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Home › Areas of law › Debt recovery

Debt recovery for business

Payment disputes are consistently among the largest categories the Small Business Ombudsman handles. Most of them end at the first letter, and the ones that do not are decided by whether the debtor has anything worth chasing.

Call 1300 992 219See the fees

What we do here

  • An unpaid invoice
  • A statutory demand served on your company
  • Defending a statement of claim
  • Enforcement after judgment
  • Deciding whether it is worth pursuing

What it costs

Filing and service fees are set by the courts, change from time to time, and are additional.

How long it takesA letter of demand goes out within two business days and gives 14 days to pay. If it proceeds, add 28 days for a defence, then months if it is defended.
Letter of demandDrafted so it can be relied on as evidence if the matter goes to court.
$1,000
Statutory demandUnder s 459E of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), where the debtor is a company and the debt is not genuinely disputed.
$1,650
Statement of claim, Local CourtDrafting and filing.
$2,000
Default judgmentWhere no defence is filed.
$1,000
EnforcementGarnishee order, writ for levy of property, or examination notice. Per step.
$1,100
Advice on a statutory demand served on youTwenty-one days to comply or apply to set aside. That period cannot be extended.
$1,300

Indicative ranges for common matters, including GST, disbursements extra. Your fee is confirmed in writing before work begins. Full list for this area.

Questions people ask

Twenty-one days, and the application to set it aside must be filed and served within them: s 459G. The High Court held in David Grant & Co Pty Ltd v Westpac Banking Corporation (1995) 184 CLR 265 that the period cannot be extended.

Six years from when the cause of action accrued: s 14(1)(a) of the Limitation Act 1969 (NSW). A part payment or a written acknowledgment restarts it.

Usually not. Below about $5,000, once filing, service and your own time are counted, a properly drafted letter of demand and a payment arrangement almost always beats litigation.

Guides on this

Getting paid: from letter of demand to judgmentThe sequence, and the point at which it stops being worth it.Served with a statutory demand?You have 21 days to comply or apply. It cannot be extended.

Send this to the solicitor

Twenty minutes on the phone is at no charge, and if the answer is that you do not need a solicitor, that is what you will hear. Write it down instead if that is easier.

A mobile or an email — whichever you would rather we used.

Replied to the same business day. Sending this does not create a solicitor–client relationship — we act after a conflict check and a written engagement. If it is urgent, call 1300 992 219.

No charge

What's happened?

Describe it in your own words.

Not sure where you stand?

The assistant works out the area of law and whether a time limit is running, then sends it to the solicitor the same day.

Free and low-cost options

Free and low-cost services that may be able to help.

See the list
Call now — 1300 992 219
WeDo Legal assistantType anything · not legal advice
Type in your own words. fees opens the published list · send it reaches the solicitor.
General information only. Not legal advice, and no solicitor–client relationship arises until an engagement is confirmed in writing and a conflict check is completed.