County Court Claim Form - MET Parking via DCB Legal

Coupon-mad

Everything below and including this heading must be replaced:

Exaggerated Claim and 'market failure' currently examined by the Government 

You should read WS from this year only.

Denji11

And just like that, the claim has been DISCONTINUED! 

Didn't even send the WS. 

So seeing as these lot have hassled me on this for almost 8 years, right up to the wire of deadline WS date. I want to try and claim some costs. Appreciate I didn't attend a hearing so wont be able to use any time off work to attend however do you guys think its worth it, or could it bite me in the backside ? 

Using the newbies thread, thanks coupon for reminding me to always check back there, I could write to the court with something along the lines of:

In the County Court at XXXXXXXXX

Urgent Matter - to be referred to Procedural Judge.

In the matter of

MET Parking Services LTD (Claimant)

V

XXX XXX (Defendant)

 

REQUEST FOR COSTS FOLLOWING DISCONTINUANCE

Claim Number XXXXXXXX


Dear Sir or Madam,

1. I write to request an order for costs following the Claimant’s late Notice of Discontinuance

I am the Defendant in these proceedings. I respectfully request that the Court considers a costs order in my favour due to the Claimant’s unreasonable conduct, pursuant to:

• CPR 27.14(2)(g) – costs for unreasonable behaviour
• CPR 46.5 – litigant-in-person costs
• The Court’s general case management powers under CPR 3.1(2)(m)

The Claimant served a Notice of Discontinuance on 26/11/2025, which was notably the exact deadline for exchange of witness statements.

 

2. The Claimant’s conduct has been unreasonable

I submit that the Claimant’s behaviour meets the threshold of unreasonable conduct, for the following reasons:

(a) Extraordinary almost 8-year delay

The alleged events date back to 2017, yet proceedings were not issued until many years later (6 years). This long delay caused significant prejudice, including difficulty evidencing signage conditions from 8 years ago and recalling events in detail.

(b) Last-minute discontinuance on the WS deadline

The Claimant waited until the final possible moment—the day witness statements were due—before discontinuing the claim.
This resulted in significant wasted time and effort in preparing:

• A full defence
• A comprehensive witness statement
• An evidence bundle
• Legal research including relevant authorities (e.g., CEL v Chan; CPMS v Akande)

(c) Repeated settlement attempts

In the weeks leading up to discontinuance, the Claimant continued to send settlement demands, seemingly to pressure or coerce payment. This was despite the Claimant now clearly having no intention of proceeding to trial.

(d) Defective Particulars of Claim

The Particulars of Claim were sparse and failed to disclose any coherent cause of action, mirroring the failures criticised in CEL v Chan and CPMS v Akande. As a result, I expended considerable time attempting to understand and address a claim that was fundamentally flawed from the outset.

(e) Unnecessary prolonging of litigation

The Claimant’s conduct has caused wholly avoidable work, stress, and inconvenience.
A discontinuance at the earliest stage would have avoided this; instead, they strung out the matter for as long as possible.

For these reasons, I submit that this behaviour falls squarely within the meaning of “unreasonable conduct” under CPR 27.14(2)(g).

 

3. Costs Sought

I am a litigant in person and therefore entitled under CPR 46.5(4) to claim my time spent reasonably in respect of the proceedings at the litigant-in-person rate of £19 per hour.

A summary of time reasonably spent in a schedule of costs is as per below:

Schedule of costs

Work activity	Hours
Reviewing the claim and evidence	1
Preparing defence	8
Prepare witness statement and evidence	4
Legal research (WS authorities, CPR, case law)	3
Preparing costs schedule and this application	1
TOTAL	17

Total costs at £19.00/hour:

17 hours x £19.00 = £323.00

Total Costs Sought: £323.00

I believe this amount is entirely reasonable given the length of time the claim has been active and the late discontinuance.

 

4. Request for Order Without Hearing

As the Claimant has discontinued, no hearing is now listed.
Accordingly, I respectfully request that the Court deals with this matter on the papers, under:

• CPR 27.10 – disposal without a hearing
• The Court’s inherent case management powers

I submit that the Claimant should bear the costs incurred as a result of their unreasonable behaviour.

 

5. Conclusion

For the reasons stated above, I respectfully invite the Court to make an order that:

“The Claimant shall pay the Defendant’s costs, summarily assessed in the sum of £323.00, pursuant to CPR 27.14(2)(g) and CPR 46.5, within 14 days.”

I attach:

• A copy of the Notice of Discontinuance
• My signed costs schedule

I trust the Court will give this matter due consideration.

Yours faithfully,
XXXXXXX
Defendant

Coupon-mad

It's now £24 per hour! Went up last month.

But we can't count your success in Umkomaas' thread, because you haven't yet shown us the attached NoD. Please do!

Castle

Coupon-mad said:

It's now £24 per hour! Went up last month.

But we can't count your success in Umkomaas' thread, because you haven't yet shown us the attached NoD. Please do!

According to the OP's first post, the claim was issued in August 2023; so, the £19 is probably correct for preparing the original Defence.

Denji11

Will add two rates then  

NoD

Denji11

How does this look/sound? 

3. Costs Sought

I am a litigant in person and therefore entitled under CPR 46.5(4) to claim my time spent reasonably in respect of the proceedings at the litigant-in-person rate of £24 per hour (increased from £19 effective from Oct 1st 2025).

A summary of time reasonably spent in a schedule of costs is as per below:

Schedule of costs

Work activity	Hours	Rate (£)
Reviewing the claim and evidence	1	£19.00
Preparing defence	8	£19.00
Prepare witness statement and evidence	4	£24.00
Legal research (WS authorities, CPR, case law)	3	£24.00
Preparing costs schedule and this application	1	£24.00
TOTAL	17

Total costs at £19.00/hour:

  9 hours x £19.00 = £171.00

Total costs at £24.00/hour:

  9 hours x £19.00 = £192.00

Total Costs Sought: £363.00

I believe this amount is entirely reasonable given the length of time the claim has been active and the late discontinuance.

 

4. Request for Order Without Hearing

As the Claimant has discontinued, no hearing is now listed.
Accordingly, I respectfully request that the Court deals with this matter on the papers, under:

• CPR 27.10 – disposal without a hearing
• The Court’s inherent case management powers

I submit that the Claimant should bear the costs incurred as a result of their unreasonable behaviour.

 

5. Conclusion

For the reasons stated above, I respectfully invite the Court to make an order that:

“The Claimant shall pay the Defendant’s costs, summarily assessed in the sum of £363.00, pursuant to CPR 27.14(2)(g) and CPR 46.5, within 14 days.”

I attach:

• A copy of the Notice of Discontinuance
• My signed costs schedule

I trust the Court will give this matter due consideration.

Yours faithfully,
XXXXXXX
Defendant

1505grandad

Figures don't compute!

patient_dream

And just like that, the claim has been DISCONTINUED! 

DCBL are between a rock and a hard place, they either go to court and get spanked or as with you they discontinue ..... chicken out Courts and Judges all over the UK no doubt know of the disgusting behaviorr of DCBL and their FAKE add-ons, misleading the courts

We can expect them to discontinue many more stupid claims

Good luck with your claim

Denji11

Thanks @1505grandad

Total costs at £19.00/hour:

  9 hours x £19.00 = £171.00

Total costs at £24.00/hour:

  9 hours x £19.00 = £192.00

  8 hours x £24.00 = 192.00

Total Costs Sought: £363.00

Coupon-mad

"and this application"

You aren't making an application otherwise it costs a 3 figure fee. Neither of the 2 examples in the NEWBIES thread involved an application, just an email.

You should reiterate the final paragraph from the current Template Defence about the White Book.

And add that the sum claimed and interest was hugely exaggerated by £450 and improperly stated. DCB Legal pre-load 8% interest on the top line of the amount claimed. Section 69 of the County Courts Act does not permit this and nor is 8% an automatic applicable rate. All this an abuse of the court's process on the same level as the fake £70 'damages/admin fee' invention, which they added three times. They also fail to state how the interest was calculated and on which sum(s), and from which date (there were three ancient PCNs being pursued, none of which were £170).