A Warrant is a court issued document that has the potential for seizing of assets. This process involves a court appointed bailiff attending the home of the debtor to discuss payment of the debt.

A Garnishee is an instruction from the court to a paymaster to deduct regular instalments from the debtor’s PAYG wage and to pay these to the Court. Where the debtor is known to work on a contract basis, a Money Due Garnishee may be issued ordering the party for whom the debtor contracts to pay all money owed, (up to the amount of the debt) directly to the court.

A Defence is the defendant’s (also known as the debtor, the person or business who owes the money) formal notice to the court that they do not accept the claim for money. For claims under $15,000, defended matters are typically transferred to the Small Claims Division of the Magistrates Court (Civil Division), while larger claims remain in the Magistrates Court’s regular jurisdiction.

In most cases, claims proceed to judgment without a defence being filed.

Your Account Manager will advise you if a defence has been lodged and the next steps.

A claim is a formal document issued by the court to the Defendant (the debtor) to answer a demand taken by the Claimant (The person who is owed the money). Upon receipt of the Claim, the defendant has 21 days to lodge a defence.