Debt Recovery Lawyer Brisbane: Acting for Creditors
Australian corporate insolvencies are at their highest level in 25 years. For a business that is owed money, that statistic has one practical meaning: the window in which your debtor can pay is shorter than it used to be, and the creditors who act first are the ones who get paid. A debt you chase patiently for six months is often a debt you prove in someone else's liquidation.
Astris Law acts for creditors: businesses owed money under contracts, invoices, loans and guarantees. We run recovery as an escalating sequence, demand, statutory pressure, proceedings, enforcement, where each stage has a known cost and a decision point before the next. Most debts resolve in the first two stages, at fixed fees, without a courtroom.
The work is run end to end by the firm's senior lawyer, which matters in recovery: judgment calls about a debtor's solvency, a director's guarantee exposure or the risk of a disputed demand are not junior work.
The Recovery Pathway: Escalating Pressure, Staged Costs
1. Letter of Demand (fixed fee)
A demand on a law firm's letterhead changes the debtor's calculation: ignoring your accounts department is free, ignoring a law firm is not. The letter states the debt, the deadline and the consequences, and is drafted with the next stages and costs recovery in mind. A large share of commercial debts resolve here.
2. Statutory Demand (fixed fee)
For undisputed company debts of $4,000 or more, a statutory demand under s 459E of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) gives the debtor company 21 days to pay, secure or compound the debt. Failure creates a presumption of insolvency that grounds a winding-up application. Few pieces of paper concentrate a debtor's mind faster. It must be used precisely: a demand served over a genuinely disputed debt can be set aside under s 459G with costs against the creditor, which is why ours are prepared by the lawyer who would run the set-aside fight.
3. Court Proceedings (staged estimate)
Where the debt is disputed or the debtor holds out, we sue in the right forum: QCAT for minor debts to $25,000, the Magistrates Court to $150,000, the District Court to $750,000, the Supreme Court above that. Undefended claims proceed to default judgment quickly. Defended claims are run with a settlement-offer strategy designed to put the costs burden on the debtor.
4. Enforcement
A judgment is not money. Queensland's enforcement tools under the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules include enforcement hearings (compelling the debtor to disclose assets under oath), enforcement warrants for seizure and sale of property and redirection of debts or earnings. Against individual debtors, including guarantors, judgment debts of $10,000 or more can ground a bankruptcy notice.
5. Guarantees, Security and the PPSA
When the debtor company cannot pay, the inquiry shifts to who else can: directors who signed personal guarantees, security interests registrable or enforceable on the Personal Property Securities Register and retention of title claims. Well-drafted credit terms make this stage powerful; we also advise on fixing the terms so the next debt is easier to recover.
6. When the Debtor Collapses
If the debtor enters liquidation or administration, we advise on proofs of debt, creditor meetings and whether directors are exposed personally. Be aware of the other side of this coin: payments you successfully extracted in the months before a liquidation can be challenged by a liquidator as unfair preferences, and we defend those claims too.
Why Speed Decides Recovery in 2026
More than 14,000 Australian companies entered external administration in the last financial year, the most since the year 2000, with construction and hospitality leading the failures. The ATO has also resumed aggressive enforcement, and its statutory demands and winding-up applications put it in direct competition with trade creditors for whatever a distressed company has left.
In that environment, recovery is a race you win early. The creditor who demands first, takes a guarantee seriously and escalates on a timetable is paid out of the same pool that slower creditors eventually prove into for cents in the dollar.
If you are weighing up whether a debt is worth pursuing, that is precisely what our fixed-fee 60-minute consultation answers: the realistic recovery prospects, the right pathway and the cost of each stage, before you commit to anything.
Frequently Asked Questions About Debt Recovery
How much does it cost to recover a debt in Queensland?
Less than most creditors expect, if the matter is run with escalating pressure rather than reflexive litigation. We charge fixed fees for letters of demand and statutory demands, so the first two stages of recovery have a known price. If court proceedings are needed, we give a staged estimate with a decision point before each stage. Many commercial contracts also contain costs-recovery clauses that allow you to add recovery costs to the debt, and in litigation the general rule in Queensland is that costs follow the event, so an unreasonable debtor carries much of your legal spend.
What is the difference between a letter of demand and a statutory demand?
A letter of demand is correspondence: it states the debt, sets a deadline and signals that you are prepared to escalate. It has no statutory force, but a demand on a law firm's letterhead resolves a large share of commercial debts without further action. A statutory demand under section 459E of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) is a formal statutory instrument that can only be used against companies for undisputed debts of $4,000 or more. If the company does not pay, secure or compound the debt within 21 days, it is presumed insolvent and you can apply to wind it up. It is the single most powerful debt recovery tool against a trading company, and also the most dangerous to misuse.
What if the debtor disputes the debt?
Then the statutory demand pathway is closed and using it anyway can cost you. A company served with a statutory demand can apply under section 459G to set it aside if there is a genuine dispute or an offsetting claim, and the creditor typically pays the costs of a successful application. Disputed debts belong in court proceedings or negotiation: QCAT for minor debts up to $25,000, the Magistrates Court up to $150,000, the District Court up to $750,000 and the Supreme Court above that. Part of our initial assessment is telling you honestly whether the debt is genuinely disputed and which pathway gets you paid fastest.
Is it worth suing a company that might be insolvent?
Often not, and we will tell you so before you spend money on it. A judgment against an insolvent company can be a worthless piece of paper. But the analysis rarely ends there: directors may have signed personal guarantees, security interests may be registrable or enforceable under the PPSA and payments or assets may have moved in ways a liquidator can pursue. The right question is not whether the company can pay but whether anyone connected to the debt can. That is a legal question worth one consultation before you write the debt off.
How long do I have to recover a business debt?
Generally six years from when the debt fell due for contract debts under the Limitation of Actions Act 1974 (Qld), but waiting erodes recovery in practice long before the limitation date: debtor companies fail, assets move and other creditors get in first. In the current insolvency environment, the practical rule is that the first creditor to apply real pressure is usually the one who gets paid.
Can I make the debtor pay my legal costs?
Frequently, yes. If your contract or credit terms include an indemnity costs clause, recovery costs can be added to the claim. In court proceedings, the unsuccessful party is usually ordered to pay a proportion of the successful party's costs, and a well-timed formal settlement offer can shift that to a higher (indemnity) basis. We draft demands and offers with costs consequences in mind from day one.
Owed money by a business that keeps stalling?
Call us before the debtor's other creditors do. Fixed fees for demands, staged estimates for anything that escalates and a straight answer on whether the debt is worth chasing.