QCAT applications are a way of commencing proceedings against a debtor without having to go to Court
QCAT is the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal
QCAT has jurisdiction to hear debt recovery claims of up to $25,000.00
QCAT minor civil dispute jurisdiction generally do not allow legal representation, however we can guide you through the process and help you draft your submissions.
Stonegate legal has been successful in obtaining orders in QCAT which are then ready to be registered in the Magistrates Court and enforced.
If you are going to QCAT make sure that you give yourself the best chances. Our debt recovery lawyers can guide you through the process
FIXED FEES – FAST RECOVERY – PROVEN RESULTS
REQUEST A FREE CASE EVALUATION
Call 1300 545 133 for FREE and speak to our debt recovery lawyers
QCAT Applications
In Queensland you can apply for a QCAT minor debt resolution for the following:
- Cheques that have been dishonoured;
- IOUs – for money borrowed or services rendered;
- Money that you have lent and has not been repaid;
- Money owed for work performed or services rendered;
- An unpaid business invoice or unpaid credit account; and
- Work performed and/or goods supplied with the cost under prior agreement.
There are other areas in which QCAT can assist, including administration for adults, anti-discrimination, building disputes, children and young people, consumer and trader disputes, decision-making for adults, dividing fence disputes, guardianship for adults, minor civil disputes, occupational regulation, other civil disputes, residential tenancy disputes, retail shop lease disputes, review of administrative decisions, and neighbour & tree disputes.
But for the sake of this, we will focus on debt recovery.
QCAT Applications for Minor Debt
If you need to make an application for a minor debt then you can apply online at the Qld Govt website. Or, you can download and print out the forms and fill them in longhand.
If you have a debt of less than $25,000.00 then you can make an application to QCAT to recover that debt. You need to:
- Complete the paperwork;
- File the completed paperwork in QCAT or your local Magistrates Court;
- Serve a sealed (stamped with the seal of QCAT) copy of the debtor or debtors.
Service of QCAT Applications
The service of QCAT applications for minor debt mean that an original of the document must be given to a person (rather than a company) personally.
Section 38 of the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Rules 2009 says:
A copy of an application for a minor debt claim may be given to an entity only by delivering it personally to the entity in the way provided in the service practice direction.
We use specialist document service professionals called process servers to serve all personal service documents. Contact us if you would like advice in relation to personal service.
Service on a Company
If the debtor is a company, for example you contracted with ABC Pty Ltd (this would be shown on the invoice, or an ACN rather than an ABN) then you can serve a company by posting it to the registered office as shown in the ASIC Current Extract.
Alternatively, you can serve it personally on the director of the company or if a liquidator has been appointed then by leaving it at, or posting it to the liquidator’s office.
QCAT Application for Appeal
You may have had a crack at doing all of the above yourself. But you got a decision against you.
Or you are a responding to a QCAT application and you got a decision against you.
In these cases, you may be able to apply for an appeal of the original decision.
For more information on Appealing a QCAT Decision read our article here.
Enforce a Decision from QCAT
If you go through the QCAT application for a minor debt and you get a decision in your favour, and you are still having difficulty getting the debtor to pay then you may have to attempt to enforce the QCAT decision.
The way to enforce a QCAT decision is to register the decision in the Magistrates Court and commence enforcement procedures in the Court.
We have a detailed post here about how to Enforce a Decision from QCAT.
If you are going to QCAT make sure that you give yourself the best chances. Our debt recovery lawyers can guide you through the process
FIXED FEES – FAST RECOVERY – PROVEN RESULTS
REQUEST A FREE CASE EVALUATION
Call 1300 545 133 for FREE and speak to our debt recovery lawyers
