3. Euro Car Parks - Overstayed- Shell Petrol station Clapton London
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Euro Car Parks - Overstayed- Shell Petrol station Clapton London
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Hi everyone, I’m hoping for some advice about a private parking court claim.

On 10 September 2021, I parked a school minibus at a Shell petrol station in Upper Clapton, North London, to fill up with diesel. After refueling, I moved the minibus to the side and ended up remaining on site for a total of about 32 minutes. The time limit used to be 30 minutes, so I overstayed.

The school later received letters from a private parking company (I can’t remember which company). I responded at the time explaining that I had not received the original correspondence before the charge increased to £170, and I provided my name and address.

In January 2026, I received a County Court Claim Form dated 21 January 2026. I submitted an Acknowledgment of Service (AOS) on 4 February 2026.

I would really appreciate advice on:

What I should do next

When my defense is due

How to prepare a defense in this type of case

Thank you in advance for any help.
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Re: Euro Car Parks - Overstayed- Shell Petrol station Clapton London
« Reply #1 on: »
« Last Edit: March 01, 2026, 01:35:33 am by brdl »
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Re: Euro Car Parks - Overstayed- Shell Petrol station Clapton London
« Reply #2 on: »
Defence is due 5+14+14 days after the date on the N1SDT form, 23 February I calculate.
It says this on the form! “no later than 28 days from the date of service”

Your letter is not to ECP, it is to Debt Recovery Plus, who will have ignored it because they are not responsible for the alleged debt in any way.

Your defence is simply why you should not be liable for the payment.Are the signs clear? Were they changed shortly before without making the change clear? Only you know what to put here.

You need to file something as a matter of urgency, and you may well find that a default judgement against you has already been made, in which case if you pay within one month it will not be recorded.
« Last Edit: March 01, 2026, 06:52:32 am by jfollows »
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Re: Euro Car Parks - Overstayed- Shell Petrol station Clapton London
« Reply #3 on: »
Although you provided your name and address earlier in the process, they may not include this information either in their claim or witness statement - these people are lemmings after all.

You can utilise this 'oversight' to your advantage by questioning why they are even holding you liable in the first instance.

They have already made step 1 in that error process - on their claim form where they state that they are pursuing you using PoFA Keeper liability - You are clearly not the registered keeper.

So the only way that they can hold you liable is to prove you were driving - do they actually have the evidence to prove that? Probably not!

As already advised, you need to start your defence submission but, I would bear in mind that when writing the initial defence you should keep it strictly as a skeleton argument - you can then put meat on the bones at a later stage (the witness statement) - the idea being, that you put sufficient in your defence without tipping off the claimant that they have not provided evidence that you are actually liable.

Obviously, AT NO POINT SHOULD YOU REVEAL THAT YOU WERE THE DRIVER - leave that for them to prove.

So you could start the defence with something loosely worded;

1. I robustly deny that any debt is owed to the claimant and the claimant has provided no evidence that I owe the money.


Seeing that in your defence will have the claimant digging up the photos of the vehicle parked and not your letter confirming driver details - you see how this works?
« Last Edit: March 01, 2026, 08:21:20 am by InterCity125 »
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Re: Euro Car Parks - Overstayed- Shell Petrol station Clapton London
« Reply #4 on: »
You would not have received the original PCN  as that would have gone to the keeper, probably school or lease company. By responding at that point you effectively outed yourself as the driver. The keeper should have either dealt with this or named you as the driver.

You really need copies of the original  PCN and signage as your original statement doesn't add up. If the free stay was 30  minutes you should have a 10 minute grace period on top, if it was less than 22 minutes then you breached the rules. However 20 mins is very short for a petrol station.

Could really do with a clearer picture to be able advise more appropriately.
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Re: Euro Car Parks - Overstayed- Shell Petrol station Clapton London
« Reply #5 on: »
I think the most important things are
  • Check status with MCOL
  • If no judgement has been recorded, file a defence as a matter of urgency
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Re: Euro Car Parks - Overstayed- Shell Petrol station Clapton London
« Reply #6 on: »
Hi everyone,

I have now received a County Court Judgment (CCJ) against me.

I’m unsure what my options are. Specifically:

Can I still deny that I was the driver?

Can I still submit a defence or challenge the claim?

Is it possible to apply for a set aside of the CCJ or use any other legal trick?

Any advice, step-by-step tips, or templates would be really appreciated.

Thank you!

https://ik.imagekit.io/jobt2j2e3a/09032026_National%20Debtline.pdf
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Re: Euro Car Parks - Overstayed- Shell Petrol station Clapton London
« Reply #7 on: »
You can apply for a contested set-aside which requires payment of >£300 court fee, which you might get back if succesful.

Pragmatically, it might be best to ensure you pay within 1 month because the debt will not be recorded if so, and will have no negative effect on credit etc.

Otherwise, if you delay payment or do not pay you will have a record for six years.

You can no longer defend this claim, it has been decided in the claimant’s favour. You failed to submit a defence by the deadline of 23 February.
« Last Edit: Today at 08:50:59 pm by jfollows »
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  3. Euro Car Parks - Overstayed- Shell Petrol station Clapton London