Parking Charge Notice Help

nofineplease

Ah ok, thank you!

nofineplease

Fruitcake said:

nofineplease said:

I've had a letter of claim. What should I do now?

I suggest you delete that image as it contains a lot of personal information. Alternatively, report it using the button at the bottam of the post.

Good idea, didn't really think about that, thank you!

nofineplease

Do any of you wonderful parking warriors have any idea of a rough timeline these things normally have? It would be good to know roughly when a court date might be because I'm often out of the country for long periods.

Coupon-mad

You must get someone to open your post WEEKLY just in case. They have 6 years to sue.

An alternative would be to give an address abroad where you're living (or a regular foreign full workplace address?) next time you fly out and attach a copy of your Work VISA. Tell the scammers to rectify the address to the foreign address as you are living and working there. That will end this rubbish. 

nofineplease

OK, I have someone who can open my post weekly. Thanks

nofineplease

Hi, I have now received a court claim and have filled in the acknowledgement of service online. I am now drafting my defence and I was wondering if someone would be able to give it a quick look and check it is ok? I have kept the template from this forum the same, here is my paragraph 3:

3. The defendant parked at the site in question at the invitation of a member of staff from the University of Sussex, as he was volunteering in a scientific study there. When he arrived he did not see any barriers, ticket machines or signs informing him that he needed to pay to park in that location.

Is this enough?

Castle

Please post up a copy of the POC, (redacted as necessary); and, what is the issue date?

nofineplease

The issue date is 31 July 2025. This is the POC:

Coupon-mad

nofineplease said:

Hi, I have now received a court claim and have filled in the acknowledgement of service online. I am now drafting my defence and I was wondering if someone would be able to give it a quick look and check it is ok? I have kept the template from this forum the same, here is my paragraph 3:

3. The defendant parked at the site in question at the invitation of a member of staff from the University of Sussex, as he was volunteering in a scientific study there. When he arrived he did not see any barriers, ticket machines or signs informing him that he needed to pay to park in that location.

Is this enough?

Yes indeed.

I'm a Brighton lass and the signs at the Uni of Sussex are sparse and they have lots of different t&cs depending on where you park.

Also, I'm not convinced the Uni agreement with F1rst gives them standing to sue anyone but the Template Defence covers those points already and DCB Legal will discontinue before the hearing anyway.

Once you have hit SUBMIT on your defence and while your case is quiet, we kindly ask you pleeease to respond to the Public Consultation which is now open for August.

What parking operators do is is a national disgrace and a drain on Society, in terms of money and anxiety. If you want to be part of the push to change things in future, it's very important that people like you tell the Government that:

a) you have no faith in POPLA or the IAS and that there must be a SINGLE APPEALS SERVICE that people trust. The sector is crying out for an independent and impartial appeals service - not two involved in a race to the bottom - that will give a real option to resolve disputed cases out of court. If there had been an impartial and fair ADR you'd have used it, etc.

b).  THE ENRICHMENT OF 'DEBT RECOVERY FEES' MUST BE COMPLETELY BANNED. CASES ARE NOT SOLVED BY DEMANDING MORE MONEY AND OFFERING A 'PAYMENT PLAN' THAT ONLY THE VULNERABLE PAY. DRAS LIKE DCB LEGAL MAKE NO MONEY IF THEY HANDLE DISPUTES IN THE SPIRIT OF THE APPEALS CHARTER, WHICH IS WHY THEY PLOUGH ON TO COURT CLAIMS AND CCJs, RATHER THAN OFFERING REAL RESOLUTION AT PRE-ACTION STAGE. THEY OFFERED NOTHING, NO LEGITIMATE OPTION TO KEEP YOUR CASE OUT OF COURT.

c). Tell them about your experience and the complete and utter waste of court resources caused on a grand scale by the likes of DCB Legal who are hoovering up bulk PCNs from previously non-litigious firms like G24, Euro Car Parks, CP Plus, UKPC and now F1rst Parking. It's clear that the tail is wagging the dog to drive a court claim culture that never existed before, and most profit is going to the third parties with no thought as to the interests of parking operators, landowners or consumers, which cannot be right.

Responses are invited to the Consultation now:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6617396/parking-code-of-practice-consultation-8-weeks-from-11th-july-2025/p1

Do it this month pleeease!

We will discuss it further next week on that thread if you want ideas.

nofineplease

Thank you! I will respond to the public consultation as well.