Smart Parking/DCB Legal court claim form received (x2)

Hoppingfrog

Hi there.

Before I start can I please say a massive thank you to everyone who gets involved and who offer so much advice with regards to these parking ticket a$$ holes! I have spent 4 years searching this site, getting utterley confused followed by many light-bulb-moments of absolute clarity, before yet more confusion, and have managed to get to this (hopefully) last stage. I have resisted adding any posts requesting help thus far, but I am starting to feel a little nervous going forward and wanted to post something before I start my defence rather than the day before my submisson date.

My wife and I are fighting 2 x parking tickets received over 4 years ago (for 2 seperate occassions on the same day) and have now both received our relevant court claim forms.
Mine was dated 25 Nov 25 - I have just submitted my AOS on MCOL and have 2 weeks to file my defence.
My wife's was dated 3 Dec 25, and I intend on submitting the AOS in about 10 days time.
The defence for both will be the same.
It may be prudent to add, but my wife is very twitchy about the whole situation and would rather pay then face a court appearance. Both tickets were in my name until one day, whilst I was at work, my wife called Smart Parking and admitted to being the driver of one of the tickets. She hoped she could explain the situation and have the tickets dropped. No such luck!

I will explain the story that will ultimately make up our defence:

I attended a Christmas market 4 years ago as a stall holder and used a hotel carpark to unload/load my equipment. In the morning I drove in, unloaded, and my wife drove out after 38 minutes. In the afternoon my wife drove in, loaded up, and I drove out after 13 minutes.
The carpark appears as 2 smaller carparks with seperate entrances/exits - 1 directly outside the hotel and 1 directly outside a 'lodge'. The hotel carpark has many parking related signs and a pay machine. The lodge carpark has none. On both occassions we parked in the Lodge carpark.

I originally appealed one of the tickets with POPLA and provided them with photographic evidence. (In my naivety I thought I was appealing both tickets, but POPLA informed me in their repsonse that it was just one of them and should have been appealed sperately!). Unfortunately they refused to accept any wrongdoing from the hotel and stated the fines will stand. They provided a map of the carpark and highlighted where the signs should be. It showed that at least 2 signs were in the lodge carpark, but they were not there on the day in question (which is clearly shown in my photographs). They also stated that no repsonse to them about this could be made!
During and following the POPLA appeal, I contacted the hotel several times, and on one occassion spoke to the manager who agreed to drop the fines and contact Smart Parking. He never did, and would never speak to me again. I emailed the hotel and did not receive a response.
I even purchased coffee from the hotel 2 or 3 times (no receipts) during the Christmas Market!
(Hotel ownership has since changed hands and the current owner alleges to not being able to do anything about past tickets/fines etc).

We then received many letters from Smart Parking & CST Law. All were ignored until, following advice on this forum, I wrote to CST Law and Smart Parking disputing the debt in Nov 2022.
We then heard nothing and thought they were dropped!
We moved house in Sep 24, and replaced the car shortly after and never thought of Smart Parking again..
That was until earlier this year we started receiving letters from DC Bailiffs Ltd and then DCB Legal.
We followed the advice on the forum, which brings us up to now.

Up until now I did feel confident of my defence. I have attached a photo of the carpark in question - we parked immediately behind the 'One Way' sign on both occassions.
What irks me the most, is that if I would have left the car parked there all day I would have received only 1 ticket, and the hotel would have suffered a loss of earnings because of that space being unable to generate any further income.

I will make up my defence and if anyone has advice or encouragement it will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Wayne

Le_Kirk

With an issue date of 25/11/25 and having completed the AoS in a timely manner your defence deadline date is 4.00 p.m. on 29/12/25

With an issue date of 03/12/25 and providing you complete(d) the AoS after 08/12/25 and before 22/12/25 your defence deadline date is 4.00 p.m. on 05/01/26
My wife and I are fighting 2 x parking tickets received over 4 years ago (for 2 separate occasions on the same day)

Is this for two different cars?  If not, how come your wife AND you received PCNs?
Check out the Smart Parking group thread: -

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6642762/smart-parking-claim-via-dcb-legal-group-info-thread/p1

Coupon-mad

Just use the group thread which is there to stop us drowning in Smart Parking claims.

We don't need to check the 11 paragraphs. Please spare us..then just follow the easy '8 first steps' in the Template Defence thread (but you aren't using the 10 para version).

See you again in 6 months.

All first stages are covered: emails, DQ, Mediation, none of it will need discussing.

 

Hoppingfrog

Thanks for your replies.

I didn't realise there was a group thread. It looks pretty new and I admit that I didn't check for it this morning. I seem to remember a lot of the posts I have seen previously said for newbs to start their own thread when it got to claim stage.
Is it worth it (or even possible) to move my original post to the group thread?

As with most people who come on here, this is all new to me and quite daunting. I have never written a defence, and whilst there is a lot of info on these pages, I am a little concerned copying from a template that contains phrases or references I am unfamiliar with.

I'll check out the group thread and go from there

Hoppingfrog

Thanks for your replies.

I didn't realise there was a group thread. It looks pretty new and I admit that I didn't check for it this morning. I seem to remember a lot of the posts I have seen previously said for newbs to start their own thread when it got to claim stage.
Is it worth it (or even possible) to move my original post to the group thread?
I can't edit my post directly. I'll just post on the group thread 

As with most people who come on here, this is all new to me and quite daunting. I have never written a defence, and whilst there is a lot of info on these pages, I am a little concerned copying from a template that contains phrases or references I am unfamiliar with.

I'll check out the group thread and go from there 

Coupon-mad

No you are fine to keep this thread but we won't need to discuss anything for a good few months, as every earlier step is covered and the defence is written already (if you decide to use the wording that has worked for others).

All Smart cases for pre-2025 PCNs are non-POFA so you'd have easily won - 100% certain - at POPLA if you hadn't appealed as driver. You couldn't have lost, if you'd come here before appealing these. Oh well.

The claims will be discontinued by Summer.

Play the game, as posters are on hundreds of Smart claim threads this year. All the same. Even though you sadly blew it by admitting to driving at appeal stage, forget that now and use the 11 para defence. DCB Legal will have no idea about the POPLA appeal. There is no fact checking & all end up discontinued.

  

Hoppingfrog

Ah, okay. Thanks for the update.
I didn't realise my wife was going to call them and admit to being the driver. She did so with the best intentions, but she hadn't been privvy to this forum.

When writing my defence with regards to the Particulars of Claim:
"3. The defendant is pursued as the driver of the vehicle for breach of the signs (contract). Reason: insufficient time paid...",
should I just make no reference to it, and instead concentrate on the lack of signage resulting in no contract, or do I admit in my defence as being the driver?
And would it matter that I drove in and my wife drove out?

Coupon-mad

You use the 11 paragraph one: the group thread has special wording for Smart claims via DCB Legal. There are no words to add or edit if you decide to use it.

Stop looking at the Template Defence version which is for other cases, we have decided. This is such a new decision last week that even the Template Defence thread doesn't mention the Smart Parking group thread yet.


"And would it matter that I drove in and my wife drove out?"

No because they'll discontinue.

Play the game.

Hoppingfrog

Thanks C-m

Is that the one that 'Sluzz' posted on the group thread?

If, and I recognise this is a big if, but if I did use the defence word for word without adding anything and it actually got heard in a court, will there be another opportunity for me to add personal info to my defence? (ie, not entering into a contract due to lack of signage etc?)

Gr1pr

You cannot add to a submitted defence,  so no

But next year,  a few weeks before the hearing date,  you get to submit your Witness Statement plus Exhibits bundle to the court and to dcblegal,  so that is probably what you are inferring to, that point is when you have your say

Think of a defence as , how do you plead   ?  Not guilty 

Tell us why  ?  I will in my Witness Statement or on the stand 

Simplistic I know,  but no comment or not guilty tend to start things off in criminal cases, so as this is a multi stage process,  save it for the appropriate point,  next year,  perhaps in spring or summer 

Coupon-mad

There is an entire section about WS and evidence stage in post 2 of the NEWBIES thread.