DCB Legal £9,000 Smart Parking Claim – Need Help Fighting Back

A4BZ

[Image removed by Forum Team}
[Image removed by Forum Team]Hello,

I’m looking for some guidance on behalf of my partner, Andrew.

He has recently received a Letter of Claim from DCB Legal acting for Smart Parking Ltd. The total is an eye-watering £9,010, which they say relates to multiple PCNs at a private car park (opposite a gym he used to attend, owned by a church). These tickets apparently go back as far as 2021 and have now been bundled together.


We sent an appeal to DCB outlining extenuating circumstances:

• Andrew has been in prison since February 2024 (first and last mistake in his life), so we weren’t aware of these notices being sent.
• Before that we moved addresses a few times: around 2 years at one address, 11 months at another, and before that he lived at home with his mum. I’ve lived with my mum all my life until moving in with him.
• He honestly doesn’t recall receiving these PCNs at the time — it’s possible they were lost in post or not passed on due to the moves and his lifestyle.

Despite this, DCB replied saying their client intends to proceed. They’ve even sent us a Directions Questionnaire (N181) already filled out, although we’re waiting for the court to officially issue one.


Andrew can’t attend a trial in person due to incarceration, and we’re unsure whether I’d have to go in his place (which would be very difficult for me). We also can’t afford to pay anything towards this — let alone thousands. A CCJ would be devastating for us long term, as when he comes home we need a clean credit file to remortgage and get back on our feet.


Our concerns:

• Can Smart Parking really pursue nearly £9,000 for parking charges from 2021?
• How do we challenge the inflated sum?
• What’s the best way to handle the N181 and disclosure process, given Andrew’s situation?
• Is there any realistic chance of this being discontinued or reduced?
• And what happens if we simply cannot pay?

I’ll attach the letters we’ve received so far within this thread.

Any advice on the best next steps would be hugely appreciated, as this is overwhelming.


Thank you,


Amy

Gr1pr

Yes they can pursue a court claim against anyone for any reason,  in England and Wales,  for anything within the last 6 years,  so definitely after 4 years,  the Limitations Act 1980 defines it as 6 years before it is statute barred

It might be discontinued,  but I doubt it 

A judge may award a smaller sum, or the claim amount,  to Smart Parking via DCB Legal,  if your partner lost in court 

As its been fast tracked, and due to the amount and circumstances etc, my advice is to contact Contestor Legal and see what they say regarding representation etc

If you cannot pay the judgment,  if it happened,  then a CCJ would follow,  probably followed by a High Court Writ and bailiffs, due to the amount being over £600.  You definitely dont want that

So to be clear, I am advising you both to seek professional legal representation ( not going it alone,  not unrepresented   )

Ps, HOW MANY PCN'S ARE THEY CLAIMING IN TOTAL  ?

doubledotcom

The claim has been defended. What was the defence? Where did you get advice (if any) on how to defend this?

Coupon-mad

The church should be VERY ashamed of letting a rogue agent kick a guy for >£9000 when he's down & out. Clearly he will never pay this.

It says this case is not on the small claims track & it was "issued in the High Court" and 'fast track'.

Was it? He needs to object to that. A claim under £10k can be dealt with in small claims. But is the claim over £10k due to the court fees added?

Show us your exact defence verbatim.

Show us the claim form, redacting your data, your VRM, the Claim no and the MCOL password if issued via MCOL.

And who signed the claim form on the back? Sarah Ensall?

ChirpyChicken

If this is a fast track its a whole different ball game with regards to costs 
The defence you logged is not a defence
There are different processes involved 
How long is he in prison for? 
If what you describe has been logged as a defence that will hopefully get struck out and he can start afresh
Given the amount if he owns part of the property then a charging order is possible

Look at the fast track guidance and follow it
If he had no mortgage i would have had it wiped with a DRO
If he has long to serve the court should have his prison address along with prison number asap 
I would get him to write to dcb legal stating his correct addrsss for service along with the court.

ChirpyChicken

You can also the court to allocate to the small claims track even though its over the limit but wont be by much to limit the costs exposure

Coupon-mad

Definitely ask for it to be allocated to the small claims track. Clearly object to fast track.

Put yourself down to take the Mediation call, if Andrew agrees. It's just a phone call next month. You don't have to offer a penny, so don't!

Ask the Mediator to ask the DCB Legal person on the call for their name, position and any law qualification. Get that written down and tell us who was on the call because it could be important.

A4BZ

It seems some of the attachments did not go through so I have attempted to reattach them.  I cannot send a link to all the pictures as I am classed as a newbie to this forum. 

We honestly do not know the extent of the amount of PCNs involved but it certainly does not merit anywhere near approx. £9000.  We have moved between 3 different addresses in the last 4 years and then my partner was imprisoned so we certainly did not receive most of these PCNs and the truth is life was so hectic at the time that perhaps one or two slipped through the net so to speak.  I am up to the brink with managing our jointly owned flat which we mortgage and cannot afford any additional outlay and I don’t want him to have a CCJ giving him another big set back when he’s released.

I cannot afford legal representation either for this, are their solicitors whom work on a legal aid basis for this?
My partner currently has solicitors instructed under legal aid for his criminal case. 

We have not filed a defense in response to DCB sending this N181 directions questionnaire yet, I only submitted an appeal on behalf of my partner via email to DCB in response to their letter of claim prior to them sending the N181 to ‘save time and for ease’ as they worded it.

I am waiting for the court to officially send the N181 themselves to me with the relevant timeframes to adhere to etc so we can respond accordingly.  If I attempt to reroute the correspondence to my partner I fear post nah be lost on the way or officers may not do their job properly as is unfortunately standard practice more time in the establishment he is currently in.  I will request mediation as you all have advised when I do officially response to the N181 once the court has sent it and inform them within the directions questionnaire that my partner is imprisoned.  Someone else advised me to request the hearing or trial is postponed until my partners release so he can handle it himself as it has nothing to do with me.  Is this an option?

Thank you all so much for your assistance.

Gr1pr

The Letter of Claim was in July 2025

The above letters since July state that there was a defence submitted, so there must have been an actual  court claim   ( because the claim reference number is on the paperwork above,  M5K etc on 5th September ) and as they say that a defence was filed,  it seems to me that a defence was filed, with the CNBC in Northampton,  not an appeal  !

We would like to see that defence 

Please post a redacted picture of the claim form below after hiding the personal and private information,  especially if it was an N1SDT claim form from the CNBC in Northampton using MCOL , which the CNBC is definitely mentioned on the letters above 

ChirpyChicken

No you did log a defence with the court . Other wise we would not be where we are now
Please post up exactly word for word the document you posted to the court(that is a given)
Legal aid is not available for this

What you logged is not suitable and should be disregarded.

As your partner is in prison he will be entitled to help with fees. So I would make an application on his behalf (as him) to log an amended defence.  (As it wont cost anything)  you may be lucky and the defence will strike out your unsuitable defence but get the ball rolling by getting an application done. Help with fees is done on the .gov website.

Do this logically.   

You have not answered my questions about how long he has left to serve. As that impacts the address that needs to be used

Forget anything else other then ive mentioned 

So help with fees-claim address sorted -get a proper defence 

Contestor legal may do this but with your partner being inside makes it harder

If the address is changed to the prison also and they instruct HCEO they are also stuffed (if you lose)

doubledotcom

I can’t find any public record that Sarah Ensall is an authorised litigator.

DCB Legal’s own team page lists Sarah Ensall as Head of Bulk Litigation but does not describe her as a solicitor. DCB Legal. Her public LinkedIn profile describes prior roles such as Paralegal; again, there’s no claim of being a solicitor or CILEX practitioner with litigation rights.

I did not find an entry for her on the SRA Solicitors Register, and I couldn’t locate her in the public CILEX authorised-practitioner directory. That doesn’t conclusively prove she isn’t authorised (registers can be incomplete or names can be listed differently), but there’s no publicly verifiable evidence that she holds solicitor status or separate litigation rights.

Signing/issuing ordinarily counts as conducting litigation. If she was not authorised/exempt, this is an irregular reserved act under the Legal Services Act 2007. Carrying on a reserved legal activity when not authorised may breach s.14 LSA 2007 which is an offence.

You should send a short request to DCB Legal’s COLP because that is the firm’s compliance officer responsible for ensuring the firm follows SRA rules and for recording/reporting breaches. At DCB Legal, the COLP is Rebecca Horton-Grainger, a solicitor regulated by the SRA. If Ms Ensall was not personally authorised to conduct litigation when she signed the claim form and the directions questionnaire, that is an irregular reserved step. The court will usually allow the defect to be cured, but it can still justify a costs order or judicial criticism, especially if there is a late discontinuance.

A direct question to the COLP is the cleanest way to establish the facts: whether Ms Ensall held a practising certificate or other litigation rights at the time, and whether she was employed by, seconded to, or consulting for DCB Legal with authority to sign those documents. If the COLP confirms authorisation, you can move on. If not, you have reliable support for a costs application. If there is no reply, you can show the court you tried to resolve the point and invite a direction or an adverse costs inference.

Send the request from the defendant or their authorised representative to keep it within the case record and avoid data protection objections. Keep it neutral, ask yes/no questions tied to the document dates, and set a short, reasonable deadline so you can meet the court timetable. This is low effort, high value for the costs argument, and has no downside to the merits.