Free Traffic Legal Advice

A DQ is sent to the defendant and you allow 5 days for service and then 28 days to return it. As you have downloaded one, you have plenty of time to complete it.

As for the mediation phone call, the only requirement it to “attend” the call. It is a waste of time in these kind of cases but it has to be done. Obviously, it is the defendant that has to “attend” the call but if you are interpreting for him, then that shouldn’t be a problem. All you have to do is say you offer £0 and it will be over in a few minutes.

Mediation is not a trial and there are no lawyers or judges involved. Whatever the outcome of mediation, it has no bearing on any subsequent hearing if there is no agreement.

As for the DQ, put whatever contact details and address as you think best for receiving any correspondence about the claim. However, it must all be in your relatives name.

You definitely do NOT want a determination without a hearing (on the papers). So, tick “NO” and just state:

I am not content for the case to be heard 'on the papers' because that seems to disproportionately give an advantage to a legally represented party. I wish to question the Claimant about their evidence at a hearing in person and to expose omissions and any misleading or incorrect evidence or assertions.

As for venue, you put the court local to you or your relative. In the small-claims track, if the claimant is a business and the defendant is not, the it will always be at the defendants local court, no matter what the claimant puts in that box.

The defendant will also be the only witness. That question is only for determining what size room they’d need for the hearing. In the vast majority of cases, the hearing is held in the judges chambers, which is simply a small office where the judge works.

Here is a short video that explains what actually happens on the day:



I’m not 100% sure about what type of interpreter. See what others think.  It may just mean what language is being interpreted. Put whatever contact details you think they’re asking. It is only a DQ which is for admin purposes more than anything.

Even if you were not interpreting, you are allowed to be his lay representative and do the talking. They only proviso is that the defendant must also be present.

Remember to block off any dates you or the defendant won’t be available in the next 6 months, such as going on holiday. Pad any dates with a few extra days either side.

Obviously, everything is always signed in the defendants name.

There is still only about a 1% chance this will ever reach a hearing. The most likely outcome is still going to that they discontinue just before they have to pay the hearing fee.

It is always very late in the process. However, if they do submit a WS, the defendant will also have submit one.

At some point it will be referred to the court local to the defendant and there will be a court order giving the date and a deadline for submitting witness statements (WS). Normally it is two weeks before the hearing date but could be longer depending on the local courts schedule.

Once the case has been assigned to your local courts schedule, MCOL has no further part in the process. All dealings will be through the local court.

Their WS is always a template and is easily handled. A bridge to cross if or when it is reached. The claimant will have the same deadline to submit their WS as the defendant. The Defendants WS should ideally be submitted at the last minute, hopefully after having received a copy of the claimants beforehand.

So they’re giving 14 days. My bad. Just make sure you submit it by the deadline. There’s nothing to be gained by delaying it, so just get on with it.

MCOL is only for use before the claim is allocated to your local court, so nothing in there will update after allocation.

Why wait so long to update us on this? At what point was the defendant ordered to submit further PoC? You have not shown us any orders from the court.

how on earth do you expect to receive advice if you don't keep us updated with everything about this?

It's the court order for the claimant to file further PoC that we need to see!!! Without seeing that, we cannot determine whether they have fully complied with the order.

Does the order also say that the defendant dan then file an amended defence?

That is stupidly unfair order where the judge has given the claimant a free lifeline by allowing them to submit further PoC without giving the defendant an opportunity to amend their defence accordingly. Why on earth did you wait so long to let us know abut this? You are now on the back foot because of your failure to keep us up to date with EVERYTHING to so with the case!!!

The following should have been sent to the court the day after you received the amended PoC... not three whole months later!!!!

The Court Manager
County Court at Kingston-upon-Thames
St James Road
Kingston upon Thames
Surrey KT1 2AD

Re: [Claim Number] – [Defendant’s Full Name]

Date: [Insert today's date]

Dear Sir/Madam,

I write as the Defendant in the above claim and as a litigant in person.

When I submitted my Defence, I attached a draft order requesting that the Claimant be ordered to provide further and better Particulars of Claim, listing in detail the information I needed in order to understand the case and plead a proper Defence. The court did not refer to or adopt that draft. Instead, the order dated 31 December 2024 simply directed the Claimant to file "a CPR compliant particulars of claim" by 14 January 2025.

This created procedural uncertainty and denied me the clarity that my draft order was intended to provide. The Claimant has now filed amended Particulars of Claim. However, the new version still does not comply with CPR 16.4, nor does it provide the information which the court clearly intended to be disclosed.

The amended Particulars of Claim fail to:

• Attach a copy of the contract relied upon
• Set out the actual contractual clauses said to have been breached
• Provide a copy of the parking charge notice
• State how or when the PCN was served
• Provide a full postal address for the alleged location
• State clearly whether the Defendant is pursued as the driver or the keeper (instead continuing to plead both in the alternative)
• Provide any explanation or contractual basis for the “contractual costs” claimed
• Include any valid statutory interest calculation or any indication of when the alleged debt arose

Worse still, the amended Particulars of Claim do not even state the date on which the alleged contravention occurred. Paragraph 7 refers to an entry time of 08:32 and exit time of 09:45, but no date is given. Without a date of contravention, the Particulars of Claim are defective and incomplete. There is no way for me to know on what date the alleged breach is said to have occurred or when any cause of action accrued.

Despite this, the Claimant claims £33.36 in statutory interest under section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984, again without specifying when the interest began, what daily rate was used, or how the figure was calculated. This is a clear breach of the court’s order at paragraph 2(l), which expressly required the Claimant to “set out a precise calculation of the claim for statutory interest up to the date of issue to include the date interest started running”.

The original Defence I submitted was necessarily brief, because the Claimant’s original statement of case was vague, and I could not meaningfully respond to a case that had not been properly pleaded. It is fundamentally unjust for the Claimant to be allowed to amend their claim without cost, and yet for me to be denied the opportunity to amend my Defence unless I pay a court fee.

Accordingly, I respectfully request that the court:

1. Either grant me permission to file and serve an amended Defence within 14 days of notification, without the need for a formal application or court fee;

OR

2. Strike out the claim in its entirety due to the Claimant’s continued failure to file CPR 16.4-compliant Particulars of Claim and for non-compliance with the court’s order dated 31 December 2024.

I trust the court will recognise the prejudice caused by the Claimant’s conduct and ensure that a litigant in person is not subjected to further unfair procedural disadvantage.

Yours faithfully,

[Your Full Name]
[Your Address]
[Your Email if applicable]

Yes. Send it as a PDF attachment by email and you UST include a copy of everything that you send to the court, to the claimant (or their solicitor).

Address the email to BOTH the court and the claimant and CC in yourself. Only ONE email is needed, not a separate one to each party!

Hello again,

So as discussed, email with letter sent on 25/04 (this week) to court and the solicitor from DCBL Legal.

I got a call from my relative this morning that a lady (so potentially the named solicitor?) from 'DCBL or something' had rang him this morning, saying they wanted to speak to him on an important legal matter, and for him to answer some security questions. He claimed it wasn't convenient as he was driving at the time (which he was) so they asked him to call them back later when convenient. I asked him to send me the phone number he got a call from, it was +441606539160 - looking it up online some people claim its a scam, others do say it was DCBL Legal.

Question then - does he call back (bearing in mind there'll also be a language barrier on any legal detail) - and if so, how much does he say - and/or would not engaging with DCBL Legal be looked at unfavourably by court? For now I've asked him if they ring again to not get into anything and just ask them to just send an email with any updates/questions they have. I suppose she might've also been trying to gauge his eloquence/language barrier/litigation skills from the call?

Guidance would be appreciated.