VCAT Points of Claim: how to write them, with the layout VCAT’s own sample uses

VCAT Points of Claim are your written statement of what happened and what you want VCAT to order. VCAT’s rule is that they “must clearly set out, in separate numbered paragraphs and in date order, the facts that explain the claim”, and must tell the respondent and VCAT “what remedy or result the applicant is seeking.” Key facts only, no argument, no emotion.

This page explains when you have to file them in a goods and services case, what goes in, the layout VCAT’s own sample uses, and the mistakes that cost people at the hearing. It is general information, not legal advice.

What Points of Claim are, and when VCAT asks for them

VCAT also calls them “particulars of claim”. In a goods and services dispute, VCAT’s pages say that about 16 to 20 weeks after you apply it sends an order setting a timetable for documents. Its guide to that order says the parties must send VCAT and each other “documents explaining what their case is about. These include Points of Claim and Points of Defence and may also include Points of Counterclaim.”

You may already have written them. VCAT says: “The applicant should have included a summary of their claim in their application. If that summary is in the form of Points of Claim as described below, the applicant can follow the order for Points of Claim by repeating these in their Points of Claim.” So it pays to write the application summary in this form from the start.

Take the dates in the order seriously. VCAT’s guide says: “If you are the applicant and you do not comply with the time limits in the order, your case may be struck out.” If you need more time, tell VCAT and the other parties before the time limit expires.

VCAT’s rules for Points of Claim

From VCAT’s guide to goods and services orders:

• They “must tell the respondent and VCAT what the claim is about, as briefly and clearly as possible.”
• They “should allege only the ‘key facts’ about the claim (that is, only the facts or events that the applicant must prove to succeed in their claim).”
• They “should not include personal comments or criticisms or other emotional language.”
• “The key facts must be set out in date order and in numbered paragraphs.”
• They must say what remedy or result you want.

The reason VCAT gives is practical: “This is so the respondent can understand the claim and prepare their defence.”

What to put in

VCAT’s sample page lists the facts a goods and services Points of Claim must state:

• what was purchased or sold;
• if a promise made in an agreement was broken;
• if a representation made was misleading;
• whether there was a written agreement, or whether the agreement was made in a phone call or conversation, or in a letter, email or text message;
• what is actually wrong with what was purchased, for example a defect, or that what was supplied was not what was advertised;
• if a service or item was supplied but not paid for, and how much is owed;
• what order you want VCAT to make, for example an order to pay money owing or compensation;
• where compensation is claimed, how you calculated the loss or damage.

VCAT’s guide says the key facts identify the “legal claim” it is being asked to decide, and gives the common ones: you bought something and it “was not what was promised or was faulty”; you paid and “did not receive it or only received part”; or you supplied something and want payment for it.

The layout VCAT’s own sample uses

VCAT publishes a sample points of claim about a car sold without a roadworthy certificate. Its paragraphs run in this order, and the same order works for most claims:

1. The deal. The date, who sold what to whom, and the price. The sample opens with the date the respondent sold a car to the applicant, and the price.
2. What was agreed or promised. In the sample, that the car had a roadworthy certificate.
3. How that agreement was made. One of: a discussion (who, where, when, and the words said); a signed document (its date, and the page or clause); or an email or text (from whom, to whom, the date and time).
4. What went wrong, with the date. “On [date] the car broke down.”
5. When you found out. The date you first learnt the promise was not true.
6. The order you want. The sample asks VCAT to order that the respondent “pay the applicant $2,500 for the expenses the applicant has incurred to bring the car to a roadworthy condition.”
7. How the amount is made up. Each expense as its own line: the item, the date and the cost.

A handful of short paragraphs. That is the length VCAT is showing you.

An outline you can follow

For an unpaid invoice, the same structure looks like this. Replace each part in square brackets.

Points of Claim

1. On [date], the applicant agreed to [supply / install / repair] [what] for the respondent for [$ price].

2. That agreement was contained in [a written quote accepted by email on [date] / a signed contract dated [date] / a phone call on [date] between [name] and [name]].

3. On [date], the applicant completed the work.

4. On [date], the applicant sent the respondent invoice [number] for [$ amount], payable by [date].

5. The respondent paid [$ amount] on [date]. [Or: The respondent has paid nothing.]

6. [$ amount] remains unpaid.

7. The applicant requests VCAT to make an order that the respondent pay the applicant [$ amount], made up of: invoice [number], [$ amount].

Every paragraph is one fact with a date. Each should be something you can prove with a document or a witness, because VCAT’s guide says “at the final hearing the applicant must prove the allegations they make.”

Mistakes that cost people

• Telling the story instead of the key facts. How you were treated, what you think of the trader and how stressful it has been do not belong. VCAT says no “personal comments or criticisms or other emotional language.”
• Leaving something out. VCAT warns that parties “may not be permitted to raise any new issues at the final hearing” that were “not raised in their application, Points of Claim or Points of Defence.” If it matters, it has to be in.
• No amount, or an amount with no working. Where you claim compensation, VCAT’s sample page asks for how you calculated it. List each item, its date and its cost.
• Not saying how the agreement was made. A conversation needs who, where, when and the words. A document needs its date and the clause.
• Missing the date in the order. An applicant who does not meet the time limits risks having the case struck out.

What the other side does with them

The respondent files Points of Defence, which “must respond to all the applicant’s allegations in each paragraph of the Points of Claim”, stating whether each is admitted or denied. An admitted allegation “will be taken to be an agreed fact in the case.” A denied one you must prove at the final hearing. And VCAT’s guide says: “If the respondent does not file Points of Defence the respondent will be taken to admit all the allegations in the Points of Claim.”

That is why short, numbered, single-fact paragraphs help you: each one the respondent admits is one you no longer have to prove.

Documents go with them

The order also requires each party to send all documents “which they want to rely on in any hearing of their case or which might be harmful to their case or helpful to the case of another party”: quotes, invoices, emails, text messages, contracts, photographs, bank statements. VCAT asks for them in date order as a PDF, and as a single page-numbered PDF if they run over 50 pages. For how to send them and prove you did, see VCAT service of documents.

Where Claim Done fits

VCAT says it “can’t give you legal advice or tell you what to write in your application.” Claim Done drafts your Tribunal Application from your answers, in numbered paragraphs in date order with the order you want and the amounts itemised: the claim text for VCAT’s online form from $49, or the full application pack for $97. You review it before anything is final, and you lodge it yourself.

Already written yours? The VCAT Application Check ($59) reads your application and Points of Claim and reports what to fix before you file.

Start your VCAT claim

Frequently asked questions

What are Points of Claim at VCAT?

A written statement of the facts that explain your claim and the result you want. VCAT says they must be in separate numbered paragraphs and in date order, and must tell the respondent and VCAT what remedy the applicant is seeking.

When do I have to file Points of Claim at VCAT?

By the date in the order VCAT sends you. In goods and services cases VCAT’s pages say the order arrives about 16 to 20 weeks after you apply and sets a timetable for documents.

How long should VCAT Points of Claim be?

As brief and clear as possible. VCAT’s own sample is a handful of short paragraphs: the deal, the promise, how it was made, what went wrong, when the applicant found out, the order sought and the itemised amount.

Can I reuse the summary from my VCAT application as my Points of Claim?

Yes, if it is already in that form. VCAT says the applicant can follow the order by repeating the summary from their application as their Points of Claim.

What should not go in Points of Claim?

VCAT says they should not include personal comments or criticisms or other emotional language, and should allege only the key facts the applicant must prove to succeed.

Can I raise something at the hearing that was not in my Points of Claim?

You may not be allowed to. VCAT’s guide says parties may not be permitted to raise new issues at the final hearing that were not raised in their application, Points of Claim or Points of Defence.

What happens if the respondent does not file Points of Defence?

VCAT’s guide says the respondent will be taken to admit all the allegations in the Points of Claim.

General information about VCAT’s goods and services process, checked against VCAT’s website, its guide to goods and services orders and its sample documents in November 2026. It is not legal advice.