Can you take an unpaid invoice to the Disputes Tribunal? (NZ)

Everyone's advice is "take them to the Disputes Tribunal". But the Tribunal's own list of things it can't help with rules out a debt the customer admits and simply hasn't paid. So the customer who argues with you is the one you can take there. The customer who has gone silent is a different process entirely — and most people get these two the wrong way round.

The rule that catches people out

The Disputes Tribunal settles disputes. It is not a way to collect a debt nobody is arguing about. In its own words, it cannot help with "debts when the person owing the money agrees they owe the debt but doesn't pay anyway", and "you can't use the Tribunal as a debt collection agency".

Read that twice, because it is the opposite of how the Tribunal usually gets described. A customer who says the job was late, the price was wrong, or the work was never finished has given you a dispute, and the Tribunal is the cheap place to settle it. A customer who says "yep, I owe you, I'll sort it" and then goes quiet has given you no dispute at all — and the Tribunal is not the answer.

In practice a referee will not interrogate whether the argument is substantial before your hearing. But if the other side turns up and agrees they owe the money, you have spent the fee and the waiting time to be told to go somewhere else.

Which one is your customer?

You almost certainly already know. The question is whether they have ever put a reason in front of you.

They dispute it. They query the amount, the scope, the quality, the timing, or whether they ordered it at all. Even a weak reason is a reason. → Disputes Tribunal.
They admit it. They acknowledge the invoice, promise a date, ask for more time, or just stop replying without ever saying the debt is wrong. → District Court, or a statutory demand.

Silence is the tricky one. A customer who has never disputed anything and has now stopped answering the phone has not created a dispute — they have created an unpaid debt they are ignoring. That belongs in the second group.

Route one: the Disputes Tribunal (disputed debts)

For a genuine argument, this is the cheapest and fastest forum in New Zealand.

Up to $60,000. The limit doubled from $30,000 on 24 January 2026, which brings a lot of trade invoices into range that were out of it before.
No lawyers. Neither side can bring one, so you are not outgunned by a customer with a solicitor on retainer.
A filing fee in tiers — roughly $62 under $2,000, $124 up to $5,000, $248 up to $30,000, and $496 above that. Check the current schedule before you file, as the fees change. A referee can order the other side to pay it back if you win.
A company can file. You do not have to be an individual to bring a claim.
A referee decides, and the decision is binding. Appeals are narrow.

Route two: the District Court (admitted debts)

For a debt nobody is arguing about, this is the ordinary path. You file a statement of claim and a notice of proceeding, and serve them on the customer.

Claims under $350,000.
Around $200 to file a statement of claim, with more fees if the case takes further steps.
Often undefended. A customer with no argument frequently does not file a defence, and you can seek judgment by default. That is the quiet advantage of this route: it is built for exactly the debtor who has nothing to say.
Slower and more formal than the Tribunal, and the paperwork is less forgiving. Many people use a lawyer, which changes the economics on a small invoice.

Winning gives you a judgment, not money. Getting paid after that is enforcement — attachment orders, a charging order, the debtor examined about their means — and it is its own process with its own fees.

Route three: a statutory demand (company debtors only)

If your customer is a limited company and owes $1,000 or more, a statutory demand under section 289 of the Companies Act 1993 is the sharpest tool available. It gives the company 15 working days to pay. Ignore it, and the company is presumed insolvent, which lets you apply to the High Court to have it liquidated.

This is the exact mirror image of the Tribunal, and the symmetry is the whole point of this page:

A statutory demand only works where the debt is not disputed.
The Disputes Tribunal only works where the debt is disputed.

Get it the wrong way round and you lose either way. Serve a statutory demand on a debt the customer genuinely disputes and they can apply to have it set aside — often with costs awarded against you, because using one as a debt-collection lever on a contested debt is treated as an abuse of process. It is a serious document with strict service requirements, so take advice before you send one.

The move that changes the answer

Watch for the customer who says nothing for four months and then discovers a complaint the moment something formal arrives. A dispute raised for the first time in response to a demand is still a dispute, and it can be enough to knock out a statutory demand.

You cannot stop them doing it, but you can make it look like what it is. A dated record showing they acknowledged the invoice repeatedly, never raised a concern, and only objected once you pushed is worth a great deal — both in front of a referee and in front of a judge.

Keep the record that decides it

Whichever route you end up on, the same evidence does the work, and almost all of it has to be gathered before you need it:

Your terms of trade, and proof the customer accepted them.
The invoice, the due date, and what is still outstanding.
Every reminder you sent, with dates, and evidence it was delivered.
A note of every phone call: the date, who you spoke to, and what they said.
Every promise to pay and the date it was broken. A customer who has promised three times and paid nothing is not disputing the debt, and that record is what proves it.
The first time they raised a concern, if they ever did.

Most small businesses lose this in their heads and their call histories. It is the difference between "they've been dodging me for months" and a dated sequence someone else can read.

Before any of this

Check the customer is worth chasing. If they are a company, search the Companies Register — free, and it takes a minute. A company in liquidation or being removed is not a court case; it is a claim to the liquidator, and every further step costs you money you will not see again. The register also gives you the registered office, which is where a company has to be served. There is more on reading it in how to credit check a customer.

And weigh the size of the invoice against the effort. For a few hundred dollars, none of these routes pays for itself, and a phone call, a payment plan, or a written-off invoice and a customer you no longer serve will all beat a filing fee. The wider ladder is set out in what to do when a customer won't pay, and the trade-off against handing it to an agency is in invoice recovery vs debt collection.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Fees and limits change — check the current figures with the Disputes Tribunal or the Ministry of Justice, and get advice before serving a statutory demand.

Common questions

Can I take a customer to the Disputes Tribunal for an unpaid invoice?

Only if they genuinely dispute it. The Tribunal cannot help with debts where the customer agrees they owe the money and simply does not pay, and it says plainly that you can't use it as a debt collection agency. If your customer has never argued about the invoice, the District Court is the right forum.

What is the Disputes Tribunal limit in 2026?

$60,000. The limit doubled from $30,000 on 24 January 2026. Claims above $60,000 go to the District Court.

How much does it cost to file a Disputes Tribunal claim?

The fee is tiered by the amount claimed — roughly $62 under $2,000, $124 up to $5,000, $248 up to $30,000, and $496 above that. It is non-refundable, but a referee can order the other side to repay it if you win.

What do I do if the customer admits the debt but won't pay?

That is a District Court claim, not a Tribunal one. File a statement of claim, around $200. If the customer is a company and owes $1,000 or more, a statutory demand under section 289 of the Companies Act is an alternative, but take advice first — it is set aside with costs if the debt turns out to be genuinely disputed.

Can a company file a Disputes Tribunal claim?

Yes. A business can bring a claim, not just an individual. Neither side can be represented by a lawyer.

What if they only start disputing the invoice once I escalate?

It still counts as a dispute, and it can be enough to defeat a statutory demand. Your defence is the record: dated proof that they acknowledged the invoice, never raised a concern, and only objected once you pushed.