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• Pre-Lodgement of Final Notice Scheme
• Directions Hearing
• Mediation
• Minor Civil Claim
• Serving a Claim
• Next Steps
• Defending claims
• If you do nothing?

If you decide on Court action, this information can assist you in making a small claim and offers different options available to you through the Magistrates Court.

Pre-Lodgement of Final Notice Scheme

The Magistrates Court administers a Pre-lodgement System whereby an individual, business or organisation can lodge a ‘Final Notice of Claim' prior to issuing a formal claim. The system aims to encourage parties to resolve their dispute without needing to resort to the formal legal system.

This notice can be issued for $12.00 either via the Courts Administration Authority website https://www.elodgement.courts.sa.gov.au or over the counter at any South Australian Magistrates Court Registry.

Before you issue a notice you must know the following:

• the name and address of the person you wish to make the claim against;
• the basis on which this person owes you money; and
• the amount you want to claim.

Rule 20A of the Magistrates Court rules provides that you (the plaintiff) should give the other party (the defendant) 21 days notice in writing of an intended claim.

For further information contact the Magistrates Court call centre on 8204 2444.

Directions Hearing

At a Directions Hearing you are compelled to attend by the Court and the parties must attend in person. If you fail to attend within 15 minutes of the appointed time the action may be determined in your absence.

The purpose of the Directions Hearing is to ascertain the status of the action and to explore any possible avenues of achieving a negotiated settlement of the matters in dispute and, if the action cannot be settled, to set a date for mediation; or to define and resolve the issues between the parties and to set a date for trial.

Mediation

If there's a chance of resolving the dispute, you should consider mediation with the assistance of a neutral third party. Mediation gives you and the other party a chance to negotiate a mutually agreeable solution without going to court. Ask about mediation at court registries, your local community service or the Law Society of South Australia. The court offers free mediation.

Minor Civil Claim

A minor civil claim must:

• involve an amount of $6,000 or less; and
• be commenced by completing a claim form and payment of a fee to the Magistrates Court.

You (the person commencing the claim) are known as the ‘plaintiff' and the other party against whom you have issued the claim, is referred to as the ‘defendant'.

Serving a Claim

A claim can be served by:

• the court on your behalf, via post at no extra cost;
• a Sheriff's Officer, at an extra cost; or
• yourself or some other person on your behalf.

Next Steps

Once you have filed a claim, you are in charge of the matter yourself. The defendant then has 21 days in which to do the following:

• pay the full amount of the claim to you, or come to some arrangement with you to settle the matter;
• defend the claim; or
• nothing.

Defending claims

On the other hand, if you are defending a claim, a copy of your defence will be sent to the plaintiff. You then will receive notification of when you are required to attend court. You must attend the court on this date, otherwise the matter will be heard and decisions made in your absence.

If the other party has any documents that you require, you can write to him or her requesting to see them.

Small claims are heard in an informal manner. At the trial, neither the plaintiff nor the defendant is allowed to have a lawyer present unless both parties agree to be represented.

A magistrate will listen to the facts presented by both parties, ask questions and decide the outcome.

If you do nothing?

If 21 days lapse since the claim was served, and you have not responded, the plaintiff can go to a Magistrates Court registry, and ask for a judgement to be entered in their favour.

Despite obtaining judgement in your favour, however, recovering your money can sometimes be a long and difficult process, and there is no guarantee of success. Such matters can take a considerable amount of time to resolve and can be both stressful and frustrating.

Resources

Legislation for making a complaint

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