SPS private parking charge, Ignored NTK, Ignored DCBLegal, gone to County Court claim

whybruh

Hello everyone, first time here. I have read the newbies thread and wanted some clarification and assistance in what should be done next. As title states, the keeper did not respond or raise any appeals throughout the entire process and it has gone to County Court. The parking was paid, but overstayed the time paid for. I'll keep it brief.

Regarding the parking itself:

• Driver parked somewhere at night, where signage was completely missed due to low vehicle windscreen view, it was off a main road and the signage was dimly lit
• The machine didn't work, but driver has no picture of this
• The parking signage states a cheaper price (£1 an hour), but the app charged more (£1.50 per hour), signage is incorrect
• Driver left the vehicle, did their business, came back and noticed that this is a paid area, paid for an hour through app, then went back to do more stuff, came back and drove off
• Driver had intention to pay all if it allowed to do so
• There was no parking ticket stuck on the vehicle, just a letter coming to the keepers address a few weeks later

Regarding the letters and parking charge:

• First notice from Secure Parking Solutions who sent a notice and a final reminder, keeper did not respond to both. £100, reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days of notice.
• ANPR images on notice, but very dark images and only the reg is showing
• DCBLegal sent threatening letters of £170, all were ignored
• Gone to county court as a claim, issue date 31st March 2026
• It has been 4 days since County Claim was received, asking for over £250

Obviously one cannot ignore the County Court claim. So there is concern, can the keeper fight this claim? The keeper has not appealed or responded to anything. Also its not a case of no payment. Also can one put in defence the route of Schedule 4 of Protection of Freedoms Act, where the most they can recover is the original fine on first notice?

Also correct me if I am wrong, my next steps would be to complete the acknowledgement of service. Should this be through the paper version or the moneyclaim gov site? The keeper is happy to pay the extra hours worth of charge, but asking for over £250 feels wrong. If the keeper does defend, should they get a solicitor or something just in case?

Thank you all.

Gr1pr

Yes the defendant can fight the Money Claim ( nobody else, only the person named on the left of the claim form. )

The defendant logs into MCOL via their government gateway account and should complete the AOS online stage ASAP

There was no fine, just an invoice from a private parking company claimant for an alleged breach of the parking contract on that private property

No paperwork is involved, no solicitor either, just MCOL only for now

Use the defence template

If the keeper was not the driver, say so

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

whybruh

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81952047#Comment_81952047

Thank you. A few questions:

• Shall I redact dates also?
• If the defendent was the driver, should this be stated? Advice seems to be not to admit being driver, but not sure if this is the case for county court also
• I do not have any contact details of the claimants (DCBL/SPS) solicitors, I dont think I need them just yet, should I do anything about this?
• May I post my tailored defence statement here?

Coupon-mad

1. No.
2. This is already explained in the template defence.
3. No.
4. Yes but pleeeeeease only para 3 because the rest is as per the Template.

should they get a solicitor?

No. Absolutely not needed and you cannot recover those costs. DCB Legal always discontinue before hearings.

Easy peasy to see off. All is covered in the Template Defence linked in the 2nd post of the NEWBIES READ THESE FAQS FIRST thread.

Top of the forum. No links given! You have links in this page: see my signature.

Car1980

The way I read it is that your paragraph 3 will be something like this:

"The driver parked their vehicle and tried to use the ticket machine to pay, but it was not operational. Payment was instead made via phone app. The correct amount for the time was paid for, in accordance with the claimant's signage. After the event it became apparent that the tariff board and app did not tally. It is denied that any contract was breached and the defendant paid the correct amount in accordance with the tariff board, and therefore contract, displayed on-site."

whybruh

As requested, here are the redacted Particulars of Claims (POC).

whybruh

AOS has been completed and shows up on MCOL. Now to write a defence

Coupon-mad

It's already been written for you above (the facts para 3). You are using the Template Defence so there is nothing for you to add.

But remove this from the template para 2 (this isn't right for your case because they haven't delayed the claim):

"The delay in bringing proceedings lies with the Claimant, making retrieving material evidence difficult, which is highly prejudicial."

As I said earlier:

All is covered in the Template Defence linked in the 2nd post of the NEWBIES READ THESE FAQS FIRST thread.

Top of the forum. No links given! You have links in this page: see my signature.

Le_Kirk

What is the date of issue of the N1SDT claim form?

whybruh

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81953209#Comment_81953209

31st March 2026

whybruh

Had a conversation with the landlord of the parking spot. He was nice, but I feel something is off. He said that the agreement he has with the parking company and himself is he can sort things out if its within a month, once its gone to solicitors (e.g. DCBLegal) its out of his hands. He also said to contact Secure Parking Services and see if they can come to a settlement, or reduce the charge, "Just a simple call" he said.

He also asked more about the parking charge, in which he was told about the Driver overstayed. So he said "its black and white, it was overstayed" which he then mumbled along the lines of "contract was fulfilled". I immediately said there was no contract, neither was I aware of any and I didnt sign any either.

He has asked to send a picture of the first notice to him. He said he will speak with his car park agent next week. I told him about the signage, incorrect charge and machine not working at the time. He said he doesnt generally like to get involved, considering how many he gets. He sounded nice, and did give some advice.

But I dont know, something feels off. Before you ask, no I have not sent the first notice to him yet.

What do you all think?