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Thanks for getting back to me and hence I have updated witness statement as below, the first few points seem to be needed to give the background but have then moved up the point that I have paid the £100.

If I don’t get any more feedback I will send tomorrow morning.

Note: I still have not received the witness statement from DCB Legal so seems like they are leaving it to last minute, don’t know if they want to get my witness statement first…

Thanks,
Helen





WITNESS STATEMENT

 

IN THE CREWE COUNTY COURT

Claim No.: XXXXX

 

BETWEEN:

EURO CAR PARKS LTD

Claimant

 

and

 

XXXXXX XXXXXX

Defendant

 

---

 

WITNESS STATEMENT OF XXXXX XXXXX

 

I, {Name and address}, will state as follows:

 

1. I am the Defendant in this claim. This witness statement is made in support on my defence.

2. I travelled to Birmingham on 19th October 2023 to attend a show and parked in Hill Street Birmingham, owned by Euro Car Parks.

3. The claimant is alleging the parking payment did not cover the date and time of parking.

4. Initially I received letter from Euro Car Parks stating I owed £100 for the overstay.

5. I received letters from Debt Recovery Plus on behalf of Euro Car Parks related to this, stating I owe £170, of which I assume, per previous point, £100 is for the overstay.

6. Hence on 2nd April 2024 I paid the £100 for the overstay to Debt Recovery Plus so this money and any interest is not owed as it has already been paid.

7. I did not pay the additional £70 as this appears to be an attempt at double recovery, representing neither costs incurred by contract, or a genuine reflection of the costs incurred in the debt collection process

8. Further to previous point it is now publicly acknowledged by the DLUHC’s July 2023 impact assessment that so-called ‘debt recovery’ costs are routinely inflated and rarely reflect actual costs. The Government has stated that the average cost to operators is around £8.42, however claims such as this seek £70 or more under that heading.

9. Also I believe I paid for my car parking but do not recall the details of this nor how long I stayed, nearly 3 years later.

10. However the claimant has provided insufficient information to date in relation to this claim as they have not clarified in any correspondence or court documents how much I did pay and what period this covered.

11. Therefore I do not believe, even if I did overstay, I owe any money for this claim.

12. Attached to this statement are the following documents:

   · Exhibit A: Initial letter received from Euro Car Parks asking for the amount of £100 for parking overstay at Hill Street Birmingham by Euro Car Park for 19th October 2023.

   · Exhibit B: Last Letter received from Debt Recovery Plus asking for the amount of £170 for parking overstay at Hill Street Birmingham by Euro Car Park for 19th October 2023.

   · Exhibit C: Bank statement showing £100 paid to Debt Recovery Plus on 2nd April 2024.

 

I believe that the facts stated in this witness statement are true.

 

Signed: _________________________

Dated: _________________________

 

Hi All,

Just again requesting responses / input on my previous messages as I have to get my witness statement submitted tomorrow and this is the first time I have done this.

Plus I have heard back from the SRA but they have confirmed based on Mazur appeal that they will not be taking any action.

Thanks,
Helen.

SRA mail for which I provided a copy of the requested form:

 
Your report about DCB Legal
 
Thank you for your raising concerns about the involvement of Sarah Ensall within the claims process.
 
I am an Investigation Officer at the SRA. My role is to review reports we receive and decide if investigation is required for any misconduct issues.
 
I have now taken ownership of your report.
 
Information required
 
- Can you please provide a copy of the claim form signed by Sarah Ensall.
 
If anything has changed since your report the matter to us, please let me know.
 
Do not hesitate to contact me in the event of any queries.
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Xxxxx xxxxx
Investigation Officer
Investigation and Supervision
Solicitors Regulation Authority/Awdurdod Rheoleiddio Cyfreithwyr
www.sra.org.uk

Hi Everyone,

I haven’t heard anything from DCB legal yet regarding their defence but I have prepared an initial version on my witness statement that I will send in next message.

I haven’t included anything yet on Sarah Ensall and if she had authority to sign the form as I believe that is the Mazur issue and so should I include this as per previous message sounds like it may have been overturned on appeal…?
Related to this I will also post in separate message the email I got from the SRA related to it.

Also not sure if I should add anything that when contacted by DCB Legal, I asked them to provide all correspondence in writing incase they say they tried to settle but I wasn’t contactable or wouldn’t discuss with them….?

I checked on the government court finder and found several emails for Crewe county court but I assume it is the following civil email address I should use?: ch-crewectycivil@justice.gov.uk

Thanks,
Helen.

Hi Everyone,
 
So have a few updates:
 
The first is that the SRA have been in touch, I was away but last week sent them pictures of the form signed by Sarah Ensall.
 
I also spoke to DBC Legal, before I saw previous message and they said that per courts request we try and settle first they were calling me to discuss but I asked them to put anything they had in writing and not call me (and not had any calls from them since).

 
The biggest thing through is that I have now had a letter with a court date of 12th June and key points from the letter:
(1) Allocated to small claims track and hearing to be held at Crewe Country Court at 10am on Friday 12th June 2026
(2) It is noted in the letter that the “claimant must attend the hearing for the purposes of cross examination”
(3) DCB Legal need to pay the court fee by 4pm on 15th May or ask for help with legal fees (which obviously they would not be entitled to) the case will be struck out
(4) In the meantime though I need to provide a witness statement and it has been so long ago I can’t recall the particulars or the parking just that I did go to Birmingham for a show that night parked (although per documents I must have paid parking but overstayed as that is what they are alleging) and later I did pay the £100 parking charge to Debt recovery plus (but did not pay the £70 pound request for additional fees)
(5) I also must prepare a documents bundle to the court by 4pm at least 28 days prior to the hearing so that would be May 15th
(6) Additionally it notes that a bundle must be sent to the court and other party (fully indexed , paginated and contained in a suitable ring binder) no later that 5 days before the final hearing so that would be 5th June
 
My questions related to the above:
 - Per point 2 I am not sure what I would need to ask in terms of cross examination so could the forum help with this
 - Per point 3 I assume that if DCL legal are going to dismiss this that would be the time they will do it before the court fees are paid….?
 - Can someone on this form help me with the Witness statement and also how I send that and the document bundle to the court as details of that are not provided so do I post it, email it or drop it off
 - Per the cross examination and/or witness statement would this include the potential issue with form signed by Sarah Ensall…?
 - For the documents bundle as well, I don’t have access to a photocopier and limited access to a printer, I know I need to provide the bank statement to show the £100 paid and related Debt recovery plus letter that show they were asking for payment for this parking incident but what else would I need in addition to these and the witness statements
 - The bundles that are mentioned to be delivered 5 days before I assume they are the same as the bundle for 28 days before just with the indexing, binder etc. so I assume these need to be either posted or delivered in person….?
 
Thanks,
Helen.

Hi everyone, bumping again as really hoping for reply on my questions following mediator appointment as below.

Also as DCB legal have tried calling me again and not sure whether I just ignore or answer and ask them to put anything in writing or send them an email asking them not to call and put anything in writing or do I answer and just say I am not willing to pay anything….?

Not sure anyway if they want to make a better offer why they didn’t do that through mediator….

Just bumping up as hoping someone can get back to me based on my latest update and questions below, thanks

Quote from: helenwhite00 on February 25, 2026, 01:42:45 pm

Just bumping this up so for a reply and just to add DCBL tried to call me again yesterday, thank you

Quote from: helenwhite00 on February 23, 2026, 11:06:52 pm

Hi,
 
So I have had my mediator appointment now (my mistake it was 9th Feb not 9th Jan) and mediator was very nice, he went through everything with me then called DCBL and they offered to settle for £220.
 
Obviously I said no but honestly I was expecting a lower offer (even though I would still have said no) so is usual for them to come with an offer this high?
 
They also said they had not had any evidence from me of the £100 payment – this is not true as I provided via email and so have the evidence of that.
 
DCBL have also tried to call me a several times (inc. four times this last week since mediation and automated voicemail message asking to call them back), I was working anyway so didn’t answer and as I want anything in writing but if they call again am I OK to continue ignoring or should I respond to let them know I want things in writing (i.e. would the court if it gets that far look badly on me not answering).
 
In terms of next steps, mediator advised I will get a court date but it maybe 6-12months, in terms of knowing if DCBL will proceed will they usually make that determination when have to pay the (additional) court fee as it sounds like they have already had to pay an initial fee (per mediation email)
 
Note: I don’t know if this has any impact but my nearest court is Crewe and DCBL being based in Runcorn that is close by and so just wondering if they are more likely to pursue cases that are close / easy for them to attend….?
 
Thanks,
Helen.

Just bumping this up so for a reply and just to add DCBL tried to call me again yesterday, thank you

Hi,
 
So I have had my mediator appointment now (my mistake it was 9th Feb not 9th Jan) and mediator was very nice, he went through everything with me then called DCBL and they offered to settle for £220.
 
Obviously I said no but honestly I was expecting a lower offer (even though I would still have said no) so is usual for them to come with an offer this high?
 
They also said they had not had any evidence from me of the £100 payment – this is not true as I provided via email and so have the evidence of that.
 
DCBL have also tried to call me a several times (inc. four times this last week since mediation and automated voicemail message asking to call them back), I was working anyway so didn’t answer and as I want anything in writing but if they call again am I OK to continue ignoring or should I respond to let them know I want things in writing (i.e. would the court if it gets that far look badly on me not answering).
 
In terms of next steps, mediator advised I will get a court date but it maybe 6-12months, in terms of knowing if DCBL will proceed will they usually make that determination when have to pay the (additional) court fee as it sounds like they have already had to pay an initial fee (per mediation email)
 
Note: I don’t know if this has any impact but my nearest court is Crewe and DCBL being based in Runcorn that is close by and so just wondering if they are more likely to pursue cases that are close / easy for them to attend….?
 
Thanks,
Helen.