FFS!!!! That timetable is the worst of both worlds for a defendant when you’re dealing with a serial discontinuer like DCB Legal.
What the court has done (and why it’s a problem)
• Hearing: 18 February 2026
• Claimant’s trial fee deadline: 21 January 2026
• Both parties’ WS/evidence deadline: 15 December 2025
So you, as defendant, must:
• Do all the heavy lifting (WS, exhibits, case law bundle) before Christmas 2025
• While the claimant still hasn’t even shown they’re serious enough to pay the trial fee in January 2026
Given DCB Legal’s history of:
• Filing weak claims
• Dragging defendants through the directions stages
• Then discontinuing at the eleventh hour when trial fee / real work is due
…it is entirely rational to say this timetable loads the burden onto the defendant and encourages exactly that abusive pattern.
You have two options:
Option 1:You can apply under CPR 3.3(5) / CPR 23 to vary the directions, on the basis that they are disproportionate and unfair to the defendant. The simple request is:
That the deadline for exchange of witness statements and documents be moved to a date after the claimant’s trial fee deadline (e.g. 14 days after 21 January 2026), so that the defendant is not forced to incur unnecessary costs where the claimant does not pay the fee and the claim is automatically struck out.
However, that will already incur an extra cost to submit an N244 application.
Option 2:If you decide you don’t want the hassle/cost of an N244:
Write a short letter/email to the court (headed with the claim number) saying:
• You note the listing order
• You are concerned about disproportionate costs being front-loaded onto a litigant in person where the claimant may not even pay the trial fee
• You respectfully invite the court, of its own initiative under CPR 3.3, to move the WS deadline to after the trial fee date
• If the court declines, you will comply but reserve the right to seek wasted/indemnity costs if the claimant discontinues after you’ve prepared your WS.
I would suggest you go for option 2. If the court declines or insists on an N244 application, just wait until you receive the claimants WS, which is highly unlikely going to happen.
Courts do sometimes move the WS deadline to after the trial fee date if you ask clearly and reasonably and keep it short. There’s no guarantee. A “procedural” DJ may just shrug and say “these are standard small-claims directions”.
But you are absolutely not being unreasonable to say: “If the claimant won’t even pay £27 to continue, I shouldn’t have to burn hours drafting a detailed WS before that’s known.”
I suggest you email the following to the court at
civil.romford.countycourt@justice.gov.uk and CC DCB Legal at
info@dcblegal.co.uk and yourself:
Subject: Claim [CLAIM NUMBER] – Request to Vary Directions (Witness Statement Deadline)
Claim No: [XXXXX]
Between: G24 Ltd
and
[Defendant]
TO: The Court Manager
Romford County Court
Dear Sir or Madam,
Re: Listing and directions – request to vary witness statement deadline
I write as the Defendant in the above matter, regarding the recent order listing the hearing for 18 February 2026.
The order provides that the parties must file and serve their witness statements and documents by 15 December 2025, and that the Claimant must pay the trial fee of £27 by 21 January 2026.
I respectfully ask the Court to reconsider this timetable. As a litigant in person, preparing a witness statement and evidence bundle is a significant amount of work and time. Under the current order, I am required to complete this work more than a month before it is known whether the Claimant intends to proceed and will pay the trial fee. In a low-value small claim, this front-loads the burden and risks unnecessary expense.
In particular, I draw the Court’s attention to the fact that the Claimant is represented by DCB Legal Ltd, a bulk-litigation firm in private parking matters. I have been following a long-running public thread on the MoneySavingExpert consumer forum where defendants post copies of Notices of Discontinuance (Forms N279) in parking claims conducted by DCB Legal. Over a little more than two years that thread has recorded in excess of 700 such discontinuances, each evidenced by a redacted N279. Whilst I do not suggest this is a definitive or complete dataset, it does, in my respectful submission, demonstrate a clear pattern: defended small claims issued by this firm are overwhelmingly likely to be discontinued before trial, always shortly before the trial fee falls due. If the Court would find it of assistance, I can provide a small sample of those N279s by way of illustration.
Against that background, requiring a litigant in person to complete a full witness statement and evidence bundle before the Claimant has even demonstrated a genuine intention to pursue the claim by paying the modest trial fee is, in my respectful submission, disproportionate and contrary to the overriding objective in CPR 1.1. It effectively facilitates a pattern whereby the represented party can put defendants to unnecessary work and then discontinue at the last moment without having to undertake equivalent preparation.
In light of this, I invite the Court, of its own initiative under CPR 3.3, to vary the directions so that the deadline for exchange of witness statements and documents is set after the trial fee date. For example:
“The parties shall file and serve their witness statements and all documents on which they intend to rely no later than 4 February 2026.”
(being 14 days after the trial fee deadline of 21 January 2026).
If the Court is not minded to adopt that exact date, I would be grateful if some alternative date after the trial fee deadline could be set, so that I am not required to incur the time and effort of preparing a full witness statement bundle in circumstances where, on past form, this particular Claimant’s solicitors are very likely to discontinue if they do not even pay the trial fee.
If the Court declines to vary the order, I will of course endeavour to comply with the existing timetable. However, I wished to raise this concern at the earliest opportunity.
A copy of this email has been sent to the Claimant’s solicitors, DCB Legal Ltd.
Thank you for your consideration.
Yours faithfully,
[Defendant’s name]
[Address]
