Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hi all,


Firstly, I'd like to thank you all here for such an amazing wealth of information found here! I've read what I could, browsing newbies' threads on Private Penalty Charge Notices here quietly. I would be very grateful if you could help me with my formal defence, I've seen a few here, not sure what to use. Please can you guide me on defence,what to write,what to expect from them, what to do/not to do- newbie here, feisty mum!

Details of CLAIM FORM:

I received a Claim. The date of issue is 17/06/25. I filed and sent 'AOS' via Money Claim Online, with the guide I found here, on 24/06/25.

From reading up on here, I have 17/6/25 +5+28 days to send my formal defence-until 20/7/25- Do I have this right?


I have no information on any of my letters received, as I binned them promptly, have to be honest- this worked as a strategy so far, so I have no original letters, until the last ' claim letter '- which I luckily didn't throw away!!(silly billy, I know.)

I remember faintly where the supposed allegation happened in November 2024. I don't know the area-as it is about an hour away from where I live. I've been there only ONCE.I went to pick up a present from Dunelm for my daughter-drove one hour from my home to get it, as the Fetlham Dunelm store was the only one where the item was in stock. I parked the car, went to the shop, and left. There were no ramps at the entry point, no obvious signage at the entry point, and no pay ticket machines.
We have many such shopping centres around with surface car parks, which are free-or with 3hour limit parking-but they are clearly visible in the area I live, so I didn't think for a second that ANPR took my number plate- and a penalty was generated.

I since looked at Google images, to see if I see anything,and didn't see any ramps or visible signs either.

Truthfully,I'm reluctant to drive an hour away from home to record this for myself, (unless I have to), but should I need to go to court to defend myself, I'll drive there to record what's visible.

Details on the form:

Claimant: PARMAVEN Limited

Address for sending documents and payments: DCB LEGAL LTD
Telephone: 0330 1744172
Reference: ************

CLAIM AMOUNT: £ 261.92
---------------------------------
Amount Claimed :£176.92
Court Fee:      £35
Legal costs:    £50
----------------------------------
Total Claim amount: £ 261.92
------------------------------------

Particulars of claim: 1. THE DEFENDANT (D) IS INDEBTED TO THE CLAIMANT (C) FOR A PARKING CHARGE(S) (PC) ISSUED TO VEHICLE ******* AT THE CENTRE FELTHAM SURFACE, FELTHAM, TW13 4GU  2. THE DATE OF CONTRAVENTION IS 27/11/2024  AND THE D WAS ISSUED WITH PC(S) BY THE CLAIMANT                                    3. THE DEFENDANT IS PURSUED AS THE DRIVER OF THE VEHICLE FOR BREACH OF THE TERMS ON THE SIGNS (THE CONTRACT). REASON: NO VALID PARKING SESSION     
4. IN THE ALTERNATIVE THE DEFENDANT IS PURSUED AS THE KEEPER PURSUANT TO POFA 2012, SCHEDULE 4.
AND THE CLAIMANT CLAIMS
1. £170 BEING THE TOTAL OF THE PC(S) AND DAMAGES. 
2. INTEREST AT A RATE OF 8% PER ANNUM  PURSUANT TO S.69 OF THE COUNTY COURTS ACT 1984 FROM THE DATE HEREOF AT A DAILY RATE OF £.03 UNTIL JUDGMENT OR SOONER PAYMENT.
3. COSTS AND COURT FEES   


Can any of you lovely people help me navigate this?-I have nothing to lose by fighting with all my might at this stage!

Thank you so much in advance!!

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

Hi b789,


Thank you so much for your help and guidance regarding my defence!! I followed everything as you said, and merged the documents into 1 PDF as you suggested. Fingers crossed that all will be ok, and that this will be dropped. Can I please ask what to expect after submitting my defence? What happens next?

Thank you for taking the time to respond-it means so much!


 

Letter from DCB Legal stating that they have received copy of your defence and their client intends to proceed. Usually with a copy of their N180 Directions Questionnaire (DQ).

You follow the instructions below for submitting your own DQ. You will receive a date for a mandatory telephone mediation. This is not part of the juducial process and no judge is involved. You simply offer £0 and it is over in minutes.

Next the case will be transferred to your local county court and will be allocated to the small claims track and you will receive directions from a judge with the hearing date, witness statement submission deadline and the deadline by which the claimant must pay the £27 trial fee. It is just before that date that they will discontinue if it hasn't been struck out already.

Instructions for submitting your own N180 DQ:

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:


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.

Unless you want to use the form they send you, complete it, sign it, photocopy it, put them in separate envelopes addressed to both the CNBC and the claimants representative, purchase stamps for them, ideally take them to a post office and obtain free proof of posting certificates, then yes, just do as advised in a single email from the comfort of wherever you use the internet.

You do not communicate with the claimant directly if they are represented. In this case, you only need copy in DCB Legal.

No need to panic. That letter is a useless debt recovery letter. Debt collectors are powerless to do anything except to try and intimidate the low-hanging fruit on the gullible tree into paying up out of ignorance and fear. You can safely ignore any debt collector letter and it can be safely shredded and used as hamster bedding.

Until you receive a Letter of Claim (LoC) from the claimant or their legal representative (DCB Legal for example) then there is nothing for you to do. DCBL are powerless to do anything. They are a third party with no connection to the contract allegedly breached by the driver.

For information, are any of those outstanding PCNs for the same vehicle at the same location? There is a good defence of estoppel if they are.

You can try and ask the store manager to get their agent to cancel the other PCNs.

In this case the claimant is splitting the claim. These other PCNs all relate to the same site, the same terms, and the same alleged breach pattern. They could and should have been brought together. Issuing serial claims is wasteful and oppressive and amounts to an abuse of process. If the try and issue another separate claim for those PCNs, I would ask the court to strike out or stay the subsequent claim(s), or at least to consolidate them and consider costs consequences.

Of course we will assist. As for a "hearing", I will eat my hat if this ever gets as far as a hearing. The most likely outcome is a strike out or a discontinuation.