Letter of Claims from DCB Legal on behalf of Smart Parking - Please check my response

Worried_User135

Hi All, 

Firstly Thank you all for the amazing posts on here with regards to PCNs!! I have read them and have been so helpful.
I have recently been receiving letters from DCB Legal, which I have ignored until now I got a letter of claims.  And I know I now need to response but to their email and not through their form.

In my situation, I did pay for parking on the day of the incident, however the machine buttons were not very responsive and I didn't notice I had entered the first 2 characters of my reg twice.  I had also overstayed by about 5 minutes over what I had paid for.
When I received the parking charge, I disputed it online with evidence of my ticket (so have provided info) and received an automated email of acknowledgement but didn't hear back.  I had since then forgotten about this until I started receiving dept collection letters.  
I have emailed the retailers on site with no response and I'm struggling to find who the landowner is for Angouleme Way - Bury.  Is it still worth trying to find this and email them? and other retailers on the retail park at this point?

So I have drafted the response below and wondered if someone can check this for me?
Also should I attach said parking ticket that I had paid for at this point or not?

Many thanks in advanced!

Dear DCB Legal,

 Your ref: 000000000000000000

 In response to your Letter of Claim dated XX December 2025 on behalf of your client, Smart Parking Limited, I do not appreciate your need to pursue any alleged debts owed to Smart parking limited.

The alleged 'debt' is disputed, and any court proceedings will be vigorously defended.

I deny any liability for the sum claimed based on the following:

 1. Payment was made

Payment was made to park on the date in question (Oct 2024). Any alleged breach relates only to a minimal period and occurred despite payment having been made in good faith.

2. Machine fault and keying error

The payment machine was not fully responsive. Due to this, the first two characters of the vehicle registration were entered twice. This was not an attempt to avoid payment and resulted directly from the poor usability of the machine provided by your client.

3. Appeal ignored

An appeal was submitted to Smart Parking Limited at the time. No response was ever received. This failure to engage deprived me of the opportunity to resolve the matter early and is unreasonable conduct.

4. De minimis overstay and grace periods

Any alleged overstay was approximately five minutes. Your client is a member of the British Parking Association and is required to comply with the BPA Code of Practice, which mandates:

A minimum 10-minute grace period at the end of paid parking; and a reasonable consideration period on arrival.

Given payment was made and the overstay was trivial, no parking charge should have been issued.

5. Request for documents (Pre-Action Protocol)

Should you intend to proceed, please provide the following:

 A copy of the original Parking Charge Notice

Evidence of the payment made and how it was assessed as insufficient

Full ANPR entry/exit records

Evidence of BPA Code of Practice compliance

Photographs and a site plan showing signage terms in place at the material time

Evidence of landowner authority

Evidence that the Notice to Keeper complied with Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012

Pending provision of the above, the debt is formally disputed.

 

I require confirmation that the matter is placed on hold for at least 30 days while this information is provided, as required under the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims.

 

Yours faithfully,

  

Floss

Have requested a move to the Parking board.

Coupon-mad

Worried_User135 said:

Hi All, 

Firstly Thank you all for the amazing posts on here with regards to PCNs!! I have read them and have been so helpful.
I have recently been receiving letters from DCB Legal, which I have ignored until now I got a letter of claims.  And I know I now need to response but to their email and not through their form.

In my situation, I did pay for parking on the day of the incident, however the machine buttons were not very responsive and I didn't notice I had entered the first 2 characters of my reg twice.  I had also overstayed by about 5 minutes over what I had paid for.
When I received the parking charge, I disputed it online with evidence of my ticket (so have provided info) and received an automated email of acknowledgement but didn't hear back.  I had since then forgotten about this until I started receiving dept collection letters.  
I have emailed the retailers on site with no response and I'm struggling to find who the landowner is for Angouleme Way - Bury.  Is it still worth trying to find this and email them? and other retailers on the retail park at this point?

So I have drafted the response below and wondered if someone can check this for me?
Also should I attach said parking ticket that I had paid for at this point or not?

Many thanks in advanced!

Dear DCB Legal,

 Your ref: 000000000000000000

 In response to your Letter of Claim dated XX December 2025 on behalf of your client, Smart Parking Limited, I do not appreciate your need to pursue any alleged debts owed to Smart parking limited.

The alleged 'debt' is disputed, and any court proceedings will be vigorously defended.

I deny any liability for the sum claimed based on the following:

 1. Payment was made

Payment was made to park on the date in question (Oct 2024). Any alleged breach relates only to a minimal period and occurred despite payment having been made in good faith.

2. Machine fault and keying error

The payment machine was not fully responsive. Due to this, the first two characters of the vehicle registration were entered twice. This was not an attempt to avoid payment and resulted directly from the poor usability of the machine provided by your client.

3. Appeal ignored

An appeal was submitted to Smart Parking Limited at the time. No response was ever received. This failure to engage deprived me of the opportunity to resolve the matter early and is unreasonable conduct.

4. De minimis overstay and grace periods

Any alleged overstay was approximately five minutes. Your client is a member of the British Parking Association and is required to comply with the BPA Code of Practice, which mandates:

A minimum 10-minute grace period at the end of paid parking; and a reasonable consideration period on arrival.

Given payment was made and the overstay was trivial, no parking charge should have been issued.

5. Request for documents (Pre-Action Protocol)

Should you intend to proceed, please provide the following:

 A copy of the original Parking Charge Notice

Evidence of the payment made and how it was assessed as insufficient

Full ANPR entry/exit records

Evidence of BPA Code of Practice compliance

Photographs and a site plan showing signage terms in place at the material time

Evidence of landowner authority

Evidence that the Notice to Keeper complied with Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012

Pending provision of the above, the debt is formally disputed.

 

I require confirmation that the matter is placed on hold for at least 30 days while this information is provided, as required under the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims.

 Yours faithfully,

No, use the LBC reply template and don't ask for evidence. That helps their later claim.

Worried_User135

Coupon-mad said:

Worried_User135 said:

Hi All, 

Firstly Thank you all for the amazing posts on here with regards to PCNs!! I have read them and have been so helpful.
I have recently been receiving letters from DCB Legal, which I have ignored until now I got a letter of claims.  And I know I now need to response but to their email and not through their form.

In my situation, I did pay for parking on the day of the incident, however the machine buttons were not very responsive and I didn't notice I had entered the first 2 characters of my reg twice.  I had also overstayed by about 5 minutes over what I had paid for.
When I received the parking charge, I disputed it online with evidence of my ticket (so have provided info) and received an automated email of acknowledgement but didn't hear back.  I had since then forgotten about this until I started receiving dept collection letters.  
I have emailed the retailers on site with no response and I'm struggling to find who the landowner is for Angouleme Way - Bury.  Is it still worth trying to find this and email them? and other retailers on the retail park at this point?

So I have drafted the response below and wondered if someone can check this for me?
Also should I attach said parking ticket that I had paid for at this point or not?

Many thanks in advanced!

Dear DCB Legal,

 Your ref: 000000000000000000

 In response to your Letter of Claim dated XX December 2025 on behalf of your client, Smart Parking Limited, I do not appreciate your need to pursue any alleged debts owed to Smart parking limited.

The alleged 'debt' is disputed, and any court proceedings will be vigorously defended.

I deny any liability for the sum claimed based on the following:

 1. Payment was made

Payment was made to park on the date in question (Oct 2024). Any alleged breach relates only to a minimal period and occurred despite payment having been made in good faith.

2. Machine fault and keying error

The payment machine was not fully responsive. Due to this, the first two characters of the vehicle registration were entered twice. This was not an attempt to avoid payment and resulted directly from the poor usability of the machine provided by your client.

3. Appeal ignored

An appeal was submitted to Smart Parking Limited at the time. No response was ever received. This failure to engage deprived me of the opportunity to resolve the matter early and is unreasonable conduct.

4. De minimis overstay and grace periods

Any alleged overstay was approximately five minutes. Your client is a member of the British Parking Association and is required to comply with the BPA Code of Practice, which mandates:

A minimum 10-minute grace period at the end of paid parking; and a reasonable consideration period on arrival.

Given payment was made and the overstay was trivial, no parking charge should have been issued.

5. Request for documents (Pre-Action Protocol)

Should you intend to proceed, please provide the following:

 A copy of the original Parking Charge Notice

Evidence of the payment made and how it was assessed as insufficient

Full ANPR entry/exit records

Evidence of BPA Code of Practice compliance

Photographs and a site plan showing signage terms in place at the material time

Evidence of landowner authority

Evidence that the Notice to Keeper complied with Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012

Pending provision of the above, the debt is formally disputed.

 

I require confirmation that the matter is placed on hold for at least 30 days while this information is provided, as required under the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims.

 Yours faithfully,

No, use the LBC reply template and don't ask for evidence. That helps their later claim.

Thanks!
So don't even tell them I had paid and disputed the PCN but was ignored?

Gr1pr

Worried_User135 said:

Coupon-mad said:

Worried_User135 said:

Hi All, 

Firstly Thank you all for the amazing posts on here with regards to PCNs!! I have read them and have been so helpful.
I have recently been receiving letters from DCB Legal, which I have ignored until now I got a letter of claims.  And I know I now need to response but to their email and not through their form.

In my situation, I did pay for parking on the day of the incident, however the machine buttons were not very responsive and I didn't notice I had entered the first 2 characters of my reg twice.  I had also overstayed by about 5 minutes over what I had paid for.
When I received the parking charge, I disputed it online with evidence of my ticket (so have provided info) and received an automated email of acknowledgement but didn't hear back.  I had since then forgotten about this until I started receiving dept collection letters.  
I have emailed the retailers on site with no response and I'm struggling to find who the landowner is for Angouleme Way - Bury.  Is it still worth trying to find this and email them? and other retailers on the retail park at this point?

So I have drafted the response below and wondered if someone can check this for me?
Also should I attach said parking ticket that I had paid for at this point or not?

Many thanks in advanced!

Dear DCB Legal,

 Your ref: 000000000000000000

 In response to your Letter of Claim dated XX December 2025 on behalf of your client, Smart Parking Limited, I do not appreciate your need to pursue any alleged debts owed to Smart parking limited.

The alleged 'debt' is disputed, and any court proceedings will be vigorously defended.

I deny any liability for the sum claimed based on the following:

 1. Payment was made

Payment was made to park on the date in question (Oct 2024). Any alleged breach relates only to a minimal period and occurred despite payment having been made in good faith.

2. Machine fault and keying error

The payment machine was not fully responsive. Due to this, the first two characters of the vehicle registration were entered twice. This was not an attempt to avoid payment and resulted directly from the poor usability of the machine provided by your client.

3. Appeal ignored

An appeal was submitted to Smart Parking Limited at the time. No response was ever received. This failure to engage deprived me of the opportunity to resolve the matter early and is unreasonable conduct.

4. De minimis overstay and grace periods

Any alleged overstay was approximately five minutes. Your client is a member of the British Parking Association and is required to comply with the BPA Code of Practice, which mandates:

A minimum 10-minute grace period at the end of paid parking; and a reasonable consideration period on arrival.

Given payment was made and the overstay was trivial, no parking charge should have been issued.

5. Request for documents (Pre-Action Protocol)

Should you intend to proceed, please provide the following:

 A copy of the original Parking Charge Notice

Evidence of the payment made and how it was assessed as insufficient

Full ANPR entry/exit records

Evidence of BPA Code of Practice compliance

Photographs and a site plan showing signage terms in place at the material time

Evidence of landowner authority

Evidence that the Notice to Keeper complied with Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012

Pending provision of the above, the debt is formally disputed.

 

I require confirmation that the matter is placed on hold for at least 30 days while this information is provided, as required under the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims.

 Yours faithfully,

No, use the LBC reply template and don't ask for evidence. That helps their later claim.

Thanks!
So don't even tell them I had paid and disputed the PCN but was ignored?

Use your ammunition at the best time, not on target practice 

Worried_User135

Just a quick update. As expected I received a standard email back from DCB legal.

They have asked for me to provide evidence but am I right in thinking I now ignore this and don't provide anything else?

Sit tight and wait for the court claim and get my defense together? 

From DCB LEGAL: 
" Dear xxx

We write to acknowledge safe receipt of your formal response to our Letter of Claim sent to you in respect of this matter.

Having considered your response, our position in respect of this matter remains as per our Letter of Claim. We note that despite your points of dispute, there is an absence of any evidence in support of the same so that we may consider this with our Client. If you do have evidence which you believe supports your dispute, please furnish us with the same within the 30 days afforded to you.

As it stands, the initial 30 day timeframe under the Pre-Action Protocol remains, and County Court proceedings will be issued following expiry of this 30 day period, without any further reference to you.

We strongly recommend that you contact a member of our dispute resolution team on as a matter of urgency so we may discuss this matter with you and avoid a Claim being issued against you.

If you are at all unsure of your legal position, you may wish to seek independent legal advice"

 

Gr1pr

Presumably they didn't provide evidence,  so why should you. ?

Its their clients job to prove their case,  not yours

Sit back and wait for the inevitable N1SDT Money Claim pack from the CNBC in Northampton using MCOL to arrive in the post 

Worried_User135

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81816724#Comment_81816724

Good Morning!

I am back and would like to ask for some more advise please as my situation is confusing.

So, since receiving the letter of claims I have managed to track down the land owner's information for the car park in question. I received an email in Dec 2025 to say that they were cancelling the parking ticket.

However since that contact I have received the Claim form from CNBC Northampton dated 11Feb2026.

I got back in touch with the land owner to let them know of this, while waiting for a response I also completed the AOS on MCOL.

Today, the landowner has replied and said the Smart Parking Head of Accounts has confirmed the ticket was cancelled. And said to quote his name in further correspondence.

I have logged into my MCOL portal and the case has not been updated.

So my question is what do I do from here?

Do I complete my defence on MCOL or not? I did the AOS on 13Feb

or do I Contact DCB legal, with my email confirming cancellation of the ticket and insist they cancel the claim?

Many Many thanks for your help and insight

Gr1pr

1. Yes, Complete the defence on MCOL, regardless, because the clock is ticking

2) Yes email DCB LEGAL stating that their client has been instructed to cancel the claim and add proof

Do both, best and braces, no ifs, no buts, just DO

Coupon-mad

3. Defend and do a counterclaim for data misuse. You could make money here.

Le_Kirk

With an issue date of 11/02/26 and having completed the AoS in a timely manner your defence deadline date is 4.00 p.m. on 16/03/26

You wrote that you had received a N1SDT claim form dated 11/02/26; was that the issue date? If so, then my statement above remains true.