Rembrandt Custodians Ltd v Pro-Drill (Auck) Ltd is an often referenced case in New Zealand credit circles of the hazards of issuing a Statutory Demand against a company to make them pay a disputed account.

This invoice remained unpaid as of 20 January, which Rembrandt later stated was simply overlooked over the Christmas period.

This left Law Debt Collection's fee of $1,037.19, which Rembrandt disputed liability for as they claimed that $1,037.19 for issuing just one letter was not reasonable and it was "out of proportion with all commercial reality".

The judge went further and stated that he was confident that if a solicitor had first checked the correspondence relating to the debt they would have advised against the issue of a statutory demand.

Given all this, the judge ordered Pro-Drill to pay Rembrandt's full legal costs of $4,250.38 on a solicitor/client basis.