The Disputes Tribunal plays an important role as a less formal, less expensive, and faster alternative to the Courts for resolving small-scale disputes. Currently the jurisdiction of the Disputes Tribunal is limited to hearing claims of up to $15,000 in value, or $20,000 if both parties agree. A ...
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Prior to its failure in 2013, Mainzeal Property and Construction Limited (Mainzeal) was one of the largest players in New Zealand’s construction industry. When Mainzeal was put into liquidation in February 2013, it owed $110m to its unsecured creditors.
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We have recently seen a number of cases where builders and other building contractors are withholding producer statements or records of building work in order to obtain leverage in dispute or non-payment situations.
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Under our Companies Act liquidators can come knocking to recover funds that companies have paid to creditors months (and years) prior. The liquidator’s powers of claw back are not widely understood by creditors, and to many the powers seem inherently unfair. In this article, we address what the claw-back ...
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The Personal Property Security Register (PPSR), is a searchable online database of financing statements. If your business supplies customers with equipment or stock on credit or consignment basis, your interest should be registered against each of those customers. When a customer is insolvent, or when you are trying to collect ...
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The Supreme Court has released a short and sharp decision which acknowledges that Judges can make mistakes, but mistakes won’t always afford a further right of appeal.
In Myall v Tower Insurance Ltd [2018] NZSC 35 the Court was required to exercise its gatekeeping powers in considering whether to ...
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Obtaining an insurance policy and paying the premiums is only the first step to ensuring that your business has insurance cover when it needs it. An often overlooked or at least underestimated aspect is that the typical liability insurance policy has specific requirements about notifying your insurer of a potential ...
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A recent article in the press a couple of weeks ago highlighted that there are several houses in Christchurch which were never correctly fixed after the Canterbury Earthquakes and as a result may be financially toxic. People purchasing these houses run the risk that they may be buying into an ...
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With the evolution of the ‘global economy’, disputes between parties who reside or do business in different countries are now commonplace. Disputes between New Zealanders and Australians are governed by the Trans-Tasman Proceedings Act 2010. This Act simplifies the process and reduces costs for resolving civil disputes where the parties ...
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From 1 September 2016 the Construction Contracts Act will extend to new categories of construction professionals. This article provides information as to the changes and how they might affect you.
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The 6 year anniversary of the 4 September earthquake is fast approaching and recently there has been commentary in the media about the impact of this on property owners who have not yet settled their insurance claims.
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A High Court claim for a series of declarations filed by a group of Christchurch home owners against the EQC has been recently settled, with both parties advising “there is no material disagreement” between them....
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