Apparently, many cases are being transferred to St Helens as telephone hearings. Not ideal, but they can do this as there is no need for the defendant to travel away from their place of work or residence.
However, as this is likely to be discontinued before the hearing fee is paid, you may just want to email the following to St Helens County Court at civil.sthelens.countycourt@justice.gov.uk and CC in yourself:
Hearing listed for: 20 August 2025 – Telephone Hearing at St Helens
Dear Sir,
I write to formally object to the Notice of Allocation to the Small Claims Track dated 29 May 2025, which lists a telephone hearing to be conducted by St Helens County Court.
On 28 April 2025, I contacted the Civil National Business Centre (CNBC) by telephone and email regarding this matter. A member of staff at the CNBC confirmed that the case should not have been allocated to St Helens, and advised that they would initiate action to transfer the case to my local hearing centre, as the file had not yet been transferred at that time.
Despite this, I have now received a hearing notice listing the matter at St Helens for a telephone hearing. This directly contradicts the earlier assurance and is procedurally unfair.
I respectfully request that this matter be urgently reviewed and that the hearing be:
• Transferred to my local County Court hearing centre; and
• Heard in person, in line with the request made in my Directions Questionnaire.
It would be wholly unjust to require me to submit an N244 application with a fee of £15, simply to correct what appears to be an administrative oversight after the CNBC had accepted that the listing was inappropriate.
Legal Grounds:
• Practice Direction 26, paragraph 3.1 confirms that small claims hearings should normally take place at the defendant’s local County Court hearing centre.
• I clearly indicated on the Directions Questionnaire that I requested a hearing in person. The phrase “in person” was clearly intended to mean physically attending a courtroom, as opposed to a remote hearing.
While I understand the court may argue that a telephone hearing is “in person” in the legal sense, I submit that it is not equivalent to a physical hearing. As a litigant-in-person, I am disadvantaged by:
• The lack of direct communication with the judge;
• Inability to follow or challenge evidence effectively without face-to-face interaction;
• Potential technical issues or lack of a suitable environment for attending a remote hearing.
• The hearing involves factual disputes and the evaluation of evidence, including possible witness statements and signage photos, which are more effectively considered in a physical courtroom setting.
• Under CPR 1.1, the court is required to deal with cases justly and at proportionate cost. Allowing a telephone hearing in these circumstances fails to uphold this obligation. It places me at a disadvantage and affords procedural convenience to the Claimant’s professional representative, likely a bulk issuer of claims.
I therefore ask that the listing be reviewed without requiring a formal application or fee, and that the hearing be re-listed as an in-person hearing at my local court.
Please confirm receipt of this email and advise what action will now be taken.
Yours faithfully,
[Your Full Name]
Otherwise, you can try and submit an N244 application form. Download the form here: N244 application form (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65eb1c6b5b652445f6f21b01/N244_0622_save.pdf)
It is not clear from the XE50 form whether the fee to amend an order is the £15 or the full £313. If you want to do it this way, I suggest you complete an N244 and pay the £15 to request that the hearing is rescheduled to your local county court and you include the following letter:
Re: Claim Number [INSERT CLAIM NUMBER]
Defendant: [Full Name]
Application to vary Notice of Allocation dated 29 May 2025
Dear Sir or Madam,
Please find enclosed an N244 application to vary the Notice of Allocation to the Small Claims Track, issued on 29 May 2025, which lists a telephone hearing at St Helens County Court on 20 August 2025.
I enclose the £15 court fee for an application to vary an order, submitted under fee code FEE0458 as per the May 2025 EX50 schedule.
Basis of Application:
I respectfully request that the court vary the order so that the hearing:
• takes place in person (face-to-face); and
• is transferred to the Defendant’s local hearing centre, in accordance with Practice Direction 26, paragraph 3.1.
I had already contacted the Civil National Business Centre (CNBC) on 28 April 2025, who acknowledged that the matter had been erroneously routed to St Helens and undertook to have the case listed locally, as the file had not yet transferred. Despite this, the Notice of Allocation issued on 29 May now lists a telephone hearing at St Helens and does not reflect the earlier correspondence.
On the use of fee code FEE0458 (£15):
This is a request to vary a court order, specifically the hearing format and location in the allocation notice. If the court considers this falls outside the scope of FEE0458 and requires a general application fee (£313) under code FEE0442, I respectfully request:
• that the court considers this matter under CPR 3.1(7) as a request to correct an administrative listing error; and/or
• that the court exercise discretion to deal with the matter without requiring the Defendant to pay a disproportionate application fee, particularly where the Defendant is a litigant-in-person and has made reasonable attempts to resolve the issue earlier.
Additional Grounds:
• I clearly requested an in-person hearing on the Directions Questionnaire.
• I am a litigant-in-person, whereas the Claimant is likely a represented bulk litigant.
• A remote hearing would impair my ability to participate fully and fairly, contrary to the Overriding Objective (CPR 1.1) and CPR 3.1A.
• This case involves factual disputes, and I believe that justice would be better served through a physical hearing at my local court.
Please confirm receipt of this request and advise whether the matter will now be relisted locally.
Yours faithfully,
[Your Name]
You can submit an N244 application by email to civil.sthelens.countycourt@justice.gov.uk with the subject of the email containing "URGENT" and the claim number.
This is what you need to fill in on the N244 if you go down this route:
Top section:
Name of court: St Helens County Court
Claim number: [Enter the claim number from your Notice of Allocation]
Claimant’s name: [As shown on the claim form]
Defendant’s name: [Your full name]
Date: [Today’s date]
1. Your name...
Enter your full name
2. Are you a...
Tick: Defendant
3. What order are you asking the court to make and why?
“An order that the hearing listed for [insert hearing date] be varied so that:
(1) The hearing is listed as an in-person hearing rather than a telephone hearing; and
(2) The hearing is transferred from St Helens County Court to the Defendant’s local hearing centre at [insert name of local court], being the Defendant’s home court pursuant to PD26 paragraph 3.1.
This application is made pursuant to CPR 3.1(7), the Overriding Objective, and PD26 3.1. The defendant is a litigant-in-person and reasonably expected an in-person hearing at their local court. The original request was made clear in the Directions Questionnaire. The current listing does not reflect the agreement of the CNBC to transfer the file to the local court before allocation occurred.”
4. Have you attached a draft of the order?
Tick: Yes (attach a typed one-page draft – I can provide this)
5. How do you want the application dealt with?
Tick: without a hearing
(unless you want a short telephone hearing to explain – optional)
6. How long will the hearing take?
If you ticked “at a hearing,” write:
0 hours, 15 minutes
Is this agreed by all parties? Tick No
7. Any fixed trial date?
Write: None
8. What level of judge?
Write: District Judge
9. Who should be served?
Write: The Claimant
9a. Service address (if known):
Enter the address for service from the claim form (DCB Legal's company address)
10. What information are you relying on?
Tick: The attached witness statement
If you prefer, tick "evidence set out in the box below" and copy the summary from section 3 (I can supply a full text)
11. Vulnerable?
Tick No unless applicable
Statement of Truth:
Tick: Applicant
Sign and date
Print your full name
Page 5 (your address):
Fill in your postal address, phone, and email
You must contact the CNBC and tell them that they have a muppet in their admin who is constantly sending claims to St Helens instead of the defendants local county court as required under CPR 26.2A(2) and Practice Direction 26 (PD26).
CPR 26.2A(2) provides that, where the claim is a small claim (i.e., allocated to the small claims track) and the defendant is an individual (as opposed to a business or company), the hearing should be transferred to the defendant’s home court once allocation is decided.
Practice Direction 26, paragraph 7.1 elaborates on this, stating:
"Where a claim is being defended and the defendant is an individual, the claim should be transferred to the defendant’s local County Court hearing centre."
Thus, for defended small claims involving an individual defendant, the default position is that the hearing should take place at their local court, unless there are exceptional reasons to do otherwise.
You now need to send the following email, marked "!!! URGENT !!!" to dq.cnbc@justice.gov.uk and CC CaseProgression.CNBC@justice.gov.uk, customerservicesnorth@justice.gov.uk and yourself:
The Court Manager
County Court Business Centre (CNBC)
Email: ccbc@justice.gov.uk
Dear Sir or Madam,
I write as the Defendant in Claim Number [insert claim number].
I completed my N180 Directions Questionnaire, clearly stating that my preferred local hearing centre is Kingston-upon-Thames County Court. Despite this, the case has incorrectly been referred to St Helens County Court.
Under CPR 26.2A(2) and Practice Direction 26, paragraph 7.1, a defended claim against an individual must be transferred to the defendant’s local hearing centre. This misallocation represents a breach of the Civil Procedure Rules and should never have occurred, particularly when the correct hearing centre was explicitly stated on the Directions Questionnaire.
This is not an isolated incident. It is part of an emerging pattern where defended claims involving DCB Legal Ltd are improperly allocated to St Helens County Court — a court local to DCB Legal — rather than the defendant’s local hearing centre.
There are only two possible explanations for this serious failure:
• Either CNBC administrative staff are unaware of the basic requirements of CPR 26.2A(2); or
• There is improper bias, favouritism, or even undue influence being exercised by or on behalf of DCB Legal Ltd to achieve allocations favourable to them.
Either scenario is wholly unacceptable and risks undermining public confidence in the fairness and integrity of the court system.
I therefore request the following:
• Immediate correction of this error under CPR 3.3(4) without the need for a formal application or payment of a fee, transferring the case to Kingston-upon-Thames County Court; and
• Written confirmation that this has been done; and
• Confirmation of what steps CNBC is taking to ensure that this systemic failure is identified, investigated, and stopped.
If this matter is not promptly corrected, I reserve the right to escalate this to HMCTS Regional Management, the Civil Justice Council, and my Member of Parliament, including providing details of the pattern of misallocations benefiting a particular bulk litigator.
Yours faithfully,
[Defendant’s Full Name]
[Defendant’s Postal Address]
[Defendant’s Email Address (optional)]
You should also try calling the CNBC and telling them to fix this problem they have created.
All normal. Wait for your N180 Directions Questionnaire. Check your MCOL history and when it says yours has been sent, just follow these instructions and download your own now:
Having received your own N180 (make sure it is not simply a copy of the claimants N180), do not use the paper form. Ignore all the other forms that came with it. you can discard those. Download your own here and fill it in on your computer. You sign it by simply typing your full name in the signature box.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/673341e779e9143625613543/N180_1124.pdf
Here are the answers to some of the less obvious questions:
• The name of the court is "Civil National Business Centre".
• To be completed by "Your full name" and you are the "Defendant".
• C1: "YES"
• D1: "NO". Reason: "I wish to question the Claimant about their evidence at a hearing in person and to expose omissions and any misleading or incorrect evidence or assertions.
Given the Claimant is a firm who complete cut & paste parking case paperwork for a living, having this case heard solely on papers would appear to put the Claimant at an unfair advantage, especially as they would no doubt prefer the Defendant not to have the opportunity to expose the issues in the Claimants template submissions or speak as the only true witness to events in question.."
• F1: Whichever is your nearest county court. Use this to find it: https://www.find-court-tribunal.service.gov.uk/search-option
• F3: "1".
• Sign the form by simply typing your full name for the signature.
When you have completed the form, attach it to a single email addressed to both dq.cnbc@justice.gov.uk and info@dcblegal.co.uk and CC in yourself. Make sure that the claim number is in the subject field of the email.
Here is the defence. You only need to edit your name and the claim number. You sign it by typing your full name for the signature and date it. When completed, save all the documents (defence and the Draft Order) as PDF files and you attach them to an email which you send to claimresponses.cnbc@justice.gov.uk and CC in yourself.
IN THE COUNTY COURT
Claim No: [Claim Number]
BETWEEN:
UK Parking Control Ltd
Claimant
- and -
[Defendant's Full Name]
Defendant
DEFENCE
1. The Defendant denies any liability for this claim.
2. There is a lack of precise detail in the Particulars of Claim (PoC) in respect of the factual and legal allegations made against the Defendant such that the PoC do not comply with CPR 16.4.
3. The Defendant is unable to plead properly to the PoC because:
(a) The contract referred to is not detailed or attached to the PoC in accordance with CPR PD 16(7.5);
(b) The PoC do not state the exact wording of the clause (or clauses) of the terms and conditions of the contract (or contracts) which is/are relied on;
(c) The PoC do not state with sufficient particularity exactly where the breach occurred, the exact time when the breach occurred and how long it is alleged that the vehicle was parked before the parking charge was allegedly incurred;
(d) The PoC do not state exactly how the claim for statutory interest is calculated;
(e) The PoC do not state what proportion of the claim is the parking charge and what proportion is damages;
(f) The PoC states that the Claimant is suing the defendant as the driver or the keeper. The claimant obviously knows whether the defendant is being sued as the driver or the keeper and should not be permitted to plead alternative causes of action.
4. The Defendant has attached to this defence a copy of an order made at another court which the allocating judge ought to make at this stage so that the Defendant can then know and understand the case which he/she/it faces and can then respond properly to the claim.
Statement of truth
I believe that the facts stated in this Defence 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:
You will need to also attach the linked Draft Order:
Draft Order for the defence (https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/z8zcqfdncdoajgj4ag6a4/short-defence-order.pdf?rlkey=at98xmfwj0ehi3w9d0ia15ogp&st=03oe1jqs&dl=0)
When you've edited the defence with your full name, claim number you can sign it by simply typing your full name for the signature and also date it. There is nothing to edit in the draft order.
Attach both documents as PDF files to an email addressed to claimresponses.cnbc@justice.gov.uk and CC in yourself. Make sure that the claim number is included in the email subject field. In the body of the email put: "Pease find enclosed the Defence and Draft Order in the matter of UK Parking Control Ltd. v [your full name] Claim No.: [claim number]".
That's it for now.