You now need to submit a contested N244 application because DCB Legal ignored the 10-day consent offer. The application seeks to set aside the default judgment under CPR 13.2, alternatively CPR 13.3, and then strike out the underlying claim because it was never validly served within four months of issue under CPR 7.5(1). You will also ask for the £313 fee and Litigant in Person (LiP) costs.
You will need to submit:
• Form N244
• A witness statement in support
• A draft order
• Exhibits
• Payment of the £313 fee
N244 instructions:
Download the form here: N244 Application Notice (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65eb1c6b5b652445f6f21b01/N244_0622_save.pdf)
Box 1: Write your full name exactly as it appears on the judgment.
Box 2: Tick Defendant.
Box 3: Write the following:
The Defendant applies for:
(1) An order that the default judgment entered in Claim No. M8KF60F5 in or about April 2025 be set aside pursuant to CPR 13.2, on the basis that the claim form was never validly served on the Defendant and the judgment was wrongly entered.
(2) In the alternative, an order setting aside the default judgment pursuant to CPR 13.3, on the grounds that the Defendant has a real prospect of successfully defending the claim and has acted promptly upon discovering the judgment.
(3) Following the setting aside of judgment, an order that the Claimant’s claim be struck out pursuant to CPR 7.5(1) and/or CPR 3.4(2)(c), on the basis that the claim form was not validly served within the four-month period specified by CPR 7.5(1) and has now expired.
(4) An order that the Claimant pay the Defendant’s costs of and occasioned by this application, including the £313 court fee and the Defendant’s litigant-in-person costs at the published hourly rate.
Box 4: Tick Yes and attach the draft order below.
Box 5: Tick “at a hearing”.
Box 6: Write “1 hour”. Judge level “District Judge”.
Box 7: Write “Not applicable”.
Box 8: District Judge.
Box 9: Write “The Claimant, care of DCB Legal Ltd”. Allow the court to serve.
Box 10: Tick that the application is supported by “the attached witness statement” and attach the witness statement. Do not tick the option about “the evidence set out in the box below”.
Sign by simply typing your full name and date.
Below is the witness statement for you to use.
IN THE COUNTY COURT
Claim No: M8KF60F5
BETWEEN:
Elite Car Parking Management Ltd
Claimant
- and -
[Defendant's Full Name]
Defendant
WITNESS STATEMENT
1. I am the Defendant. I make this statement in support of my application to set aside the default judgment entered against me in Claim No. M8KF60F5 and to strike out the underlying claim.
2. I first became aware of the judgment in November 2025 when checking my credit file. Before that I had received no Letter of Claim, no Claim Form, no Particulars of Claim, and no judgment at my current address. I therefore had no knowledge of the claim.
3. The judgment relates to an alleged parking event on 27 September 2024 at Eddington 4hr Zone, Cambridge. On that date parking was paid for via the JustPark app for the correct vehicle and location. The booking remains visible in my JustPark account and is supported by a corresponding bank transaction.
4. At the time the Claimant and its agents were sending correspondence, I was living at 194a Highamhill Road. I moved to my current address in January 2025 and immediately updated my address with the DVLA for both the V5C and my driving licence.
5. I did not receive any pre-action letter compliant with the Pre-Action Protocol for Debt Claims, nor any Claim Form or judgment at my current address. The only correspondence I became aware of was a DCBL debt collection letter that arrived at the old address in late 2024.
6. The Civil National Business Centre confirmed that the claim was treated as served on 7 April 2025 at the old Highamhill Road address and judgment was entered shortly afterward when no acknowledgment of service or defence was filed.
7. The claim form was not validly served. By April 2025 I no longer lived at the Highamhill Road address. The Claimant continued sending correspondence there and received no reply, giving them clear reason to believe the address was no longer current.
8. Under CPR 6.9(3) the Claimant was required to take reasonable steps to ascertain my correct address before serving the claim form. A simple trace or credit reference search would have identified my current address. The Claimant did not take those steps.
9. The Claimant is bound by the Private Parking Single Code of Practice. Section 10.1 requires operators to take reasonable steps to ensure they are using the correct address and not to continue enforcement where there is reason to believe the address is stale. They ignored that obligation.
10. I will rely on Carr v Vehicle Control Services Ltd [2025] EWCA Civ 713 where the Court of Appeal upheld the setting aside of a default judgment and strike out due to failure to comply with CPR 6.9(3).
11. The judgment must therefore be set aside under CPR 13.2 as it was wrongly entered following invalid service.
12. If the Court finds the judgment was regularly entered, I seek set aside under CPR 13.3. I acted promptly upon discovering the judgment. I also have a real prospect of defending the claim. The Particulars of Claim allege that the vehicle was not registered on the JustPark app. That allegation is plainly wrong.
13. Following the set aside, the claim must be struck out. The claim form was never validly served within the four-month period required by CPR 7.5(1) and has therefore expired. No extension was sought under CPR 7.6.
14. The continuation of an unjust judgment is causing serious prejudice including the risk of harm to my credit position given an upcoming mortgage renewal.
15. I ask the Court to order the Claimant to pay the £313 fee and my litigant-in-person costs because their failure to comply with CPR 6.9(3) and the Code of Practice directly caused the need for this application.
16. For all the reasons above I request that the default judgment be set aside, the claim struck out, and costs awarded.
Statement of truth
I believe that the facts stated in this Witness Statement are true. I understand that proceedings for contempt of court may be brought against anyone who makes, or causes to be made, a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth.
Signed:
Date:
Below is the draft order.
IN THE COUNTY COURT
Claim No: M8KF60F5
BETWEEN:
Elite Car Parking Management Ltd
Claimant
- and -
[Defendant's Full Name]
Defendant
DRAFT ORDERDRAFT ORDER
UPON the Defendant’s application
IT IS ORDERED THAT:
1. The default judgment entered in or about April 2025 is set aside pursuant to CPR 13.2 on the basis that the claim form was never validly served on the Defendant.
2. In the alternative, if the Court finds that the judgment was regularly entered, the default judgment is set aside pursuant to CPR 13.3 on the grounds that the Defendant has a real prospect of successfully defending the claim and acted promptly upon discovering it.
3. Following the setting aside of judgment, the Claimant’s claim is struck out pursuant to CPR 7.5(1) and/or CPR 3.4(2)(c) as the claim form was not validly served within the permitted four-month period and has expired.
4. The Claimant shall pay the Defendant’s costs of the application, including the £313 fee, within 14 days.
5. Liberty to apply.
Finally, you must email the N244, witness statement, draft order and exhibits to the Civil National Business Centre at Applications.CNBC@justice.gov.uk and CC yourself and then phone to pay the £313 fee. The application will then be transferred to your local hearing centre for a short hearing.
So, the claim was never served within 4 months, therefore it cannot be revived after set aside. Before submitting a contested N244 application for set aside, you should give the claimant an opportunity to consent to a set aside which is cheaper for them, If they don't agree, then you file your own N244 contested set aside.
Foer now, you should email the following to info@dcblegal.co.uk and CC yourself. You attach the separate draft order as a PDF to the email:
Subject: Elite Car Parking Management Ltd v [My Full Name] – Claim M8KF60F5 – Default Judgment and Proposed Consent Order
Dear Sirs,
Re: Elite Car Parking Management Ltd v [My Full Name]
Claim No: M8KF60F5
Your Ref: 117098.4059D
I write as the Defendant in the above claim.
I recently discovered, via my credit file, that a default County Court Judgment was entered against me in April 2025. Prior to that, I had received no Letter of Claim, Claim Form or judgment at my current address and had no knowledge of the proceedings.
Background and mis-service
In brief:
• The alleged parking event is dated 27 September 2024 at “Eddington 4hr Zone, Cambridge, CB3 1AD”, relating to vehicle YD19 VPA.
• On that date, the driver paid for parking via the JustPark app for that vehicle and location. The booking remains visible in my JustPark account and is supported by the corresponding card/bank transaction. Your Particulars of Claim, which allege “vehicle not registered on Just Park app or displaying P&D ticket”, are therefore factually wrong.
• The only correspondence I actually saw was a DCBL debt recovery letter around 18 November 2024, sent to 194a Highamhill Road, E17 5RQ.
• I moved out of 194a Highamhill Road in January 2025 to my current address at [current address] and promptly updated my address with the DVLA (V5C) and on my driving licence.
• I have since been informed by the Civil National Business Centre that the claim was treated as served on 7 April 2025 and default judgment entered shortly thereafter, all to the old Highamhill Road address.
I did not receive any Letter of Claim, Claim Form or judgment at my current address and therefore had no opportunity to respond or defend the claim.
CPR 6.9(3), PPSCoP section 10.1 and Carr v VCS
You and your client are experienced bulk litigators. No initial NtK was ever received yet you sent multiple items of correspondence (debt recovery letters, Letter of Claim and Claim Form) to the Highamhill Road address and received no response at all. In those circumstances you plainly had reason to doubt that I was still resident there.
Under CPR 6.9(3), once there is reason to believe that the last known address is no longer current, a claimant must take reasonable steps to ascertain the defendant’s current address before serving the claim form. In practice, that means carrying out a simple tracing / credit reference search, which would have identified my current address. You did not do so.
Your client is also bound by the Private Parking Single Code of Practice v1.1 (17 February 2025). Section 10.1 requires operators, before debt recovery or legal action, to take reasonable steps to ensure that correspondence is being sent to the correct and current address of the keeper/debtor and not to continue enforcement where there is reason to believe that an address is no longer current. Persisting in issuing and serving proceedings to an obviously stale address, without a basic trace, is contrary to that obligation.
I will rely, among other authorities, on Carr v Vehicle Control Services Ltd [2025] EWCA Civ 713, where the Court of Appeal upheld the setting aside of a default judgment and the striking out of a private parking claim because the operator failed to take reasonable steps under CPR 6.9(3) to ascertain the defendant’s current address before service.
Intended application and strike-out
In light of the above, I am preparing a contested N244 application seeking:
1. An order setting aside the default judgment under CPR 13.2, on the basis that it was wrongly entered due to the claim form not being validly served on me;
2. In the alternative, an order under CPR 13.3, on the basis that I have a clear and real prospect of successfully defending the claim and have acted promptly upon discovering the judgment;
3. An order that, once the judgment is set aside, the claim be struck out pursuant to CPR 7.5(1) and/or CPR 3.4(2)(c), on the basis that the claim form was never validly served within four months of issue and has therefore expired; and
4. An order that the Claimant pay my costs of and occasioned by the application, including the £313 court fee and my reasonable litigant-in-person costs, in view of the unreasonable conduct in issuing and serving to a stale address contrary to CPR 6.9(3) and PPSCoP section 10.1.
Proposal for resolution by consent
To avoid unnecessary court time and further costs for all parties, I am prepared to resolve this by consent.
I enclose below a draft consent order for your consideration. In summary, it provides that:
• The default judgment is set aside under CPR 13.2, with an alternative under CPR 13.3;
• The claim is struck out once the judgment is set aside, due to non-service within four months under CPR 7.5(1); and
• The Claimant bears the costs of the application, including the court fee.
If your client is willing to accept responsibility for the position created by mis-service and to bear the cost of correcting it, then I invite you to:
1. Confirm, within 10 days of the date of this email, that you agree the enclosed draft order without amendment; and
2. Lodge an application with the court in those agreed terms at your client’s cost, copying me into both the application and the draft order filed, so that I can be sure no unilateral changes are made to my detriment.
For the avoidance of doubt, I do not consent to any amendments to the enclosed draft order. If you consider that any wording requires alteration, you must propose those changes to me in writing and obtain my express written agreement before filing anything with the court.
If I have not received written confirmation that you agree the draft order and have submitted an application in those agreed terms within 10 days, I will proceed without further notice to issue my own contested N244 application, seeking the orders described above and inviting the court to make an adverse costs order against the Claimant for unreasonable conduct.
I look forward to your prompt confirmation.
Yours faithfully,
[Full Name]
[Current Address]
[Email]
Draft Consent Order (to enclose in the email)
IN THE COUNTY COURT
Claim No: M8KF60F5
BETWEEN:
ELITE CAR PARKING MANAGEMENT LTD
Claimant
-and-
[FULL NAME]
Defendant
DRAFT CONSENT ORDER
UPON the parties having agreed the terms of this order
BY CONSENT IT IS ORDERED THAT:
1. The default judgment entered on [date in April 2025] in Claim No. M8KF60F5 be set aside pursuant to CPR 13.2, on the basis that the judgment was wrongly entered because the claim form was not validly served on the Defendant.
2. In the alternative, if the Court finds that the judgment was regularly entered, the default judgment is set aside pursuant to CPR 13.3, on the basis that the Defendant has a real prospect of successfully defending the claim and has acted promptly upon becoming aware of the proceedings and the judgment.
3. Upon the judgment being set aside, the Claimant’s claim is struck out pursuant to CPR 7.5(1) and/or CPR 3.4(2)(c) on the ground that the claim form was not validly served within four months of the date of issue and has therefore expired.
4. The Claimant shall pay the Defendant’s costs of and occasioned by the application to set aside the default judgment, such costs to be summarily assessed in the total sum of £[insert – at least the £313 court fee, plus any agreed LiP sum], payable within 14 days of the date of this order.
5. There be liberty to apply.
Signed: ___________________________
For and on behalf of the Claimant
Elite Car Parking Management Ltd
(by its solicitors DCB Legal Ltd)
Dated: ___________________________
Signed: ___________________________
[Defendant’s full name]
Dated: ___________________________
If they fail to agree, come back in 20 days and I will provide the necessary information to apply for a contested N244 application.
Today I received a letter form a bailiff to collect £170 for a parking charge on private land.
Despite the name of the company, you should note the important text at the bottom of the letter:
"This case is not subject to High court or bailiff action"
Debt collectors like DCBL can be ignored. By this point any opportunity to appeal will have passed - you should file but ignore debt collector letters, and come back here for advice if you receive a "Letter of Claim" from solicitors, such as DCB Legal.
If the original notice and potentially a reminder have not been received, I would strongly recommend you get your V5C document out and double check that the address on it is correct.