I recently went to court as the defendant in a civil case. The magistrate made an order against me. He found that it was my fault that the accident happened and that I needed to pay for the damage to the plaintiff’s car. I am unemployed at the moment and have been for over a year. I can barely cover my living expenses. This damages order is too much. I really cannot afford to pay it until I start working again. What are my options?
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Answer by Lisa Wulfsohn, Melbourne 3000 VIC
- You must comply with a court order. But if you are genuinely suffering from financial hardship then you do have some options.
- You can try to negotiate with the other party for more flexible options for paying the damages.
- If the other party does not agree to an alternative repayment option then you can apply to the court to pay the debt in instalments.
- If you do nothing then the other party can take steps to make you pay the damages. The court may arrange to send the sheriff to your house to collect and sell some of your property to pay the debt.
- You may need to get some legal advice about your options and to assist you to negotiate with the other party.