Make a claim for financial loss

You can claim for financial loss against property or letting agents, motor dealers, debt collectors, auctioneers or their employees.

Always try to settle the claim with the agent or dealer first. Go through their complaint process. If this doesn’t resolve the dispute, then you can lodge a written claim with us. Don’t leave it too long to make your claim as time limits apply.

How to make a claim

Download and complete the Claim against the claim fund form. Lodge the completed claim with the Office of Fair Trading by:

• emailing claimsandrecoveries@justice.qld.gov.au
• posting to:
  Claims and Recoveries
  Office of Fair Trading
  GPO Box 3111
  BRISBANE  QLD  4001

Provide as much information about the agent or dealer as possible.

It’s free to lodge a claim for financial loss with us.

Make a marketeering claim against property agents

Marketeering claims only apply to property agents. To make a marketeering claim you must:

• submit a Notice of intention to claim for a marketeering contravention form within 1 year of signing the contract to give us notice of your intention to claim in the future
• sell your property within 6 years of signing the contract
• submit the Claim against the claim fund form after you sell the property.

You can’t make a claim about marketeering if you still own the property.

Identify the agent or dealer

You’ll need to tell us who you’re claiming against. Be aware that a business name is not always the legal entity.

Search the ASIC business names register to find out the registered name of the proprietor—this might be a person or a company. Basic searches are free, but you’ll need to pay for more detailed information.

On the claim form write the business name in this format:

• ABC Pty Ltd trading as XYZ Realty (if it is a company)
• John Smith trading as XYZ Realty (if it is a sole trader or partnership).

Claim within the time limit

You must lodge a claim:

• within 1 year of becoming aware of your loss
• no more than 3 years after the event.

We will decide if you lodged your claim in time.

If you need more time, you can ask for an extension from the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT).

Claims involving legal proceedings

If you’re involved in legal proceedings that relate directly to the event you can lodge a claim at the end of those proceedings. This only applies:

• to regular claims
• if the proceedings started within the time limit to lodge a regular claim
• if you lodge the claim within 3 months after the end of the proceedings.

More information

Find out how we process your claim.