DCB LEGAL, SMART PARKING, court claim

looseonion57

Hi, I have today received a LOC from DCB legal for £170. This is for a parking charge of “overstayed free time” that happened in Nov 2023.

It states that payment was due within 28 days of the PC being issued but remains outstanding - I never received the PCN so this is a complete surprise to me. I’m assuming the PCN went to my old address as I did forget to change my address as soon as I moved. They have sent the LOC to my current address.

After just being made redundant, this has come at an awful time and I cannot afford to pay £170 or mentally handle having a court process. Please can I have some advice on the next steps. I have read the newbies section, but in all honesty found it incredibly overwhelming and not sure what I’m supposed to be doing next.

Thanks in advance

Coupon-mad

Just read post 2 of the NEWBIES thread.

It has everything you need to know.

Gr1pr

Name the private parking company claimant involved

Yes the letters will have gone to the old address, due to you not updating the V5c log book promptly, not their fault, it was your responsibility, but regardless

Email the LoC response template to the info@ email address for DCB Legal, mainly to confirm the current address and contact details

Then await the inevitable N1SDT Money Claim pack from the CNBC in Northampton using MCOL to arrive in the post in due course

looseonion57

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81965471#Comment_81965471

the client is Smart Parking Limited.

Yes, I’m aware it was my responsibility to change my address but these things slip through the net sometimes.

Is it likely I will be able to have the debt collection charges removed and just pay the initial parking charge?

Gr1pr

No, forget about all that, just follow the process, with our assistance of course , but yes the spurious charges would be dismissed, I it got to a hearing ( but it wont come to that. )

Chances are that DCB Legal will discontinue before Xmas, if you follow the process on here, so stop overthinking it and follow our advice at each stage

looseonion57

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81965503#Comment_81965503

OK thank you.

Is this the response template I should use? (Obviously with the correct details filled in!) is it worth adding the additional detail that this occurred in 2023 and I was completely unaware of the charge?

”Dear Sirs,

Your ref: [insert reference number]

Proposed legal proceedings

Claimant: [insert name of parking company]

I refer to your letter of claim.

I confirm that my address for service for the time being is as follows, and any older address must be erased from your records:

[Insert correct address here]

You should revert to your client because the 'propensity to pay' score in my case is zero, so any claim is hopeless and a waste of the court fee (whether 'fronted' by your firm or not). Move on to weaker victims.

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

Yours faithfully,”

Gr1pr

Yes email that adapted response template, but no additional information, no talking about the incident or lack of paperwork or time lag, no explanations , less is more, so dont over egg it, stick to the template only

looseonion57

Thank you! I have sent the email to the info@ and have received the automatic response. I will post any updates when I receive them.

Gr1pr

Come back to this thread when the claim form arrives, with the issue date posted from the top right of the claim form and also post a redacted picture of the POC from the lower left of the claim form below after hiding the VRM details first ( no personal information allowed on mse parking forum. )

Then

You will be completing the AOS online stage on MCOL via your government gateway account and using the latest version of the Smart Parking defence template in the SmartParking group thread by member sluzz

Simple

Coupon-mad

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81965547#Comment_81965547

But not DCB Legal's template reply. Please!

looseonion57

I have received a response with the following.

“Good Afternoon,

We write in response to your email dated 16 April 2026 .

For data protection please provide the following:

• Your full name
• Your first line of address
• Your postcode

Please note, failure to respond to this email with the required information may result in the matter progressing further.”

I’m assuming it’s ok to give these details over?