Given the move is now imminent (next month), there are two sensible ways to handle the address issue and avoid any unnecessary mishaps while this claim is waiting to be transferred to your local county court.
First, it helps to be clear what stage the case is at. You have filed the N180 and completed the mandatory mediation call. The next step is allocation. Any day now, the case should be transferred to your local county court and that court will then issue directions, including the hearing fee deadline. In practice, this is exactly the point at which DCB Legal always discontinue defended low-value parking claims. That is why I am not concerned about this claim running all the way to a final hearing, provided you do not create any avoidable procedural problems in the meantime.
Your options now are:
Option 1: Do nothing until allocation, then update addresses properly once the local court is identified (recommended at this point)
Because allocation is imminent, it is usually cleaner to wait until you receive the Notice of Transfer/Allocation and we know which local county court has the file. Once that happens, you can update the address formally with the court and, in parallel, inform DCB Legal and ECP. This avoids correspondence going to the wrong court office and reduces the risk of administrative confusion.
Option 2: Notify immediately if your current address will stop being reliable before allocation
If there is any real risk that post at your current address will not be monitored over the next few weeks (for example, you will physically leave before completion, the property will be empty, or you will not have a reliable way to receive and act on letters), then you should notify now. The goal is not to “help” the claimant. The goal is simply to ensure that any directions order is not sent to an address where you will never see it.
If you can keep your current UK address reliably monitored until allocation occurs, Option 1 is the neatest approach.
Who needs to be notified, and in what order1. The court (top priority)
The court record is what matters. If you move and the court is still using the old UK address, you risk missing directions, deadlines, or a hearing notice.
2. DCB Legal (second priority)
They should be told at the same time as (or immediately after) the court is updated, so they cannot later claim they served something at your “last known address”.
3. ECP (lowest priority)
ECP are the claimant, but DCB Legal run the litigation. Informing ECP separately is optional and not essential if DCB Legal are informed. If you do inform ECP, it should be identical and purely administrative.
What to send when the time comesOnce allocation has happened and we know the local county court, you will send a short notice giving:
• the claim number
• your full name
• your existing address (the one currently on the claim)
• your new address for service
• the effective date of the change (for example, the completion date or the date you leave the UK)
• a clear statement that this is your address for service of documents in this claim and that all future correspondence must be sent there
If you have a settled foreign address with proof (utility bill, bank statement, tenancy document, etc.), you can provide that as your address for service. If you do not yet have a settled foreign address, the safest alternative is a reliable UK address (a trusted family member) purely for service, with the agreement that anything from the court is opened immediately and scanned to you. The only objective is to ensure you do not miss a court order.
Why this is worth doing even though DCB Legal will 99.9% discontinueThe claim is very likely to be discontinued once the local court issues directions and the hearing fee deadline approaches. That is standard DCB Legal behaviour on defended low-value parking claims. However, the purpose of updating the address is to avoid the only realistic “SNAFU” that can still happen before discontinuance, which is an avoidable procedural problem caused by missed post.
The remote risk if you do not update the addressIf you move abroad and do not update the court and DCB Legal, there is a small risk that the local court issues directions to the old address, you do not see them, and you miss a deadline. If a court order is ignored and there is no response when required, the claimant can ask the court to enter judgment in default. In the real world this is extremely unlikely in a defended case with DCB Legal, but it is not impossible if the court sends something you never receive and a deadline passes without compliance. This is why the address update is sensible: it prevents the only mechanism by which a problem could arise while you are waiting for discontinuance.
What effect a default CCJ would have on youFor the purposes of your move abroad, it is unlikely to affect your day-to-day life. The practical issue is only if you retain UK connections. A CCJ remains on the England & Wales register for six years. If, within that six-year period, you decide to return permanently to the UK, apply for UK credit, rent a property, obtain a mortgage, or undergo a credit-based check, it may cause problems. Similarly, if you maintain a UK financial interest such as a UK bank account with funds, or any UK assets, that is where any enforcement effort would be directed (even though for this value it is almost never pursued). If you are severing UK ties completely and will not return, it is mostly a nuisance rather than a real-world threat, but it is still better not to leave an avoidable procedural risk hanging.
So, the sensible plan from here
• If your current UK address will remain reliably monitored over the next few weeks, wait for the case to be allocated to your local county court and then notify in priority order: court first, then DCB Legal, then ECP only if you want belt-and-braces.
• If there is any chance your UK post will not be monitored before allocation, notify sooner rather than later so you do not miss a directions order.
• Either way, the aim is not to assist the claimant; it is simply to prevent missed correspondence while you wait for the discontinuance that is overwhelmingly likely to happen once directions are issued and the hearing fee deadline arrives.
