Well done on being proactive with this. You should not really send your N180 until you know that your paper copy has been posted and you can check that on your MCOL history. However, this is just administrative stuff and nothing will happen if you send it now. If they are not happy, they'll just tell you to send it later. It's no biggie.
While the court does not send a “reminder” in the casual sense, it typically issues a General Sanctions Order if a party fails to file the Directions Questionnaire (Form N180) by the stated deadline. This order is a formal court direction—not merely a courtesy reminder—and it usually:
• Warns that a party has failed to comply with a court deadline (i.e., not returning the N180),
• Sets a further short deadline (commonly 7 or 14 days) to comply, and
• Specifies the consequence of continued non-compliance—usually that the claim or defence will be struck out without further notice if the party still fails to act.
This order is considered sufficient notice to parties that their case is at risk.
Form N149A is the Notice of Proposed Allocation to the Small Claims Track. It is standard for any defended claim where the amount in dispute is £10,000 or less, including virtually all private parking claims. In practice, every single defended private parking claim (even where the amount creeps slightly above £10,000 due to added costs or spurious interest) is routinely allocated to the small claims track.
The option in Box C1 of Form N180 allows a party to request allocation to a different track (e.g., fast or multi-track), but for parking claims, this would be pointless unless the case is highly exceptional (e.g., involving serious allegations of fraud, harassment, or data misuse leading to counterclaims). Judges are under pressure to keep such claims in small claims for proportionality and court economy, and I’ve also yet to see a parking case allocated elsewhere, regardless of any legal or evidential complexity raised by a defendant.
