If the debtor does not pay the debt or try to negotiate within 21 days of being served with a Final Notice (Form P1) or pre-action notice (letter of demand) you can begin formal legal action. You will not be able to claim your costs if you do not allow the debtor 21 days to respond.

Step 1:

Complete a Claim (Form 1), which you can get at the online portal CourtSA Civil or the court registry.

A claim must be accompanied by a statement of claim, which may either be [r 333.1(3) and r 63.1 (5)]:

A Statement of Claim uploaded with a Claim is a Form 1S.

Information required on claim form

You as the creditor will be called the applicant. The debtor is called the respondent. The names and addresses of both of the parties must be filled in and at the bottom of the form under the heading 'Statement of Claim' the applicant must provide details of what the claim is about.

A debt claim can be very brief, and if it is a under $12,000 you can enter the details straight into the online form (less than 100 words).

Remember that you will need the respondent’s address and other contact information. If the respondent is a company, you need to do a search on the Australian Securities and Investments database for a current company search to obtain details of the registered office. Claims against companies must be served on the registered office in accordance with section 109X of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).

Step 2:

Serve the claim on the respondent debtor: