To all,
Please see below the final outcome response to my Stage 3 complaint to HMCTS regarding the mediators conduct. This may prove useful going forward for others who are challenging Parkingeye/DCB Legal and are faced with mediation.
Let me know your thoughts.
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HM Courts & Tribunals Service
User Investigations Team
6th Floor (6.13)
102 Petty France London
SW1H 9AJEmail: userinvestigations@justice.gov.uk18th December 2025
Without Prejudice Dear
Our final reply to your complaint Thank you for your email of 3 December about the Small Claims Mediation Service (SCM). Your complaint has been passed to me to consider at the final stage of our complaints process. I’m sorry to hear you’re unhappy with our replies so far. I can see you’re concerned about the mediation appointment that took place on 27 October and you’re unhappy with how the mediation was conducted.
I’ve checked the available information and I didn’t see that we made any administrative mistakes, so I’m sorry I can’t uphold your complaint. I’ve explained how I made my decision in more detail below.
How I made by decision It may help if I explain, the purpose of mediation is to explore settlement. It is completely separate from the court process to protect neutrality and encourage open discussion. If the case progresses to court, the judge will not see what was said during mediation or the reasons why settlement was not reached. There is no requirement for the mediator to keep detailed notes of the discussions or any procedural issues. Only the outcome of the appointment is needed. This protects both parties’ privacy and make sure that the judge’s decision is not influenced by what was said in mediation.
The mediator’s role is to confirm that each person taking part has authority to settle the claim, which was done during your appointment. While I appreciate that you feel that the claimant’s representative should have identified themselves, there is no requirement for them to do this, and the mediator cannot make the parties share their personal details. During the appointment, the mediator will gather information from one party and relay this to the other. Please be assured that this isn’t advocating for one party over another because the mediator cannot add their own opinions, argue for a party, or try to influence the outcome of the appointment. It is done to ensure that both sides understand each other’s position.
In your case, mediation couldn’t proceed once you stated that you disputed the claim.
While you have explained that you didn’t want to negotiate because the claimant’s representative wouldn’t confirm their identity, I hope you’ll understand that HMCTS mediation guidance states that if a party confirms they will not engage in negotiation, the mediation cannot continue. Because of this, there was no need to pass your concerns onto the Claimant once you made your position clear. I’m sorry that this wasn’t made clearer in our previous letters. Even so, I’m satisfied that the mediator acted appropriately and in line with HMCTS guidance.
If you’re still unhappy with our responseThis letter is our final reply to you in line with our complaints procedure, we won’t be writing to you about this again.
If you’re unhappy with how I’ve handled your complaint, you can ask a member of parliament (MP) to pass your case to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (the Ombudsman). However, if you’re a victim of crime as defined by the Code of Practice for Victims of Crime in England and Wales
(https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-code-of-practice-for-victims-of-crime) then you can escalate your complaint directly to the PHSO.
How to pass your complaint to the Ombudsman 1. Go to
www.ombudsman.org.uk/making-complaint.
2. Check the information to see if they can help you – the Ombudsman cannot review all types of
complaint.
3. Download a complaint form from the Ombudsman’s website.
4. Follow their directions for submitting a complaint
Your MP will then pass the complaint to the Ombudsman and get the process started.
Yours sincerely
Richard Redgrave
Head of User Investigations---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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