Defended claim - UKPC & DCB Legal - POPLA code allegedly sent but never received

brightgrey90

Hi all,

I’m looking for some advice on next steps in a private parking matter. I appreciate any views from those experienced with POPLA and the appeals process.

I did intend to contest the parking charge on its merits, but I’m concerned that I was prevented from doing so properly because I was denied access to POPLA.

Brief summary:

• I received a PCN alleging my vehicle was parked on a bay boundary line.

• When I noticed this at the time, I returned to the vehicle and corrected its position so it was fully within the bay.

• I submitted a timely appeal to the BPA member operator and received confirmation that it was received and placed on hold.

• The operator later claims they rejected the appeal and issued a POPLA code by email.

• I never received any rejection email, and nothing was received by post either.

• I queried this and later submitted a Subject Access Request.

• The SAR shows the appeal decision exists only as an internal system record, with no objective proof that an email was actually sent (no headers, SMTP logs, delivery confirmation, etc.).

• Despite this, the charge was escalated to debt recovery and POPLA was no longer offered.

I raised this with the operator (including via a Letter Before Action). Their response is essentially that they rely on their internal records and will continue enforcement.

At this stage I’m unsure of the most sensible way forward. Given that I was prevented from contesting the charge via POPLA, I’m weighing up whether it’s best to stay quiet and wait to see if anything formal happens, or whether there’s a recommended next step I should be taking now.

Any advice from those who’ve dealt with similar situations would be much appreciated.

Thanks and Merry Christmas.

Gr1pr

Name the private parking company  ?           UKPC. ?

When you say no email was received,  it probably was received, in your Spam folder , not your inbox,  a common feature with email sorting 

You could complain via their complaint link from the BPA website, after which you can complain to the BPA AOS compliance team 

Its probably easier to fight a Money Claim,  because popla wont uphold any appeal based on your story above

Its only worth contesting if there are valid legal reasons,   mitigating factors wont work at popla

One important thing you have not mentioned is plan A,  a complaint about your pcn to the management company or landlord or landowner of that private property, which should have been done ASAP after receiving the pcn

brightgrey90

Thanks for the responses, that’s appreciated.

Just to clarify and respond to the points raised:

• Yes, the operator is UKPC.

• I did check spam/junk folders at the time and again later, and there was nothing there. This was also raised during a SAR, and UKPC were unable to provide any email headers, SMTP logs or delivery evidence — only an internal system note saying the correspondence was “issued”.

• I understand POPLA doesn’t consider mitigation. My intention was to challenge the allegation itself (bay boundary issue), not rely on mitigation. Unfortunately, I was prevented from doing so because POPLA access was lost.

• I have already contacted the BPA. Their response so far has simply been that UKPC say a letter was sent, without addressing the lack of proof of service or the fact that nothing was received by email or post.

• Plan A (landowner/management company) wasn’t immediately obvious at the time, but I accept the point and will still look into whether that route is available.

• I take the point that defending a money claim can often be more straightforward than trying to force POPLA at this stage, which is why I’m currently leaning towards sitting tight unless UKPC escalate formally.

At this stage I’m mainly trying to sense-check whether there’s anything further worth doing now (e.g. further BPA escalation or Plan A), or whether the sensible approach is to wait and only engage again if a proper Letter of Claim or court papers are issued.

Any further thoughts welcome.

Gr1pr

brightgrey90 said:

Thanks for the responses, that’s appreciated.

Just to clarify and respond to the points raised:

• Yes, the operator is UKPC.

• I did check spam/junk folders at the time and again later, and there was nothing there. This was also raised during a SAR, and UKPC were unable to provide any email headers, SMTP logs or delivery evidence — only an internal system note saying the correspondence was “issued”.

• Plan A (landowner/management company) wasn’t immediately obvious at the time, but I accept the point and will still look into whether that route is available.

• I take the point that defending a money claim can often be more straightforward than trying to force POPLA at this stage, which is why I’m currently leaning towards sitting tight unless UKPC escalate formally.

At this stage I’m mainly trying to sense-check whether there’s anything further worth doing now (e.g. further BPA escalation )

or Plan A), 

or whether the sensible approach is to wait and only engage again if a proper Letter of Claim or court papers are issued.

The latter,  plus plan A

doubledotcom

Just wait for the inevitable claim issued though DCB Legal and then follow the defence advice. You can guarantee that any claim issued by DCB Legal, as long as it is defended, irrespective of how much detail you put in, will be discontinued just before they have to pay the £27 trial fee, many months down the line.

I wouldn't bother putting any further effort into this until you receive the claim form from HMCTS.

brightgrey90

Thanks, that makes sense and I appreciate the reassurance

I’ll stop putting further effort into this for now and won’t engage again unless a claim form from HMCTS is actually issued. If that happens, I’ll follow the defence advice here.

In the meantime, I’ll just sit tight (and pursue Plan A if I can identify the landowner).

Thanks again for the guidance.

brightgrey90

Quick update. I’ve now received a County Court claim form from HMCTS (issued by DCB Legal on behalf of UKPC). I will log into MCOL soon and will be filing the Acknowledgment of Service shortly to get the full 28 days to submit a defence. I won’t be putting anything in the defence box at this stage. No Letter of Claim was ever properly served, and the POPLA issue remains as previously described, but I understand that all substantive points are for the defence. I’ll now follow the standard defence guidance on the forum. If there’s anything specific I should be aware of given the lost POPLA code issue, please let me know. Thanks again to everyone who advised sitting tight — much appreciated. 

Gr1pr

So UKPC via DCB Legal 

You will be using the template defence in announcements near the top of the forum 

Post the Issue date from the top right of the claim form below 

Post a redacted picture of the POC from the lower left of the claim form below after hiding the VRM details first 

Coupon-mad

They will discontinue in 2026 before the hearing, so these ones are a cinch!

brightgrey90

Redacted Particulars of Claim attached. Thanks all.

brightgrey90

Redacted Particulars of Claim attached. Issue date is 30/12/2025. Thanks all.

[Images redacted by Forum Team for including password information]