Customer and Product Data Act 2025

Regulatory and enforcement matters - Civil liability - Compensatory orders

78: When court or Disputes Tribunal may make compensatory orders

You could also call this:

"When you can ask a court for money if someone breaks a rule and you get hurt"

Illustration for Customer and Product Data Act 2025

You can ask the court or the Disputes Tribunal for a compensatory order if someone breaks a rule and you suffer loss or damage. The court or the Disputes Tribunal can make this order if they are satisfied that a rule was broken and someone suffered loss or damage because of it. You do not have to be part of the court case to get a compensatory order. The court or the Disputes Tribunal cannot make a compensatory order for some privacy issues, you should look at section 102 of the Privacy Act 2020 instead. This is because the Privacy Act 2020 has its own rules for dealing with privacy issues, including giving damages under section 103. The court or the Disputes Tribunal can still make a compensatory order even if you are not directly involved in the court case. You can get a compensatory order whether or not you are a party to the proceeding. This means the court or the Disputes Tribunal can make a decision to help you even if you are not directly involved in the court case. The court or the Disputes Tribunal will make a decision based on the information they have.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS911712.

This page was last updated on 31 January 2026 — View changes

Topics:

Crime and justice > Courts and legal helpMoney and consumer rights > Consumer protection

77: What declaration of contravention must state, or

"The declaration explains what rule was broken and who broke it"

79: Terms of compensatory orders, or

"A court can order someone to make up for breaking data rules"

Part 4Regulatory and enforcement matters
Civil liability: Compensatory orders

78When court or Disputes Tribunal may make compensatory orders

The court or the Disputes Tribunal may make a compensatory order, on application by the chief executive or any other person, if the court or the Disputes Tribunal is satisfied that—
a person has contravened a civil liability provision; and
another person (the aggrieved person) has suffered, or is likely to suffer, loss or damage because of the contravention.

However, the court or the Disputes Tribunal may not make a compensatory order for an interference with the privacy of an individual referred to in section 51(3) (see instead section 102 of the Privacy Act 2020, which provides for remedies in respect of an interference with privacy, including damages under section 103 of that Act).
The court or the Disputes Tribunal may make a compensatory order whether or not the aggrieved person is a party to the proceeding.

Notes

Section 78 guidance note: amended, on 24 January 2026, by section 10 of the Disputes Tribunal Amendment Act 2025 (2025 No 60).