DCB Legal Parking Charge?

prettykittykat123

Advice Needed on Parking Charge and Legal Claim

A year ago, my partner was working on a property on a small estate. The estate agent directed him to a specific parking spot, which he used as instructed. A month later, he received a £70 parking charge from Secure a Space Ltd, stating he had parked without a permit. There was no ticket left on his car. When he contacted the estate agent, they refused to help.

Feeling the charge was unfair, I researched online, and the general advice suggested ignoring it, as it was not enforceable. Despite being law-abiding, I advised him to follow this approach. Over the past year, he has received regular letters, which we continued to ignore.

On 4th March, he received a Claim Form (N1SDT) from DCB Legal, along with a Defence and Counterclaim Form, Response Pack (N9SDT), and an Admission (specified amount) form. There was also a letter from HM Courts and Tribunal, stating that a CCJ could be requested. The charge had now increased to £268.36.

At this point, we decided to settle the claim. The paperwork directed us to moneyclaim  where we were supposed to enter the Claim Number and password. However, after multiple attempts, we couldn’t access the system. I then tried to pay directly via the DCB Legal website, but after entering my payment details, I received a fraud alert from my bank, and the payment was stopped.

I have since spent hours researching forums and advisory websites, but the advice is conflicting:

• Pay it? Or don’t pay it?
• Ignore it? Or respond?
• Wait for a court hearing? Or act now?

Some of my reluctance comes from a previous experience—I was scammed out of £3,500 and spent six years trying to recover it, only to be advised to eventually to "let it go."

Has anyone been through something similar or has any clear advice on the best course of action?

Gr1pr

Secure a space issued the parking charge notice,  DCB Legal issued the court claim on their behalf 

The defendant should defend the claim,  definitely not paying anything at all

Definitely do not ignore a court claim 

It may be enforceable,  only time will tell

There won't be a court hearing if the Defendant ignores it, or fails to defend it

The date that the claim was received is irrelevant 

Post the issue date from the top right of the claim form 

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

Coupon-mad

prettykittykat123 said:

Advice Needed on Parking Charge and Legal Claim

A year ago, my partner was working on a property on a small estate. The estate agent directed him to a specific parking spot, which he used as instructed. A month later, he received a £70 parking charge from Secure a Space Ltd, stating he had parked without a permit. There was no ticket left on his car. When he contacted the estate agent, they refused to help.

Feeling the charge was unfair, I researched online, and the general advice suggested ignoring it, as it was not enforceable. Despite being law-abiding, I advised him to follow this approach. Over the past year, he has received regular letters, which we continued to ignore.

On 4th March, he received a Claim Form (N1SDT) from DCB Legal, along with a Defence and Counterclaim Form, Response Pack (N9SDT), and an Admission (specified amount) form. There was also a letter from HM Courts and Tribunal, stating that a CCJ could be requested. The charge had now increased to £268.36.

At this point, we decided to settle the claim. The paperwork directed us to moneyclaim  where we were supposed to enter the Claim Number and password. However, after multiple attempts, we couldn’t access the system. I then tried to pay directly via the DCB Legal website, but after entering my payment details, I received a fraud alert from my bank, and the payment was stopped.

I have since spent hours researching forums and advisory websites, but the advice is conflicting:

• Pay it? Or don’t pay it?
• Ignore it? Or respond?
• Wait for a court hearing? Or act now?

This doesn't take hours of research. Use the Template Defence. Easy stuff!

prettykittykat123

Thank you for your help. I am trying to upload a redacted photo of the letter that I received. I will have another go.

Gr1pr

Add a short sentence or description when uploading your pictures 

prettykittykat123

This is the letter received. I have redacted the details as advised

[Image removed by Forum Team]

Gr1pr

Report that unredacted picture for removal ASAP 

No personal information can be posted on MSE

Your claim reference and your personal private password are visible 

Secure a Space via DCB Legal,  issue date 4th march 2025 , failure to display a valid permit 

The date in the POC is probably incorrect too, so prompting the recent typical paragraphs 2 & 3

prettykittykat123

I am so sorry but I don't know how to remove this. I have 'reported' myself to MSE. I think I will come off this Forum as I haven't learnt how to use it properly. I am so sorry for any offence.

Gr1pr

No problem,  I have reported it for deletion, there is no offence,  just a simple mistake 

Stick with our advice but be careful what information you post, nothing to identify you or your case

KeithP

This is all we needed to see...

     

and...

     

With a Claim Issue Date of 4th March, you have until Monday 24th March 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 7th April 2025 to file a Defence.

That's almost 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 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'.

prettykittykat123

Thank you so much for your help. I have filed an AOS carefully following your instruction. From your advice, I now have time to file a defence which is not to be filed via the MCOL. I will reference again the NEWBIES thread. Thank you