Go to court. Serve summons. Get paid. Right? Wrong!! Suing someone correctly is an art form- a practice which when done badly can cost you not only the amount you are owed, but also your fees, your client’s fees and potentially your entire reputation. Here are our top 4 things to ensure you do correctly:
1. Sue the correct entity. This is number one for a reason- it is ABSOLUTELY vital you sue the right person or company. We have seen hundreds of cases thrown out because of a mere technicality. Sue Steven or Stephen, never Steve. Sue Michael, not Mike, Patricia not Trish. If your client is a business, do an ABN check at www.abr.business.gov.au. If it is a company, spend $9 and do an ASIC search. We simply cannot stress this enough.
2. Confirm their address. You need to “serve” your client in order for the legal action to work, so you must confirm their address beforehand. If in doubt, just ask them, saying you need to do so for “record keeping purposes”. Obviously don’t say it is because you are suing them.
3. What you want is a “Court Judgement”. Once you have this, you have an additional 5 – 12 years to pursue the debt (depending on which state you are in), it will be listed on their credit file and will ensure they then cannot dispute the debt down the track.
4. Sue them in the correct court. By this we don’t mean which type of court (Small Claims, Magistrates Court, District Court, Supreme Court) we mean the location of the court. You must commence action in the court or tribunal NEAREST to where the debt was incurred or where the debtor lives. There is no discretion here. It is black and white.
Cheers