot pay the judgment debt or return the goods immediately, you can try t​o negotiate with the other party.

Why negotiate?

If a judgment is made against you, and you don't pay the judgment debt or return goods on time, the other party can take steps to force you to pay the debt. This is called enforcement. ​ The other party can also add post-judgment interest if the judgment debt is not paid within 28 days.

If you are unable to pay money or return the goods, it is a good idea to try to negotiate with the other party. It will cost them time and money to enforce a judgment. They may be willing to negotiate to save themselves this time and expense.

What can you negotiate about?

​ If the judgment is about money, You could consider offering these options to the other party:

• pay the judgment debt in a lump sum by an agreed date 
  
• more time to pay
  
• pay an amount less than the judgment debt as a lump sum
  
• pay the judgment debt in a few large instalments on agreed dates
  
• pay the judgment debt in smaller instalments over a longer period of time
  
• pay the debt by instalments and not have interest added to the debt
  

If the judgment is about goods, you can try negotiating with the plaintiff about:

• ​when and where to return the goods
  
• payment of money instead of returning the goods.
  
• pay for the value of goods by instalments.
  
• provide replacement goods
  

It is a good idea to make any offers in writing. In your letter you can explain why you cannot pay or return the goods immediately.

If you need help negotiating with the other party, you can contact a free financial counsellor or get legal advice. To find a free financial counsellor, go to the Financial Counsellors' Association of NSW (FCAN)​ website. ​​

What happens if we reach an agreement?

If you come to an agreement with the other party you should file a consent judgment.

A consent judgment is a form that you and the other party complete which sets out the terms of your agreement. When you file this with the court, the court can make orders in the same terms you have agreed.

For more information, see  Step by step guide - Consent judgment or order.

If you are paying by instalments make s​ure you pay your instalments on time. If you don't, the other party may still take enforcement action against you.

If your negotiations are unsuccessful, you can apply to the local court to pay a judgment debt by instalments. For more information, see Step by step guide - Application to pay by instalments.

If you lost the case, you may also have been ordered to pay the plaintiff for filing and service fees, professional costs if the plaintiff had a lawyer and interest, if the claim was more than $1,000. 

If there is a judgment against you, you can:

• pay the amount in full, or
  
• apply to to pay by instalments. 
  

​Pay the full amount owed

The judgment will say that you have to pay money to the other party. It will include filing and service fees, professional costs if the other party had a lawyer, and interest (if the debt is more than $1,000). The total amount is called the 'judgment debt'. 

You can contact the other party and ask them how they want you to pay. They may ask you to pay:

• ​​in cash (make sure you get a receipt)
  
• by cheque
  
• by money order
  
• by direct deposit.
  

After you have paid, you should send the other party a receipt and ask for written confirmation that they have received the judgment in full.  

Make sure you keep a record in case there is a dispute. You do not need to tell the court. 

Apply to pay by instalments 

If you cannot afford to pay the judgment debt in a lump sum and you want to avoid enforcement action, you can: 

• ​make an agreement to pay by instalments
  
• apply to the court to pay by instalments.
  

Make an agreement to pay by instalments 

If you are able to make an agreement with the other party to pay the judgment debt by instalments, you should file a consent judgment/order form.

You should set out your instalment agreement in the form. It should state how much you will pay for each instalment, how often you will pay, when you will pay the first instalment and how you will pay the instalments. For more information, see  Step by step guide - Consent judgment or order.

If the judgment creditor wants to make an informal agreement with you to pay off the judgment debt, you should get legal advice. 

Apply to the court to pay by instalments

If you cannot reach an agreement with the other party to pay by instalments, you can apply to the local court to pay by instalments.  

If your negotiations are unsuccessful, you can apply to the local court to pay a judgment debt by instalments. For more information, see Step by step guide - Application for payment by instalments.

If you cannot afford to pay the judgment debt in one lump sum, you can ask the other party if they​ will accept smaller payments in instalments. If they do not agree, you​ can make an application to the court to pay by instalments. If you wish to do this, follow the steps in the Step by step guide - Application for payment by instalments.

If the case was about recovery of goods and you lost, you may have been ordered to pay the plaintiff filing and service fees, and professional costs if the plaintiff had a lawyer. You will need to return the goods immediately or by the date stated in the judgment, and pay the fees and costs to the plaintiff.

If you do not return the goods, or pay the fees and costs, the plaintiff can take enforcement action against you. For more information, see Responding to enforcement.

If there is a judgment against you and you do nothing, the plaintiff may take action to try and make you pay the money or return their goods. This is called enforcement.

Enforcement action includes:

• examination notice or order
  
• writ for the levy of property
  
• a writ for the delivery of goods
  
• garnishee orders
  
• bankruptcy
  
• winding up
  

There are steps you can take to respond to enforcement action. If you need more time to pay the debt or return the goods you can apply for a stay of enforcement. This is an order of the court that stops the other party from enf​​orcing the judgment debt for a period of time.  For more information, see Responding to enforcement.

The other party has up to 12 years from the date of the judgment to enforce it. They can use more than one type of enforcement action at a time.  

If there is a default judgment against you because you did not respond to the statement of claim, you may be able to apply to set aside the judgment. For more information, see Step by step guide - Setting aside the default judgment.

If you lose the case or do not defend the claim, there will be a judgment against you. You are called the judgment debtor, and the plaintiff is called the judgment creditor.  

If there is a judgment against you and do not do what is set out in the judgment the judgement creditor may take action to try and make you pay the money or return their goods. This is called enforcement.

The other party has up to 12 years from the date of the judgment to enforce it. They can use more than one type of enforcement action at a time.

If you need more time to pay the debt or return the goods you can apply for a stay of enforcement. This is an order of the court that stops the other party from enf​​orcing the judgment debt for a period of time. 

For more information, see Responding to enforcement.