Hanslow v Raceglobe Pty Ltd

The plaintiff, Mr Hanslow, brought an action against Raceglobe Pty Ltd t/a McFix-it in the Local Court of New South Wales, seeking damages for failure to complete repairs on a rental property. The defendant, Raceglobe, counterclaimed for the cost of materials and labour. The matter was heard by a magistrate, who allowed Raceglobe to call evidence despite the plaintiff's objection. The plaintiff appealed to the District Court, arguing the magistrate erred in allowing Raceglobe to call evidence, denied him a fair hearing, and Raceglobe, not being a licensed repairer, was not entitled to recover the full amount of its invoice. The court was required to determine whether the magistrate erred in allowing Raceglobe to call evidence, whether the plaintiff was denied a fair hearing, and whether Raceglobe was entitled to recover the full amount of its invoice.

The court found that the magistrate erred in allowing Raceglobe to call evidence, as the plaintiff had not been given reasonable notice of this. The court also found that the plaintiff was not denied a fair hearing because the magistrate had the discretion to allow evidence to be called and had exercised this discretion properly. The court found that Raceglobe was not entitled to recover the full amount of its invoice because it was not a licensed repairer and thus not entitled to recover more than the cost of materials.

The appeal was allowed, and leave to appeal was granted. Raceglobe was required to file and serve any evidence of the outlays it incurred in relation to this work and submissions by a certain date. The plaintiff and his representative were required to file and serve any submissions in response by another date. The dispute was to be determined on the papers and without an oral hearing not before a further date.