Page 43 - Personal Underwriting Mandates & Guidelines - Binder product rules & addendums - Version 1

Recoveries and Third-party Procedures
RECOVERIES AND THIRD-PARTY PROCEDURES
1. SMALL CLAIMS COURT PROCEDURE
THE HOLLARD INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED
“GUIDE TO INSTITUTING ACTION IN THE SMALL CLAIMS COURT”
Prepared by: The Hollard Insurance Company Limited Legal Department for the assistance of our clients.
1.1 General
1.1.1 This document is merely a guide to the workings of the Small Claims Court and how to u lise it. It is not legal advice and should you decide to proceed in the Small Claims Court, you must nd out all the informa on you require from the Small Claims Court.
1.1.2 The detailed provisions are set out in the Small Claims Court Act No. 61 of 1984 and the rules in terms of the Act are published in the Government Gaze e of 30 August 1985 as amended from me to me. These may be obtained from any branch of the Small Claims Court itself.
1.1.3 The purpose of the Small Claims Court is to provide a forum for the swi and inexpensive adjudica on of a range of minor civil disputes where the plain is a natural person.
1.2 What can I claim and how do I go about it?
1.2.1 Your claim, any counterclaim or the value of the ma er in dispute may not exceed R15 000 ( een thousand Rand) unless you abandon the di erence.
1.2.2 The Small Claims Court also cannot decide ma ers which are excluded from its jurisdic on, such as the validity or interpreta on of a will, any divorce proceedings, any maintenance proceedings and any ac ons to declare a person insane. It also cannot hear ac ons on defama on, malicious prosecu on, wrongful imprisonment, wrongful arrest, seduc on or breach of a promise to marry someone.
1.2.3 As stated, only a natural person can issue summons in the Small Claims Court and no juris c person, such as a company or close corpora on, may do so, nor may it lodge a counterclaim.
1.2.4 Ac on must be ins tuted against a defendant in the Small Claims Court of the district in which the defendant resides, carries on business or is employed, or in the area where the cause of ac on arose, for example where the accident occurred.
1.2.5 You may not cede your claim to somebody else and allow that person to ins tute ac on against a defendant on the basis of your claim and in your name.
1.2.6 No one is en tled to representa on by an a orney or advocate in the court as the court is intended to be far more informal than the Magistrate's Court or Supreme Court proceedings and readily accessible to the man in the street. You may, of course, consult an a orney at your own cost to advise you of your rights and to assist you in whatever other way before the hearing. Your a orney's costs are not recoverable from the defendant.
1.2.7 There is a Small Claims Court in each magisterial district and the Clerk of the Small Claims Court is located in the Magistrate's Court building. The actual hearings are not always heard at the Magistrate's Court and may be held at some other place which is prac cal or convenient, having regard to the community which the Small Claims court serves.
1.3 How is an ac on begun?
1.3.1 Ac on is ins tuted by means of a le er of demand to the defendant, which must set out the par culars upon which your ac on is based, and the amount of your claim. A standard form le er of demand is available at the Small Claims Court o ce and the Clerk will assist you in dra ing it.
1.3.2 The le er of demand must be delivered by hand or registered post to the defendant, giving him 14 (fourteen) days from the date he receives it in which to pay your claim, or to tell you that he intends defending your ac on.
1.3.3 If the defendant does not pay your claim on receipt of the le er of demand within the s pulated period, you are then en tled to issue a Small Claims court summons against him.
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