DCBL fine - now received Courts and Tribunals letter.

Squish2307

Hi! I received a parking fine in December 2019 from Meadowhall retail park, ignored this and then received a dcbl letter a few weeks later. Ignored this again and never heard anything back until December 2024 where ive received 2 letters a month apart. Again, ignored them both from the advice of these threads saying they will eventually drop the case and it’s not a standing fine. However today I’ve received a Courts and Tribunals letter stating I now owe £270 (dcbl was only asking for £120) and if I ignore this letter they will inflict a CCJ against me. 

I wish I never even bothered to believe in this forum and just paid the original amount. 

Gr1pr

Just follow the advice in the following new thread 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6603658/claim-form-received#latest

Nellymoser

 I’ve received a Courts and Tribunals letter stating I now owe £270 (dcbl was only asking for £120) and if I ignore this letter they will inflict a CCJ against me. 

I wish I never even bothered to believe in this forum and just paid the original amount. 

Have a read of this thread and start believing in this forum again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6377263/dcb-legal-record-of-private-parking-court-claim-discontinuations#latest

I think your misunderstanding what's stated in the letter. The Legal firm who filed the claim are claiming you owe £270. It's not a factual amount, it's a figure their hoping for. It's unlikely to end up at a court hearing but if it did and you lost the judge would determine the sum and it wouldn't be what the Legal firm are asking for.

No CCJ by default as long as you don’t ignore the claim letter, you defend it within the court's stated timescales with the forum thread guide and help from forum members.

Follow advice on Gr1pr post and read NEWBIES Announcement thread 2nd post Small Claim.

Coupon-mad

Do you only have a bog standard Claim Form like in every other thread you read?

Show us, redacted of course, including covering the password.

Squish2307

Here is the claim form I received, I’ve been reading through the threads but find them quite confusing on what my next step should be 

KeithP

With a Claim Issue Date of 24th April, you have until Tuesday 13th May 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 Tuesday 27th May 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'.

Coupon-mad

Squish2307 said:

Here is the claim form I received, I’ve been reading through the threads but find them quite confusing on what my next step should be 

It isn't confusing. Same advice as here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81432125/#Comment_81432125

Literally copy one like yours. Don't overthink it

Squish2307

Okay, so I’ve just filed my AOS. I’ve found the 30 paragraph defence letter on the thread. Is that okay to be copy and pasted or will I need to change some things on it/add more? Mines through G24 ltd. Sorry for sounding so stupid I’m just overthinking it all

Gr1pr

You are altering paragraphs 2 & 3 from the template defence,  then replacing them within your copy and paste of the template,  the rest of the template is unchanged,  so 10 minutes work, save as a pdf document 

You will be putting in your own details,  the claim reference,  the 2 adversaries etc, as well

The point of any template is that 95% of the work is done for you, leaving you with a few changes or additions etc

If you were to want advice on paragraphs 2 & 3 after alterations,  you post just them 2 below,  for critique,  not the whole thing.   When completed,  your final document will be around 30 paragraphs 

Gr1pr

Its exactly the same advice as given above,  plus the same in almost every other G24 DCB Legal court claim threads over the last 4 weeks   ( so since they changed from the word issued to the word contravention in the POC on the lower left of the claim form  )