Excel Parking/DCBlegal Defence advice - Paying outside of the 10 minute time upon entry.

newbie_2517

Hello everyone. 

Firstly thank you all to all the regulars for the comprehensive guidance you have provided on these forums and newbie threads, it is really invaluable and has been a great motivation and source of help to fighting these private parking thieves.  I will try to be as concise as possible presenting you my case.  I also hope that whatever I proceed to post will be of use to other people who fall victim of these scoundrels and add to the wealth of information that has already been posted, and I further will endeavour to keep you updated from hereon in regarding the progress of my case.   I feel the time I have spent researching and constructing the various correspondences to the relevant parties is beginning to make me somewhat of an information source on the subject.  I seek the advice of you all on my case as I have now got to the point where I need assistance with some questions that have arisen in my mind regarding the construction of my defence.  I would be most grateful of your help in the matter.  I will try to include all relevant information about by particular case in a clear format. 

• Personal background:  I work part time as a professional. I became a new mother in 2024. I have some limited legal training as an expert witness within my own profession. 

• Current status: Acknowledgment of service submitted today 19th February 2025 on the moneyclaim.gov.uk website.  The claim form was issued on 13th February 2025.      (Claimant: Excel parking services limited, represented by DCB Legal ltd.)

• Summary: I received a private parking invoice in early September 2024.  This was for allegedly not purchasing the ticket within the 10 minute time allowed upon physical entry of the car park. The contravention took place in late August 2024.  The reason was stated as: '101) FAILURE TO PURCHASE THE PARKING TARIFF FOR THE REGISTRATION MARK OF THE VEHICLE ON SITE/OR WITHIN THE TIME ALLOWED'. I initially took this to mean the private number plate was registered incorrectly as it lacked the space in the middle on the letter.  I was the driver, but this is in fact my husband's (small SUV) vehicle and this was one of the first times I had driven it. However, after later clarification from DCB legal through email correspondence, I learnt the invoice was in fact due to being outside the 10 minute time frame allowed to purchase the ticket.   They kindly sent me the entry and exit time of my vehicle on a cctv image, which conveniently confirms my ticket fare in fact covers the whole of the time my vehicle was parked in the car park from the time of physical entry, and it also shows that I left the car park earlier than the 3 hours I had paid for on the tariff.  On the day in question, this was my first outing as a new mother to a very busy town centre with my 9 week old baby. The car park was busy, which meant it took time for me to find a space, (and one sufficient enough for the size of the vehicle), and the fact that I then had to unload a pram. Upon parking I had to attend to my infants immediate basic needs as he was notably upset and in need.  This involved me changing his nappy etc, and then I proceeded to unload his pram, put him in it, and then make my way to the ticket machine so as to not leave him unattended to in the vehicle, (which would of course, be unsafe).   I have not been sent any evidence of purchasing the ticket outside of the 10 minute consideration period, despite request of this evidence from both Excel parking and DCB legal.  I believe that if I did purchase outside the consideration period it cannot have been more that 10-20 minutes, and in any case, my ticket covers the whole of the time period I parked in this privately owned car park.    
• I believe have followed the protocols after closely following the newbies forum guidelines and I will attach the timeline of action I have taken.  I have now received a claim which I fully intend to defend, (even if it means going to a hearing) as I believe my mitigating circumstances are sufficient plus the fact that my ticket covered the whole period of time I was parked in the car park. 
• I am also hopeful after reading a recently published article on the money saving expert website.  It talks about the latest 'private parking sector single code of practice version 1.1', a document published 17th February 2025 by the BPA and IPC. The article on MSE writes "From today (Monday 17 February), drivers using private car parks with camera technology (such as Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) or CCTV camera monitoring) should no longer receive a parking charge notice as long as they pay in full for the duration of their stay before leaving the car park." "Today's changes follow a review of the sector's Private Parking Code of Practice, set up by the UK's two private parking industry trade bodies; The British Parking Association (BPA) and the International Parking Community (IPC)." "Citing this new code could help to bolster your case if you do have a complaint with a private parking firm". "This new code also only applies to charges issued on or after 17 February or to charges issued before this date that are unresolved. So, if you've received a charge prior to this date, which you've paid, you won't be able to go back and appeal it." MSE Parking shake up takes force. Available at: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2025/02/private-parking-charges-five-minute-rule/ dated 17th February 2025 (Accessed 19th February 2025). 

Following this summary I would now like to ask my questions to you all pertaining my case, in order to help with writing my defence.  If it is of use in order to answer these questions, upon request I can post my claim form and correspondence with both DCB legal and Excel parking.  I have also included a timeline of events at the end of this post for information purposes relating to my own case.  Thank you in advance if you take the time to read my questions and help me to answer them.

Questions 

1)  Parts 3 & 4 of the 'Particulars of Claim' write:

"3.   The defendant is pursued as the driver of the vehicle for breach of the terms on the signs (the contract). Reason: 101) Failure TO Purchase The Parking Tariff For The Registration Mark Of The Vehicle On Site And/or Within The Time Allowed
4.   In the alternative the defendant is pursued as the keeper pursuant to POFA 2012, Schedule 4."

My question here is, part 4 states that I am pursued as the keeper, should I correct or point out in my defence that this is not the case? If so will this benefit me at all in defence of the claim?

2) Should I send the paper forms to the court containing the defence in addition to the email? Can I also please confirm the email address is correct: claimresponses.CNBC@justice.go.uk.  (Also, any thoughts as to why they do not include the email claimresponses.CNBC@justice.go.uk on the claim form letter?)

3) My previous requests for evidence to DCB legal and Excel parking were written in the correspondence as 'request for evidence'. This was never acknowledged. I never wrote requesting a 'subject to access request'. Is it still wrong for them to not acknowledge this request for evidence even though not framed as a subject to access request? Should I now follow up with a subject to access request in the meantime whilst writing my defence? If so should I do this to DCB legal and Excel parking or just one? And is there any point to doing this now at this stage? If so why should I do this and how can I used this information to help my defence? And If they do not respond to the subject access should I also include that in my defence?

4) The contravention they are citing is that the time I paid for the parking tariff was outside of the 10 minute consideration period. They have not once proven this with any evidence to myself, despite request for this.  They have only supplied photos of the vehicle entering and exiting the car park, which coincidentally works well for my case as it shows my tariff of £2.50 for 3 hours covers the entirety of my stay.  I have since contacted my bank who have confirmed I was 9 minutes over the 10 minute consideration period (in relation to the time stamp of the payment leaving my bank).  Would you suggest I include this information in my defence, with an explanation that this would in fact account for the whole time it took from physically driving into the car park (which is what they have included a photo of, vehicle still moving at this point whilst searching for a space), finding the space in a busy car park, attending to my baby's needs and then finally unloading the pram and then walking to the machine to purchase the ticket. Or, omit it entirely, as they have not provided any evidence themselves that I purchased the ticket outside the consideration period and this in fact confirms they are correct in relation to their contravention.

5) Do I need to submit my evidence with my defence, or is this only required at the witness statement stage? Or is it optional and you can send the evidence with the defence as well if prepared? The main evidence I have prepared include my bank statement, my baby's birth certificate confirming his age at the time, photos taken on the day of myself with my baby to confirm he was with me and of the vehicle registration which I took on the day as I had to go back and forth between the car as I forgot the registration plate number. I was also going to include all correspondence between myself, DCB legal and Excel parking, including an inadequate response from the parking company to both the appeal and a complaint.

6) Should I make a separate complaint to the information commissioners office regarding DCB legal/Excel parking? Or should I wait until I have done a subject access request? Also, what do they normally reply to subject access requests?

7) In one correspondence I was going to mention reporting DCB legal to the solicitors regulation authority, I decided against this.  Should I create further correspondence stating this to them (as I read one forum member on a different website had their claim dismissed as a result of this), or is this unlikely to be successful/worth doing at this point. Also, should we be reporting them as a solicitors firm as their representation of these parking firms seems questionable and quite dishonest, which goes against the code of practice for the SRA?

8) Would you recommend I quote the inadequate response/lack of recognition to my complaint to Excel parking in my defence?

9) Should I try emailing DCB legal quoting the article I referenced and new code of practice for BPA/IPC, thereby giving them a chance to retract their claim? Also, can they retract their claim at this point?

10) Do I absolutely need to quote all the historical judgements listed in the template defence on the newbies thread in my defence, or should I just choose 1 or 2 to support my case? Is this necessary in both the defence and the witness statement later?

11) Could it please kindly be clarified how long I now have to write my defence after submitting my acknowledgement of service today. Is it 28 days from today's date?

12) At what point does the phone call mediation happen? I had read this on a thread and then lost it. Is this only if a hearing date is given?

13) At what point is a hearing date given? Once I have submitted my defence, I believe the next step are questionnaires.  Is it possible for this to get thrown out once the defence is submitted? In which case will it be a judge that throws it out or will it be DCB legal retracting the claim?

Many thanks if you have reached the end of these questions, it has taken me a considerable amount of time and energy to construct, however as I am fully invested in defending myself and hopefully helping to promote others not to pay these thieves, I have taken the time to throw myself into this process.   I am happy to upload all of my correspondence if it will be of use to others in the future or will help to answer my questions. 

Please see below a time line of the events in my case so far incase it is of use to anyone answering my questions or for their own case.

Thank you in advance.

Time line:

1. First letter from Excel parking sent to my husband at our home address (he is the registered vehicle keeper) 5/9/24
2. Appeal submitted by myself naming myself as the driver on the myparkingcharge.com website12/9/24
3. Appeal rejected, correspondence in the form of a pdf attached letter via email 25/09/24. Notes the mitigating circumstances have been rejected.
4. First physical letter at home from DCB legal  - titled ‘notice of debt recovery’ 30/10/24.
5. Second physical letter from DCB legal - titled ‘notice of intended legal action’ 13/11/24.
6. Letter of claim sent in the post from DCB legal 2/12/24.
7. My Response to DCB legal’s letter of claim sent via email 16/12/24.
8. My email complaint sent to excel parking 16/12/24 (also cc’d to dcb legal) and simultaneously identical physical copy posted to excel parking.
9. Response to complaint from excel parking received via email 17/12/24 saying they class it as an appeal even though it was clearly titled ‘complaint’.
10. Response to complaint from excel parking via physical letter in response to posted letter of complaint 27/12/24. Different response, still not acknowledging the complaint and referring to it as a letter and stating that the case is with DCB legal.
11. Email Response from DCB legal to my response to the letter of claim 8/1/25
12. My email Response to DCB legal’s response to my letter of claim response 15/1/25 (no response back to this from DCB legal).        ~ Correspondence ends here. ~
13. Issue date of Claim: 13/2/25 received via post 14/2/25.
14. Acknowledgment of service done by myself on the www.moneyclaim.gov.uk website 19/2/25.
15. Current status: drafting defence
16. Next step: submit defence to claimresponses.CNBC@justice.gov.uk
17. (Likely next steps depending on progression: directions questionnaires x2/witness statement & evidence stage/phone mediation/hearing).

(If the PPC company discontinues shortly before the hearing can I will try writing to the court and ask for assessed costs.)

KeithP

Hello and welcome.

I'll leave most of your questions for others to address.

With a Claim Issue Date of 13th February, and having filed an Acknowledgment of Service('AOS') in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Tuesday 18th 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 at the second post in the NEWBIES thread.

Don't miss the deadline 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'.

newbie_2517

Thank-you @KeithP I will keep a note of that date. And thank-you for all your hard work on the forum I have been reading many threads where you have helped lots of people. Will let you know how this one pans out in due course. 

Car1980

"Or, omit it entirely, as they have not provided any evidence themselves that I purchased the ticket outside the consideration period and this in fact confirms they are correct in relation to their contravention."

Yes, the onus is entirely on them to provide evidence of what their particulars claim.

But by all means state that you entered the car park at x time, left the car park at y time, and your payment covered this time period.

Gr1pr

Paragraph 2 will say that the Defendant was the driver,  at the end 

1) as driver,  dont cloud the issue

2) Email only ,  you would have to ask them not us , about the omissions,  irrelevant really,  Email only 

3) a SAR goes to the DPO only,  they wont divulge evidence until the  WS  stage 

4) save it for the WS, if it gets that far

5) witness statement 

6) wait until later

7) WS

8) later, WS

9) Try if you want,  no harm done 

10) no idea  

11) KeithP answered 

12) after the defence is filed,  when you receive a letter,  at some point in the future 

13) sometime later this year,  unless one of those scenarios occurs 

Dont overthink this,  the timescales and hurdles are not set in stone,  some cases drag on for a couple of years, but I expect that Excel Parking will discontinue if full payment was made,  as per the latest changes regarding the so called 5 minutes rule,  as seen in the news recently 

newbie_2517

Thank-you @Car1980 , I think I will do just that then and omit it. Makes sense as if they are willing to send cctv photos of me entering and exiting the car park, then they should have also provided some sort of evidence to substantiate the main point of their claim which was the purchase time of the ticket.  Thank-you very much @Gr1pr for taking the time to go through each of my questions individually, much appreciated and very helpful.   

newbie_2517

Just bumping this in case anyone else can add their thoughts before I start drafting. Any ideas most welcome. 

Gr1pr

newbie_2517 said:

Thank-you @Car1980 , I think I will do just that then and omit it. Makes sense as if they are willing to send cctv photos of me entering and exiting the car park, then they should have also provided some sort of evidence to substantiate the main point of their claim which was the purchase time of the ticket.  Thank-you very much @Gr1pr for taking the time to go through each of my questions individually, much appreciated and very helpful.   

I doubt that they will be using cctv,  so probably wont have pictures of you as a person 

They monitor vehicle movements,  timings, VRM details,  anything about people tends to fail,  like leaving site etc 

newbie_2517

@Gr1pr  It is a zoomed out cctv picture of my vehicle driving in and driving out. Which I think is silly to use that as the time from which you can purchase your ticket, as at that point I still had to drive around looking for a space. 

Gr1pr

Its usually ANPR cameras setup to monitor the entrance and exit,  not CCTV cameras 

I wouldn't expect CCTV monitoring a person paying at all in any location 

Do you have proof that its CCTV or is that an assumption   ?

Why would they be monitoring people paying or not paying   ?

How would they actually identify a person just from a picture or recording   ?

newbie_2517

Oh I see what you mean now, no I don’t mean they will have recorded me at the pay station. But to be honest, I’ve just looked at the car ones entering and exiting the premises and you can see it’s me but they’ve cut my head off on the image. Should they be recording peoples faces because they definitely are? Shall I upload the photos of the vehicle to show you? Looks like cctv to me.