Free Traffic Legal Advice

As this case continues, it appears that Smart Parking ltd intend to pursue me.

I have been sent a telephone mediation appointment for April, for which I need to prepare my defence. To recap, my defence is as follows:

1.
I was part of a large party of invited guests visiting the landlord (Exmouth RFC). On the day of our visit, around 25 vehicles received parking fines.
Exmouth RFC did not pass on the parking arrangements intended for invited guests (namely that there is a registration system accessible by tablet to allow for free parking).
In the initial phases of organising the visit, the landlord did not communicate to us any information regarding parking. Our touring party subsequently discovered that the parking system was in planning and implementation stage and many of the volunteers at Exmouth were unaware of the plans.  when we arranged the visit first instance not passed information onto us regarding the changes to their parking arrangements.
2. The signage was completely inadequate. Indeed, at the time (March 2024) just a few weeks after the implementation of the system, there was no signage in the car park itself. 25 separate fines on the day stand testament to the fact.
3. In my capacity of Junior Chairman of Thornbury RFC  (the touring party) I contacted my contemporary at Exmouth RFC (Lawrence Giles) and he said he would send the list of impacted registration numbers to him to forward onto Smart Parking Ltd. As a representative of the landlord he was apologetic and he was not sure of what he could do, but believed at the time he could get Smart Parking to stop pursuing the people on the list. Some weeks later as it became clear Smart Parking were continuing their action, I attempted to make contact again but my attempts went unanswered this time.


I would greatly appreciate how this should be worded and/or structured for legal purposes (assuming the mediator will be making a judgement based on the case I put forward).

I am (as ever) eternally grateful for your input. Kind regards.

And so it goes on...I received this (via email only) yesterday. It has an N180 'Directions Questionnaire' attachment pre-filled out by DCB. I am under the impression that I should only respond to written correspondence and requests, does this constitute written as via email? Should I respond or ignore.

Many thanks again for all the help and advice.

Good Morning

Having reviewed the content of your defence, we write to inform you that our client intends to proceed with the claim.

In due course, the Court will direct both parties to each file a directions questionnaire. In preparation for that, please find attached a copy of the Claimant's, which we confirm has been filed with the Court.

Without Prejudice to the above, in order to assist the Court in achieving its overriding objective, our client may be prepared to settle this case - in the event you wish to discuss settlement, please call us on 0203 434 0433 within 7 days and make immediate reference to this correspondence.

If you have provided an email address within your Defence, we intend to use it for service of documents (usually in PDF format) hereon in pursuant to PD 6A (4.1)(2)(c). Please advise whether there are any limitations to this (for example, the format in which documents are to be sent and the maximum size of attachments that may be received). Unless you advise otherwise, we will assume not.

 

Kind Regards,

Litigation Support

DCB Legal Ltd

 

Tel: 0203 838 7038 | DX 23457 Runcorn

Many many thanks for this. I have submitted the defence and will wait to hear.

I would greatly appreciate some advice on this claim from Smart Parking dating back some 19 months.

Smart Parking issued a PCN to the registered keeper on the 10/04/2024 some 17 days after the alleged offence (24/03/2025). I responded to the original notice stating that under the PoFA (2012), as there was no ticket issued on site, the notice fell outside of the 14 day period required to comply. They rejected this and have been pursuing me ever since.

Sadly, the usual letters chasing the charge have been lost, but I have the original notice. I have not responded to any of the subsequent correspondence and have ignored the letters.

I have just received claim from HM Courts and tribunals notifying me of a claim against me from DCB Legal Ltd. It arrived 6 days from date of issue (05/12/2025) so am now short on time to respond.

The case is complex because the dates and times of the alleged offence are not in dispute, but the establishment of the 'contract' between the driver and the rugby club are ambiguous and contradictory. We were invited guests of Exmouth Rugby Club and were touring the region with various age groups (some 50 or so parents and children). Exmouth RFC established their ANPR managed parking system in the February and we visited in the March. We began organising the tour long before (September of 23) and during our initial communications, nothing about parking was mentioned. Closer to the date we had further communication from Exmouth RFC, but the advice differed depending on age group and was obscure. Some were told as visitors We were entitled to register and park for free (a tablet system was available if you knew about it). Some were told to pay on the Ringo app and other age groups didn't receive communication of any sort.

Some 30 or so of our members were issued parking charge notices that day. I wrote and spoke to my contemporary (Exmouth RFC  Junior Chairman) in my position as Junior Chairman of our rugby club and asked him (as the land owners) to cancel the charges due to the confused communication and inadequate signage.

He asked me to send a list of registration numbers and promised to 'look into it'. I sent the numbers but nothing further was heard and subsequent attempts to contact failed.

I would greatly appreciate any advice from this forum as have just a few days to acknowledge the claim. I am keen to defend my position in any way possible as feel strongly we have not had a clear and binding contract with Exmouth RFC who will ultimately profit from this action.

Kind regards.