Cross-Claims

If you have been served with a Statement of Claim then Court proceedings have been initiated against you and you have 28 days to respond.

The most common form of response will be to draft and file a Defence to both protect your position and set out your formal reply to the other side and to the Court. However in appropriate circumstances, rather than merely defend the case against you, you may wish to make a claim against the party who initiated the Court proceedings. This is done by way of a Cross-Claim.

A Cross-Claim should be served at the same time as the Defence or at least within the 28 day period to respond to a Statement of Claim.

As a Defendant you can initiate a Cross-Claim against the Plaintiff (ie the party who filed Statement of Claim against you) where you have suffered loss as a result of the Plaintiff’s actions.

The following is a common scenario where the Defendant should consider a Cross-Claim:

Party 1 engages Party 2 to provide services;

1. Party 2 provides the services and renders an invoice;
2. Party 1 disputes invoice as services provided were unsatisfactory;
3. Party 2 files a Statement of Claim seeking the amount of the invoice and interest;
4. Party 1 has suffered loss, such as engaging Party 3 to provide the services again, and files a Cross-Claim seeking the cost of the re-purchased services.

Once you have filed your Cross-Claim the Plaintiff will then require the same 28 day period to respond.

If you have further questions, please contact us at frank@franklaw.com.au.

This is not legal advice.