You are worrying about the wrong thing, and you have been misled by the scary language these firms use.
First, having a baby does not somehow stop a court claim. It does not create a legal shield. If a claim were ever issued you can still deal with it. And if a hearing ever happened (highly unlikely), a parent can attend a small claims hearing with a baby if they have no childcare. There is no Civil Procedure Rule that bans babies from the small claims court. Courts are used to real life. If it ever came to that, you would tell the court in advance and ask for sensible arrangements. Judges generally take a pragmatic, compassionate approach.
Second, the “someone will come round” point is wrong in the context being suggested. For a private parking charge, nobody can just turn up because you got a ticket, or because a debt collector wrote to you, or even because you got a Letter of Claim. None of those things create any enforcement power.
Here is the reality, and you should take this as a life lesson about how County Court claims, CCJs, and bailiffs actually work.
These unregulated private parking firms and their pet debt collectors thrive on one thing: the public’s ignorance of how County Court claims and CCJs actually work. They know that if they can make you believe that “a claim” or a “debt recovery” letter somehow wrecks your credit rating, you will panic and pay them.
A Parking Charge Notice from a private firm is not a fine. It is just a speculative invoice alleging that the driver agreed to a contract and then breached it. At that stage, nothing touches your credit file.
Debt recovery letters are just more speculative invoices dressed up in scary language. Debt collectors have no legal powers to come to your door, take goods, or report anything to credit reference agencies. You can receive a pile of those letters and your credit rating stays exactly the same.
A Letter of Claim is simply a warning that they may start a County Court claim. Even that does not affect your credit record. It is not a judgment. It is not a CCJ. It is just a threat of legal action.
Only if they actually issue a County Court claim do you enter the court process. A claim form comes from the court. Even then, a claim does not affect your credit rating. A claim is only an allegation. You can defend it. As long as you deal with it properly and on time, your credit file remains untouched.
A County Court Judgment only happens if the court makes a judgment against you. That can only happen because you ignored the claim and they got judgment in default, or because you defended and lost. Even then, there is a crucial safety net that these firms rely on you not understanding: if you pay the full judgment sum within 30 days of the date of judgment, the CCJ is not registered on your credit file. It is removed and does not impact lending decisions.
A CCJ only appears on your credit record if you do not pay within that 30 day window. Until then, nothing is “on your record”.
Bailiffs are a separate step again. They cannot simply be sent because you have ignored an unregulated private parking invoice or a useless debt recovery letter. Bailiffs (enforcement agents) only become relevant after there is a CCJ and it has not been paid.
For most smaller PCN CCJs, it is not even worth the creditor’s time and cost to instruct bailiffs, especially when the amount is under £600 and stuck in the slower County Court enforcement system. But the key point is this: no unpaid CCJ, no lawful bailiff.
So when people say things like “I had a debt recovery letter so I might not get a mortgage now” or “if I defend, I will get a CCJ,” they are simply wrong. It is precisely that ignorance and fear that these firms trade on. They rely on ordinary motorists incorrectly assuming that a red-letter demand automatically means ruined credit and bailiffs at the door.
If you want to protect yourself from the only real risk, do this one sensible thing: make sure Parkshield have your correct address for service. If you have moved since the incident, or your V5C address was wrong at the time, send them a data rectification notice to update it. The biggest danger in these cases is not “court”, it is paperwork going to an old address and a default judgment being entered without you knowing. That is the real banana skin.
Everything else is just intimidation aimed at getting you to pay out of ignorance and fear.
