VCAT Contractor Deposit Refund Claim: How to Get Your Money Back

The First Question: Is It the Civil Claims List?

Before you file anything, you need to know which VCAT list your dispute belongs in — and for contractor disputes, the answer is not always the Civil Claims List.

If your contractor supplied general goods or services — custom cabinetry, auto repairs, landscaping, or work that is not domestic building work — the dispute fits the Civil Claims List under the Australian Consumer Law and Fair Trading Act 2012 (Vic).

If the work is domestic building work covered by the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 — including construction, extensions, or structural renovations — it belongs in VCAT's Building and Property List, and you cannot file directly. You must first go through Domestic Building Dispute Resolution Victoria (DBDRV), which operates alongside the Building and Plumbing Commission (BPC). Only after DBDRV issues a conciliation certificate stating that the dispute is unsuitable for conciliation or remains unresolved can you apply to VCAT's Building and Property List.

Filing in the wrong list gets your application rejected. Filing directly with VCAT for a domestic building dispute without the DBDRV conciliation certificate gets it rejected too. Check before you pay the fee.

Recovering a Deposit Through the Civil Claims List

For disputes that do fit the Civil Claims List (goods, services, non-building trades), here's the path:

Send a letter of demand. Give the contractor 14 calendar days to return the deposit or complete the agreed work. State the exact amount, the date the contract was made, what was supposed to be delivered, and what actually happened (or didn't). Send it by registered post or email with delivery confirmation.

Verify the contractor's identity. Search ASIC or ABN Lookup to find the legal entity behind the trading name. You need to name the right person or company in your application — "Dave's Custom Kitchens" is not a legal entity.

File on myVCAT. Select the Civil Claims List, enter the parties' details, and describe your claim in numbered paragraphs. Your Points of Claim should cover: (1) the parties, (2) the contract terms, (3) the deposit paid and work promised, (4) the contractor's failure to perform or the defective work, (5) the amount you're claiming, and (6) the order you want.

Pay the filing fee. For claims up to $15,000 (which covers most deposits), the standard fee is $202.10. Concession card holders pay $67.40.

Serve the contractor. Deliver a copy of your application and supporting documents to the contractor's registered address. File proof of service with VCAT.

Claiming Under Consumer Guarantees

Under the Australian Consumer Law, services supplied to a consumer must be provided with due care and skill, be fit for the stated purpose, and be completed within a reasonable time. Goods must match their description, be of acceptable quality, and be fit for purpose.

When a contractor takes your deposit and disappears, or delivers work so defective it needs to be redone, you're claiming a failure of one or more of these statutory guarantees. In your Points of Claim, identify which guarantee was breached — it strengthens your case and ties your claim to a specific statutory provision.

Sole Traders Chasing Unpaid Invoices

If you're the contractor or service provider chasing an unpaid invoice, the same pathway works in reverse. Your Points of Claim cover the contract, the work completed, the invoice issued, the payment due date, and the non-payment. Claim statutory interest at 10% per annum from the date the invoice fell due under the Penalty Interest Rates Act 1983 (Vic).

For sole traders, the filing fee is a recoverable business expense — and under section 115C, the respondent reimburses it if you win.

What Happens If the Contractor Doesn't Show Up

If the contractor ignores your application and doesn't attend the hearing, VCAT proceeds ex parte. You still have to prove your case — present your evidence, show the contract, the payment, the non-performance — but without the contractor there to dispute it, the hearing is usually straightforward.

The real challenge comes after you win. VCAT doesn't enforce its own orders, so if the contractor doesn't pay voluntarily, you register the order in the Magistrates' Court of Victoria and use judicial enforcement tools — garnishee orders, attachment of earnings, or a sheriff's warrant.

Our VCAT Civil Claim Filing Guide walks you through the entire process from demand letter to hearing, with a forum-fit triage checklist that filters out disputes that need the BPC pathway first.

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