Parking Charge vs UK Bank Park Ltd and DCBLegal

ParkingNewbie12

Hi all,

Apologies if something similar to this has been asked before. I am new to all of this! The 'Newbies' thread appears very helpful and has inspired me to consider giving fighting this a go!

I have received county court papers for a parking charge while parked in Fountain Street Car Park in Hull around 4 years ago.

I was a worker in the adjacent Hull Royal Infirmary Hospital, and had a parking permit to park onsite. I have yearly employment contracts and frequently need to move round the country so I am not a Hull resident and do not know the area very well.

I arrived to park at work, and drove through the HRI main gate (Lansdowne St) to find parking. After driving around the back of the hospital, I entered what looked to be a big car park which still had a few spaces left. From my direction, there was very little to distinguish the car park from other NHS car parks. On re-reviewing google maps, there is a sign that says "H Charity Car Park" but it is only visible from the opposite entrance which I could not have seen.

The PPC must have got my details as the registered keeper from the DVLA, where my car was still registered at my old parent's address several miles away. I was staying elsewhere in rented accommodation in Hull at the time, and the letters never got forwarded to me.

I have since moved around the country several times, and did not receive any letters that must have been sent. I recently came back to visit my parents as one of them has become unwell when I found the court letter myself. I have acknowledged the claim through MCOL so far as per advice on this thread. I also no longer have the car since last year when it was written off in an accident.

I plan to use the full template defence I have seen, and have written the following for my paragraph 3:

"The car park in question had inadequate signage and/or features in order to allow it to be distinguishable from the adjacently owned hospital car park premises where the defendant was an employee and was entitled to park with a permit for free. Entrance signage is non-visible and unclear, and the limited and small signage that is available is misleading and uses ambiguous terms and images including a large red capital 'H' suggesting hospital ownership, and the term 'charity' implying voluntary donations. Additionally, no letters or correspondence from the claimant were received by the defendant due to being sent to old/incorrect addresses."

I just had 3 questions:

1) Is there anything I should amend in my paragraph 3?

2) I note that the template defence says in Paragraph 5 "The claimant (an agent) is put to strict proof of their standing to sue". I have never heard of UK bank park. How would I know if they are landowners or simply an agent? Even if I was to put a complaint to a landowner, I would not know who this is?

3) This is occuring at a stressful time for me, is there any way to stop this from going to court later down the line or do I need to just continue to go through the motions for now?

Thank you for any help/advice in advance.

Gr1pr

So , Its Bank Park via DCB LEGAL,  issue date was 18th November 2025, AOS completed. ( when ? )

Does your paragraph 2 end with, and driver. ?

Remove the double quotes, not required and not allowed on MCOL 

99% of private parking companies are sub contractors,  not landowners,  but if you really wanted to know,  check the land registry  ( leave it alone is my advice,  only paragraphs 2 & 3 need altering )

Continue with the process,  with our help,  chances are they will discontinue before the hearing fee deadline date next year,  meaning it is unlikely to get to a hearing in court,  no fee , no court 

Le_Kirk

With an issue date of 18/11/25 and having completed the AoS in a timely manner your defence deadline date is 4.00 p.m. on 22/12/25

ParkingNewbie12

Hi,

Thank you for your responses. I submitted my AOS on 06/12/25, which I'm hoping would be ok?

About the quotes - I intend to remove these before submitting. It sounds like it is otherwise ok to submit?

I have not added about admitting to being the driver at the end of paragraph 2. Does it make that much of a difference? I have no issues with adding it - I was just making sure.

Thank you all for your help. It's reassuring to hear from others that I am on the right track!

ChirpyChicken

You need to get your defence logged asap like today/tomorrow 

ParkingNewbie12

Thanks for getting back so quickly! I can do it today. I was just checking about whether I admitting to being the driver made much of a difference, but I can include it anyway! Thanks for your help

Le_Kirk

Sometimes it is better if you add "and driver" because you can then give an honest, first hand witness statement at the appropriate time rather than having to rely on saying "the driver told me this after the event and the defendant (you) went back to check on signage etc."  Was the original PCN POFA compliant?  

ParkingNewbie12

Hi,

Sorry for the late response but I was hoping someone would be able to have a look and help with this ASAP before I need to submit it.

As an update from the previous info given above - I don't know if the initial notice was POFA compliant because everything was sent to the wrong address until I only recently found out about all of this and have now supplied my new address while the claim is ongoing.

I had my mediation phone call which I declined to negotiate further for. I was awaiting my hearing date and preparing to write a witness statment which I presumed I would get some time for once I got the letter from the court. However I only received a letter this morning (dated the 8th of July) saying that my hearing will be on the 21st of August and that I need to submit my witness statement 21 days before the date listed.

By my calculations, that gives me less than 24 hours to submit write and submit something! I have not received any witness statements from the claimant so I have just had to write something in the hopes that it is enough.

I have attached what I have managed to come up with in the last 24 hours. I have redacted the bits with my name/permit no. etc. but have left the rest in. It is not formatted fully but I intend to do that during the day and the order of the exhibits will need amending which I will do during the day.

Would someone just be able to have a quick glance at it and see if there are any major issues before I need to submit it before 4pm today?

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/yu4i97kuazvt9vnwrq07k/Witness-Statement-4.docx?rlkey=4u11jmg81zsv3m7q6x9tm417j&st=rostwqhu&dl=0

Thanks in advance.

Castle

When is the Hearing Fee due?

ParkingNewbie12

Hi, thanks for your response.

The hearing fee is due to be paid by the 31st, so I assume I will need to have my statement submitted before I can check if it has been paid.

I believe I only have a few hours before I need to submit my witness statement because from my calculations, it needs to be submitted by 4pm today?

Any advice on whether it is ok to submit or if anything needs to be amended would be greatly appreciated (as I am still very new to all of this!).

Thank you!

Gr1pr

Keep checking your email inbox and spam folders for their N279 discontinuation document to arrive by email very soon, because they should discontinue this week

When it arrives, please post a redacted picture of the N279 document