Claim Form Advice

Jazzy26

Hi All, 
Just after a little up to date advice re: Claim Form.
I received a claim form this morning 7/1/25 from “civil national business centre” Northampton in relation to a parking fine I received in 03/23. I’d over stayed my welcome by 12-13 mins according to my previous correspondence with “euro car parks” all due to my car being slightly over heated.  I’m very new to this (forum) , just after a little friendly advice please . I now have a company “DCB Legal ltd “ filing a claim form against me for £250+  is there a solution or procedure I can follow to either reduce it or should I pay ? 
Thank You So Much …. 

KeithP

Hello and welcome.

What is the Issue Date on your Claim Form?

Can you please show us a picture of the Particulars of Claim - with all your personal detail hidden of course.

Who is the Claimant?

Have you filed an Acknowledgment of Service?
If so, upon what date did you do so?
Your MCOL Claim History will have the definitive answer to that.

Jazzy26

Hi Thanks for such a rapid response- I  believe I have hidden all personal info , I have not done anything yet. MCOL history ? 

Thanks 

[Image removed by Forum Team]

Gr1pr

Your password is unredacted so only 3 of 4 done 

KeithP

Jazzy26 said:

Hi Thanks for such a rapid response- I  believe I have hidden all personal info , I have not done anything yet. MCOL history ? 

Thanks 

Your MCOL password is still clearly visible.

With a Claim Issue Date of 3rd January, you have until Wednesday 22nd January to file an Acknowledgment of Service.  Do not file an Acknowledgment of Service before 8th January, but otherwise there is nothing to be gained by delaying it. 

To file an Acknowledgment of Service, follow the guidance in the Dropbox file linked from the second post in the NEWBIES thread.
Having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Wednesday 5th February 2025 to file a Defence.

That's over four weeks away. Plenty of time to produce a Defence, but please don't leave it to the last minute.

To create a Defence, and then file a Defence by email, look again at the second post on the NEWBIES thread - immediately following where you found the Acknowledgment of Service guidance.

Don't miss the deadline for filing an Acknowledgment of Service, nor that for filing a Defence.

Do not try and file a Defence via the MoneyClaimOnline website. Once an Acknowledgment of Service has been filed, the MCOL website should be treated as 'read only'.

Coupon-mad

Jazzy26 said:

Hi Thanks for such a rapid response- I  tbelieve I have hidden all personal info , I have not done anything yet. MCOL history ? 

Thanks 

[Image removed by Forum Team]

Please show it again, password redacted.

You will never pay this.

In most current defences v DCB Legal claims, paragraph 3 looks similar to the thread below by @shahib_02  ... just change the incident date:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6576011/cel-dcb-legal-pcn-cnbc-claim-defence-assistance-required-please

No need for more detail than that para 3 denying the points in the POC, except in your case just add an extra bit AND OF COURSE, THE REST OF THE TEMPLATE DEFENCE AFTER THIS:

3.1. The car had overheated that day which slightly delayed natters but it was not in fact parked for longer than the allowed time. The few minutes on site either side of the actual 'parking period' are not part of that definition, as confirmed by the Government's statutory Code of Practice being finalised this year. The Claimant is put to strict proof that the vehicle significantly 'overstayed'. More likely is that the Claimant failed to allow a suitable consideration period on arrival in addition to the standard minimum ten minute grace period. A reasonable period of minutes to drive round and find a space and park on arrival (then read any signs, which is when contract can commence) and also the minimum ten minutes that must be added upon leaving, do not count and would fall within reasonable grace periods. The British Parking Association ('BPA') and the relevant Government Department (now renamed the MHCLG) agree with this point:

3.2.  In an official, published BPA news article by Kelvin Reynolds, BPA Director of Corporate Affairs, he states that there is a difference between 'grace' periods and 'observation' periods in parking and that good practice allows for this:
“An observation period is the time when an enforcement officer should be able to determine what the motorist intends to do once in the car park. Our guidance specifically says that there must be sufficient time for the motorist to park their car, observe the signs, decide whether they want to comply with the operator’s conditions and either drive away or pay for a ticket. No time limit is specified. This is because it might take one person 5 minutes, but another person 10 minutes depending on various factors, not limited to disability.”
https://www.britishparking.co.uk/News/good-car-parking-practice-includes-grace-periods

3.3.  This (consumer fairness) position is also reflected by the planned statutory regime which will flow from statute law already enacted, and which the new Government is now set to finalise in the coming months. Under the Parking (Code of Practice) Act 2019, the Secretary of State 'must' lay a statutory Code of Practice before Parliament and provide for a regulated regime of scrutiny to overcome the wholesale 'market failure' of the consumer-harming private parking industry. The draft statutory Code of Practice includes clauses that were not objected to by the parking industry's 2022 Judicial Review 'blocking tactics'. In the definitions, the DLUHC (now MHCLG) state at 2.24: - parking period:  the length of time that a vehicle has been parked, i.e. left stationary otherwise than in the course of driving, after any relevant consideration period has expired ... This is not the period between a vehicle being recorded as entering and departing controlled land."  

4. 

Template Defence onwards...

Jazzy26

Hi Coupon-mad 
Firstly thank you so much for your encouraging post I really do appreciate the time and effort and more so advice gained on this platform to be honest I find it so overwhelming.
The fact of the matter is I did receive maybe a couple of intermittent letters from euro car parks limited pointing out the fact I’d over stayed 11mins I did look into it at the time and I thought I’d found evidence I was aloud a 10mins grace period so the fact of the matter they were prosecuting me for the fact of a minute , I know I was sat in the car prior to my time on ticket expiring. I’d never been in that carpark before I’d only stopped there to pop into the town grab a coffee and give car a little time to cool down as it was experiencing a few issues at that time . They are the very basic facts . 

I will be doing the acknowledgment of service today as the other chap / lady pointed out I could do as there is no benefit leaving it. 

Apologies for not replying sooner just a bad case of flu. 

I will post form again with that password also obscured to be honest I didn’t see that first time I posted , apologies didn’t mean to upset the forum. 

Thanks again very much appreciated.. 

Coupon-mad

The defence is as above. No change to the advice already given.

  

Jazzy26

Just like to say a huge thanks to KeithP and Coupon-mad for all advice given in my case so far . Followed all pointers to the letter, acknowledgement of service was filed immediately- followed by a beautifully written defence taken from coupon-mads’ template with a little extra added as advised filed in a timely manner. Received this letter a couple of weeks ago so I guess it’s just a waiting game for them to respond, not sure what date  I’m supposed to take  the 28 days from but either way thanks again for advise + more importantly you’re time/effort. 

Jazzy

Jazzy26

Hi All, 
My thread appears to have disappeared to follow on , just seeking a little advice please.
My defence had been filed and received by DCB Legal early February’25, in response to this I have received this letter stating that Euro Car Park wish to proceed with claim, I’m just after what my next step is or a relevant link to read of an example of similar circumstances.
I have received this letter along with a questionnaire already filled out by the claimant (ECPL), also asking do I wish to contact DCB to discuss a settlement.

Thanks again for help so far… 

victor2

Is this your previous thread?
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6578898/claim-form-advice#latest