ATTN service people, Small Claims court legislation has chan

[kreed]

I was informed today about changes to the small claims legislation
that came into effect yesterday which may be of interest to anyone
here that does service work or is in a position where they may be
exposed to such a claim.

the basics seem to be:

1> The claim does not automatically happen at the location that the
work was done or the item sold. If the claimant happens to live 100's
of K away from you, the matter can be heard in their area. This may
involve substantial travel expenses to attend hearings for the service
person.

2>Not 100% sure, but there may be provision for the parties to have
solicitors in the small claims court. This could potentially be bad
for anyone involved in this process, as significant defense costs
could be involved, as well as for any party who has to travel, maybe
not being able to use their own solicitor.

Don't know what else there is, but this is what is known so far. This
is direct from a person I know who is a Queensland mediator in these
matters.


I would advise anyone who may be affected to take note of this, may
like to review service / repair contracts, policies or similar to
ensure that they will take these changes into account.