I've enagaged lawyers in an attempt to recover FSD cost (Australian owner)

[Jules22]

But if they refuse to honour the ruling and repay the money you can’t do much sadly

If they refuse to pay, you take them to court, but that process is pretty easy (albeit more costly) given you have a Tribunal ruling. I would expect that even the dodgiest builder who might be calling your bluff would pay up before it got to court if they were convinced you were sticking to your guns. The repurcussions if it goes that far are much higher than the tribunal.

 

[QtownTaxiGreg]

If they refuse to pay, you take them to court, but that process is pretty easy (albeit more costly) given you have a Tribunal ruling. I would expect that even the dodgiest builder who might be calling your bluff would pay up before it got to court if they were convinced you were sticking to your guns. The repurcussions if it goes that far are much higher than the tribunal.

Not least would be paying your legal expenses. I think a judge would take a dim view of someone with enough money to pay their lawyer rather than comply with a tribunal ruling.

 

[OzVic]

But if they refuse to honour the ruling and repay the money you can’t do much sadly.

I had a favourable NCAT ruling but the other party never showed or responded. Went to local court and paid for enforcement and the sheriff went around and collected the debt + enforcement fee. I believe if you know bank account details the sheriff may be able to go directly to their bank and garnish it directly.

 

[Vostok]

A company that flagrantly disregards an NCAT ruling is just asking for a Court enforceable order to be issued and them paying your costs.

II would expect that even the dodgiest builder who might be calling your bluff would pay up before it got to court if they were convinced you were sticking to your guns. The repurcussions if it goes that far are much higher than the tribunal.

Yep, a Court finding against them would appear on their Builders Licence and be a permanent stain on their operations (for people who bother to check builder/trades licence details before hiring them). To prevent that happening, most builders would cough up at the 11th hour.

There’s also laws now to make it much harder for builders to Phoenix.

 

[mrpseudonym]

Yes, might be time to have another go.