Weng v NSW Demo & Exca Services Pty Ltd

The plaintiffs, Weng, pursued legal action against NSW Demolition and Excavation Services Pty Ltd (the defendant), an excavating company, after the defendant mistakenly began demolishing the wrong house. The plaintiffs successfully obtained a default judgment against the defendant. The defendant then filed an application to set aside the default judgment under UCPR rule 36.15, citing typographical errors in the plaintiffs' application for default judgment and alleged lack of English comprehension by the deponents. The court had to determine whether the defendant's proposed defence raised any defence on the merits and whether the application should be dismissed.

The court examined the defendant's application and found that the typographical errors did not materially affect the plaintiffs' application for default judgment. The court also found that the proposed defence did not reveal any defence on the merits. The court concluded that the defendant's application was an abuse of process and dismissed the notice of motion. The court ordered the defendant to pay indemnity costs.

The court dismissed the defendant's notice of motion and allowed the parties to exchange written submissions for the costs of the notice of motion to be determined by Gibson DCJ "on the papers." The proceedings were stood over before the List Judge on 8 March 2024 for allocation of a hearing date for the assessment of damages. The exhibits were retained until further order.