UKPC DCB Legal court claim 2025

Joanna244

Hi all,

I really need some help, I’ve read lots of advice but need more specific advice I feel. 

I parked in a UKPC car park at a retail park on 20.08.24. I overstayed (I now don’t have the original PCN but it was maximum 15 minutes over).

I had spent a lot of money at the retail park and my daughter needed to go back in to the toilet. Anyway, a friend of mine spoke to the manager of Starbucks who spoke to the parking company and got the charge cancelled. I do not have any proof of this though. They told me to ignore any letters as they would just come automatically. So I did! I even ignored the letter of claim as I didn’t realise what would happen next as I knew the charge had been cancelled.

I have now received court claim forms from DCB legal- well my husband has - he’s the keeper!

We spoke to Starbucks again on receiving this and they have spoken to UKPC again on the phone and they have again cancelled it but I don’t have proof yet. On the phone they said they have the original emails and would send emails.  Guess I need to get hold of these as evidence.

My question is- we obviously now need to respond to the court. They came through the post so I can’t do this online, I see in your advice it says I can email them? Does that mean I don’t have to post the forms?

I would like to do the acknowledgement of service so I have more time to get evidence for my defence but I also feel I need help with what to put in my defence- bear in mind the keeper wasn’t driving and no-one has admitted to being the driver as we haven’t responded. I have emailed DCB though this week to say the charge was cancelled but I guess this won’t help now. 

Claim date is 28.01.25, so I don’t have long!

Please help me.

I think I will do a SAR to UKPC so I can get the emails and recordings of phone call that show charge was cancelled? I guess I could get the original PCN this way too?

many thanks in advance

Gr1pr

Get the picture deleted ASAP,  too much info that you failed to redact 

UKPC via dcb legal,  issued 28 Jan 2025 

Do not email a SAR to UKPC for a few months,  leave it for the moment 

Do your AOS online on MCOL,  everything is done online and by email,  no paperwork,  no posting anything 

Study the defence template thread,  first couple of posts and also the newbies sticky thread second post,  both in announcements 

Post a redacted picture of the POC on the lower left of the claim form after hiding the VRM details first 

Study a few recent similar cases from the beginning of this year too

If you were not the driver,  your paragraph 2 ending is extremely simple 

Joanna244

Trying to delete it but looks like I can only report it.

Thanks for advice.

The government website says that if the claim number doesn't start with MC then I can't do it online? When I log in to our government gateway it says claim number or password incorrect. Do I need to create a new government gateway account?

Thank you

Gr1pr

Yes, create a gateway account,  then navigate to MCOL,  complete the AOS online,  dont touch the start defence box

Add a redacted POC picture below too

Please edit the thread title to something more suitable like 

UKPC DCB Legal court claim 2025

As you are now a forumite,  you can delete the picture,  if necessary 

Joanna244

Here is the POC.

Joanna244

Thanks. I’ve created a new gateway account and it still doesn’t work. 

Are you sure I can do it online- the official guidance says if the code doesn’t begin with MC then you have to submit paper forms!
can I email them instead? I don’t want to risk missing the deadlines as I won’t get any reply to say received will I?

Gr1pr

You can definitely email the completed AOS to the CNBC in Northampton,  have you studied the first 2 posts in the defence template thread yet  ?  Emails are in there, from last march 

The pdf forms can be downloaded from the gov website,  then completed 

The POC will be incorrect,  especially the date,  so use the numbered rebuttal paragraph for your p3, as seen in other recent cases by dcb legal on here 

The claim reference plus exact password should work, but are case sensitive and no extra spaces etc

KeithP

With a Claim Issue Date of 28th January, you have until Monday 17th February 2025 to file an Acknowledgment of Service('AOS'), but there is nothing to be gained by delaying it. 

To file an AOS, follow the guidance in the Dropbox file linked from the second post in the NEWBIES thread.

Having filed an AOS in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 3rd March 2025 to file a Defence.

That's over three 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 AOS guidance.

Don't miss the deadline for filing an AOS, nor that for filing a Defence.

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

Joanna244

Thanks @KeithP and @Gr1pr for all this advice but I just cannot get the moneyclaim website to work, no matter what I try it says invalid claim number or password. Would there be any chance it’s not working because they’ve already dropped it, as Starbucks rang UKPC again this week?

I have read all the newbie threads. I’ve read so many that now I need to find the relevant bits again. So I will email the AOS rather than use the website, seeing as though it won’t work? Will I have proof they received it?

how much chance do you think I have of ‘winning’ this? 

I’m not sure what I put in my defence as the driver did over stay but we believed the charge had been cancelled for us by Starbucks.

Just to note this is a free car park for 3 hours, so the charge is definitely way too much!

Joanna244

Gr1pr said: 

The POC will be incorrect,  especially the date,  so use the numbered rebuttal paragraph for your p3, as seen in other recent cases by dcb legal on here 

Unfortunately the date is correct ☹️

what is the numbered rebuttal paragraph? Or where can I find it please?

many, many thanks!

Gr1pr

So you are saying that the issue date on the pcn is correct   ?  ( meaning that the incident date was maybe a week or two earlier   ),  dcb legal are usually incorrect with the date,  check the incident date versus the issue date 

Email the completed AOS document to the AOS email address and you will receive an email auto response from the CNBC in Northampton,  proof of delivery 

We dont assess chances,  we advise you on your best defence based on the template defence,  which addresses the POC on the claim form 

The case definitely has not been dropped   ( not discontinued  )  deal with the present only,  not working is usually newbie errors,  or the browser you are using 

There are plenty of recent examples of paragraph 3 , numbered points of 1 to 6, have a good read of the recent cases that have only just been started this year,  they start with  " regarding the POC  " , like mentioned in this recent case

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6575730/dcb-legal-creating-my-defence/p1

Post your proposals for paragraphs 2, 3 and 3,1 after studying more cases