Civil Enforcement Limited Parking Fine - County Court Claim Issued

Lakshmila

Hello,

CEL Ltd - Gone to claims court
I've received a Claim Form from Civil National Business Centre about a parking fine and would really like some help with this. I read on the forum that there is a whole thread with a defence template but I have been unable to find this.

Incident
I was dropping off my 16 year old son at a friend's house in the town centre late at night in November 2024. I parked in an area of car parking that has different areas for different companies' usage including M&S. There is no clear demarkation and it is poorly lit. I walked my son to the house but there was a delay and it took me longer than expected so I parked for 1 hour and 24 min after 11pm in November 2024.

There is a yellow municipal parking sign right next to this section in which i parked which says 8am-6pm. I have seen this sign for many years, and I thought that it was ok to park here after 6pm. I looked but didn't notice other signs. It was very dark and nothing stood out.
When i revisited the site, I saw other signs but they are not lit. There is another larger sign 'euro car parks' on a lamp post a little further away on the outside of this section of parking facing towards the road. The street lamp that the sign is attached to is facing the opposite way - so illuminating the back of the sign. This makes the sign unclear and dim at night. There are also smaller signs on the walls but the writing is very small and there are no lights at all in this section so could not be read at night without a torch. I didn't even notice them when i parked.

I took photos on my phone on Friday 19/09/25 of all the signs and where i parked. There are no clear hours of operation shown on any of the signs. 

Fines and Court Claim
I received a parking charge of £100 from Civil Enforcement Ltd. then various threatening letters from Civil Enforcement, 'dcbl' bailiffs and then 'zzps' then a Court Claim from Civil National Business Centre. The claim requests a payment of £265.58

Here are details from moneyclaim.gov

A claim was issued against you on 21/08/2025

Your acknowledgment of service was submitted on 31/08/2025 at 09:40:13

Your acknowledgment of service was received on 01/09/2025 at 01:06:52

I need help with the next step. I think it is quite urgent as I have 28 days from service of claim which from above i think is either 31/08/25 or 01/09/25 and today is 22/09/25. I think then my defence needs to be in by Sunday 28th September. 6 days time!

Any help greatly appreciated.

Coupon-mad

Welcome!

Just use the Template Defence! Takes half an hour max. How can there have been signs for ECP yet you got a PCN from CEL?

Show us the photos please, and the POC.

Lakshmila

I don't know, but I did get a PCN from CEL. What is POC?
I parked on the right against the wall - close to the silver car in the first photo The second photo shows the same car park with the wall on the right, the euro parks sign and then i just noticed another sign further up. There are also blue and yellow signs on the wall but they are the same colour as the ECP sign so assumed it was all part of the same car park. It looks like the same car park has different sections for different companies but there is no clear marking.

Lakshmila

The little signs on the wall are different to the big ECP sign. I didn't notice them but if i did I would have though they were smaller versions of the ECP sign as they use identical colours with blue bottom and yellow. There are no hours of operation easily seen. Perhaps I'll go down and take another photo. 
 

Lakshmila

PS ...Where is the template defence? Does anyone have a link I can follow?

It looks very confusing in this car park. I've lived in the town since I was born and parked around this area many times. I've paid via the machine nearby, but really thought it was only applicable between 8am and 6pm. I had no idea that this section was different.

Coupon-mad

No link. Top of the forum.

You seem to have missed reading my signature:

Lakshmila

Thank you @Coupon-mad, so kind of you. I'm sure it's very helpful. I'm struggling to work out what I have to do but I haven't given up and will try to get my brain in gear. I saw that some sent in defence online. Is this what MCOL means?
I'm at the phase where I've acknowledged service and have a form to fill in. It seems that I should not fill in the form but add my own document using the defence template with added details particular to my claim and post this - is that correct?
Apologies for my ignorance and thanks for your help. 

Lakshmila

Ok new photo, just taken. The bold elements on this would be hard to see in the dark and as for the bit where it says parking terms apply 24 hours a day - this would be impossible to read without a torch. I'm usually really careful about where i park but this seems deliberately tricky.

Car1980

"There is a yellow municipal parking sign right next to this section in which i parked which says 8am-6pm. I have seen this sign for many years, and I thought that it was ok to park here after 6pm. I looked but didn't notice other signs. It was very dark and nothing stood out."

Do you have a photo of this sign?

POC = Particulars of Claim.

What is the text of their actual claim?

Lakshmila

@Car1980 Here is the claim form:

Coupon-mad

I think that council sign is in relation to the adjacent approach road. Irrelevant.

Re the defence, your deadline is TOMORROW.

Just use the Template Defence with the linked para 3 for cases that don't plead the breach.