ECP , DCB Legal court claim 2025

Deemoo

Hi 
I am in need of some advice, I have received notice of final debt recovery from a bailiff company for a parking fine from 2023. The complexity of it is that I was out of the country when the fine was issued, the car was parked in a car park and the £1 fee was not paid by my ex partner. Any letters were not forwarded to me (we split a month after the incident ) but since finally getting round to changing my address on my driving licence something has clearly “pinged” on a system and a week later I have received a recovery letter for £170. 

I obviously would like to appeal because I wasn’t in the country, any letters were not forwarded and £170 for not paying £1 is just obscene. Is it worth doing or do I wait for a court date ? 

Fruitcake

Was it really a fine (from a council, court, or police) or a parking charge notice from an unregulated private parking company?

Which company sent the debt letter? Debt collectors are powerless and can safely be ignored. A letter of/before claim or a court claim, or a warrant of control or court appointed bailiffs must not. The latter however can only occur if a court case has been heard, you lost, and a court order issued for you to pay. 

We need more information before we can help you properly.

Have you changed the V5C details with the DVLA? Updating just your driving licence does not do this. 

If this is for a parking charge notice, then you should send a rectification notice to the DPO of the PPC, instructing them to erase your personal data and replace it with your current address for service. Make sure to use the word, "erase," as it has a specific meaning where data handling is concerned.
You should also thoroughly read the sticky Announcement for NEWBIES.

Deemoo

Hi Fruitcake,

the letter is from dcb legal (civil commercial litigation solicitors) and it is titled as a ”letter of claim” on behalf of Euro car parks. It says I have 30 days to pay or complete the reply form and financial statement. 

The car is an nhs fleet so I’m thinking maybe it’s just coincidence I changed my license details and a week later I get this letter. The fleet people knew about my address change in December. I have not had any email correspondence from nhs fleet about this fine. 

Coupon-mad

It is coincidence. They've traced you.

Same advice as here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81428493/#Comment_81428493

But please don't post the 'template LBC reply' here; we never need to check it.

Saves us time if people just use the resource thread ... and you'll learn soooo much more by reading it first. You will be glad that we protect our time when you really need us at claim form stage.

No link provided to the NEWBIES thread.

See my signature:

Deemoo

Hi, 
the court letter has arrived this morning, I was wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of a template or help with completion of the n9b form. 

Facts are, ex partner used and parked the car without my knowledge, this particular car park used to be free. (Half of it still is) Because of the poor signage and the fact it had been free for many years the land owner was forced by our local council to suspend all claims against non payment for a month period after instating the charges this ended in the may 23. Ticket issued against me in the June 23. (I wasn’t in the country) all correspondence was hidden from me. (We split up a month later) I am not sure if my ex knew that there were charges applied to the carpark, the signage has now been changed because of the confusion. (I am not in a position to discuss this with my ex the circumstances are not amicable) But either way I am not happy to pay the £282 that DCB legal want from me, any help would be much appreciated. 

Thanks in advance 

Gr1pr

Do not complete any forms,  no paperwork involved 

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

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

Presumably the claimant is ECP with DCB Legal acting on their behalf 

Study the newbies sticky thread in announcements near the top of the forum by coupon mad,  especially the second post about court claims, then look at the template defence thread in announcements too

You should also look at recent cases over the last 6 weeks,  to see the advice given and their adapted paragraphs from the template by coupon mad 

Deemoo

Hi
the issue date is 27th may 2025, yep it is Euro carpark limited. 

Gr1pr

Login to MCOL via the government gateway and complete the AOS online,  nothing else on MCOL,  logout when complete,  the 2nd post in the newbies sticky thread in announcements explains it with a Dropbox link 

Then copy and slightly adapt paragraphs 2 & 3 from any recent case and post your adapted paragraphs below for critique 

Your defence submission deadline will be around 28th of June

Deemoo

Thank you, will do. 

Coupon-mad

Read any other DCB Legal Euro thread. Copy what they did in terms of defence. Easy.

KeithP

Deemoo said:

the issue date is 27th may 2025. 

With a Claim Issue Date of 27th May, you have until Monday 16th June 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 30th June 2025 to file a Defence.

That's over 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'.