A Statement of Claim is a court document that sets out how much or what the other party claims you owe them and why they are making the claim. The Statement of Claim starts a court case.
You are called the 'defendant', and the person who started the case against you is called the 'plaintiff'.
After a plaintiff fills out a Statement of Claim and files it with the court, they have to serve (give) it to you. There are rules about how a plaintiff must properly serve a Statement of Claim to a defendant. For more information, see Step by step guide - Serving a Statement of Claim.
If your name is wrong on the Statement of Claim, you should get legal advice. Don't ignore a Statement of Claim.
Reading a Statement of Claim can be complicated. The plaintiff will outline what they are claiming in the 'Relief' section of the form and the reasons for the claim in the section called 'Pleadings and particulars'.
The plaintiff can include the following in their claim:
- interest
- filing and service fees
- lawyer's fees.
After you have received the Statement of Claim you have a number of things you can do, including:
- Pay the amount claimed
- Ask for more information
- Negotiate
- Go to external dispute resolution (EDR) - consumer credit debts,
- File a defence
- File a cross-claim
- Do nothing.
For more information click on each of the topics below.
There is a limit on the value of a plaintiff's claim depending on which court they go to. This topic is about cases in the Small Claims Division of the Local Court which deals with claims for $20,000 or less. However, this amount does not include any additional expenses that the plaintiff can claim.
Before you respond to the Statement of Claim you should consider what the plaintiff has claimed. Click on the sections below for more information.
Under the heading pleadings and particulars on the Statement of Claim, the plaintiff will set out the reasons for their claim. For example:
- money lent and not repaid
- goods or services provided and not paid for
- motor vehicle damaged in a car accident.
If the claim is about a car accident, see Example: Pleadings and particulars – Car accidents (defendant) (PDF, KB).
Damages usually means compensation for loss suffered. In the relief part of the statement of claim, the plaintiff can ask for a sum of money that you should pay them to cover their loss. For example, a plaintiff might claim $4,000 in damages for the cost of repairing a car after an accident.
The interest included on the Statement of Claim form is called 'pre-judgment interest'. The plaintiff can only claim pre-judgment interest from you if the amount of the original claim is $1,000 or more.
There are two kinds of pre-judgment interest:
- Interest based on an agreement between you and the plaintiff. The most common example is a loan agreement where the borrower agreed to pay interest on the loan at a certain interest rate.
- Interest based on the court rules. This applies when there has been no agreement between you and the plaintiff about the payment of interest.
The plaintiff can claim pre-judgment interest from the date they say the money should have been paid up to the date when they filed their Statement of Claim. You can check the rates of pre-judgment interest on the Interest rates page on the Local Court website.
The plaintiff will have to pay a fee to file a Statement of Claim, and there may also be fees for serving the Statement of Claim on you.
The plaintiff can claim these costs back from you in their Statement of Claim. You can find a list of current court fees and court interest rates on the Local Court website.
If the plaintiff is represented by a lawyer, and you lose the case, you will probably have to pay costs.
Costs can also be awarded against a party if they do anything that causes a delay.
In the Small Claims Division of the Local Court there is a limit on the amount of lawyer's costs you can be ordered to pay. The maximum amount of costs can vary depending on:
- the total amount of the claim that the lawyer assisted with
- how the proceedings ended.
Costs are not capped for matters commenced by an owners corporation for unpaid strata levies.
The maximum amount of legal costs that can be awarded before a judgment, including the preparation costs for the claim (other than a case started by the owners corporation for unpaid strata levies):
| Amount of claim | Maximum costs (excluding GST) |
|---|---|
| $0.01 - $1,000 $1,000.01 - $5,000 $5,000.01 - $20,000 | $364.80 $547.20 $729.60 |
If the lawyer helped them and the proceedings ended with the court giving a judgment after a hearing, the maximum amount of legal costs that can be awarded are as follows (including the preparation costs for the claim):
| Amount of claim | Maximum costs (excluding GST) |
|---|---|
| $0.01 - $1,000 $1,000.01 - $5,000 $5,000.01 - $20,000 | $629.60 $944.40 $1,259.20 |
If you, or the plaintiff, do not accept a genuine offer to settle a dispute and the refusal was not reasonable, the Court can increase the maximum amount of legal costs for giving a judgment after a hearing by 25%.
The Court also has power to award indemnity costs if one party had no real chance of success or if they delayed the matter in Court. Indemnity costs means that the party must pay all other party's costs.
If the plaintiff's claim is about money and you agree with the claim, you can:
- Negotiate with the plaintiff to try and come to an agreement about settling the matter. You may be able to agree that the statement of claim is withdrawn. This means there will be no judgment against you.
- Pay the full amount owed and notify the court by filing a document called a notice of payment. This means there will be no judgment against you and the proceedings will be stayed (stopped).
- File a form called an acknowledgment of liquidated claim, which tells the court you agree you owe the money, and then apply to pay by instalments. This means there will be a court judgment against you.
For more information see Paying the claim.
Sometimes a Statement of Claim will refer to things you are unsure about. It may:
- refer to dates, events or conversations that you don't recognise or remember
- refer to documents that you are not sure if you have seen or received
- have little or no details about the claim itself.
Without this information it may be hard for you to decide if you should agree or disagree with the claim.
There are two ways you can ask for more information:
- You can write to the plaintiff to ask them for more information. This is known as 'a request for further and better particulars'.
- You can file a notice to plead facts.
A notice to plead facts is a formal way in which you can ask for more detail about the claim. You must complete a form and file it with the court.
Request for further and better particulars
You can write to the plaintiff to ask them for more information. This is known as 'a request for further and better particulars'.
You should set out your request for further and better particulars as a series of numbered questions. This will make it easier for the plaintiff to respond. The particulars given by the plaintiff will become part of their claim against you. Don't forget to keep a copy of your letter requesting more information.
If you decide to defend the claim it is important you file a defence within 28 days of receiving the Statement of Claim. If you don't, the plaintiff may apply for a default judgment against you.
You can ask the plaintiff for further and better particulars after you file your defence. You may then be able to amend your defence after you get answers to your request for further information.
If the plaintiff applies for a default judgment against you before responding to your request for more information, you can use your letter asking for further and better particulars to support an application to have the judgment set aside.
Notice to plead facts
If the plaintiff has not provided enough detail, in certain circumstances, you may be able to file a notice to plead facts with the court and serve (give) it to the plaintiff. You must do this within 28 days of being served with the Statement of Claim. Otherwise the plaintiff may be able to get a judgment against you.
Sample: Notice to plead facts (PDF, 71KB).
A plaintiff may decide to respond to the notice to plead facts by filing an amended Statement of Claim. A plaintiff has 28 days after receiving the notice to respond. You have 14 days after receiving an amended Statement of Claim to file a defence, if you have not filed one already.
If you are not sure whether you should file a notice to plead facts or a defence, you should get legal advice.
You could try to negotiate with the plaintiff. The plaintiff may agree to discontinue (withdraw) the claim if you come to an agreement.
For more information, see Settling the case.
If you believe you don't owe all or part of the claim, you can defend a Statement of Claim. To defend the claim you must file a document called a defence.
If you disagree, with the claim because you believe the plaintiff, or a third party owes the money, you can file a Defence form and at the same time file a Cross-Claim. It may not always be necessary to file a cross-claim. For more information see Step by step guide - Filing a defence.
If you are not sure whether you should file a defence you should get legal advice.
It is not a good idea to ignore a Statement of Claim.
If you do not take action within 28 days the plaintiff may get a default judgment against you without you attending court or being notified. The default judgment can then be enforced. Having a judgment against you may also affect your credit rating.
For more information, see Step by step guide - Setting aside a default judgment.
If you have been served with a Statement of Claim for a consumer credit debt, such as a mortgage, car loan, personal loan or a credit card debt, you have other options. You can try external dispute resolution (EDR). There are lots of benefits of trying to resolve the dispute through EDR, rather than through court.
If you want to try EDR, the plaintiff must participate in the process. You can go to EDR at any time up until a judgment has been entered. It is a good idea to try EDR before filing a defence form. You should also get urgent legal advice. For more information, see Disputes with banks or credit providers.
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