QLD Small Claims Court - Where Do I Send Gathered Documents?

[horsegal]

Hi everyone. I am in the process of gathering evidence, witness statements, vet reports, etc., in order to take a horse trainer/stud to small claims court. Basically, they starved and severely injured two of my horses, to the extent that they can no longer be ridden.

These people are claiming to have legal representation. I have attempted to contact the stud in an attempt to settle out of court, and they will not respond. I have also requested contact details for their legal team, again no response.

Do I just proceed with small claims as per standard or must I send the documents to their solicitors?

There is a number of past clients who have experienced a similar thing, but a class action is not an option.

Also, what is the cut off limit for small claims? My claim is close to 15000.

Thank you.

 

[TKC]

Hi horsegal,

In NSW the SCC hears matters up to $10,000, and the General Division for between 10,000 to 100,000. I'm not sure if it is different in QLD.

It sounds like the defendant is acting in a hostile manner thus far by ignoring your attempts at contact, and since this is unlikely to change, and even though you can hand your documents to them in person, and even send it to them, it is probably best that you proceed by visiting the Court Registry and file (and serve) your documents with them. You will require two copies, and there is a court-approved serving fee, which you can always add to your costs/damages total by amending your Statement of Claim, which will give you the confidence of knowing that they have no excuse for not having received the paperwork.

 

[horsegal]

Thanks for your reply. These people are absolutely horrid.

If I was to post my experience on social media, is it defamatory? They had a page that allowed a client to review the services, but after receiving a number of negative reviews the establishment has removed the page. I wanted to post my story perhaps on my own Facebook page, publicly?

 

[TKC]

I understand it is very frustrating when a business/company acts in a dismissive way and/or in an incongruous manner to what is expected of a professional business that has been improper or deficient with their responsibility and/or negligent.

I think every person has a civic responsibility to share their bad experiences with a particular business/company on social media. So long as it done the right way. I, therefore, think that sharing your story on your Facebook page is perfectly acceptable, so long as you approach it as an honest account of your experience, which we know is being assembled into a civil case against them.

So, it wouldn't necessarily be the case that you are seeking to injure their reputation (they're doing a good job of that themselves) but rather, alerting other people about how you have been treated after the issues came to the surface. If their business suffers as a result of your post than perhaps they would have been better advised to deal with you in a fair way from the start, which in this case would have meant a sit-down discussion to negotiate an equitable outcome for both parties, since you mentioned you were willing to reach agreement on a settlement.

Just stick to the facts of your case in your post and I don't think you should have any problems, even if, for some reason, you failed to prove your case in proceedings.