Free Traffic Legal Advice

- Receipt
-PCN received via email after asking for evidence
- DCBL with wrong contravesion date
- LBA

Hi everyone,

Looking for advice on a DCB Legal Letter of Claim dated 09/07/2026 regarding a Smart Parking ANPR PCN.

The Timeline (08/04/2025):

16:34 – Entry recorded by ANPR.

16:34–16:53 (19 mins) – The physical payment machine was broken. The driver went inside the adjacent building to get help from staff, who assisted in setting up a payment via the RingGo app.

16:53–17:53 – 1-hour parking session purchased via RingGo (receipt held).

17:58 – Exit recorded by ANPR (exactly 5 minutes after the RingGo session expired).

Total site time: 84 minutes (60 minutes paid).

Procedural Issues:

No NTK: The Registered Keeper never received the original PCN / Notice to Keeper. The first communication received was a DCBL debt recovery letter a year later, denying the chance to appeal early.

Smart Parking rejected an initial dispute, claiming they posted it and that they follow the June 2024 Single Code of Practice.

Current Status & Concerns:

We have a formal Letter of Claim from DCB Legal giving 30 days to respond.

The Keeper will be out of the country from 24 July until 14 August, creating a high risk of missing a court claim form if issued during that window and unfortunately no one is available to check letters.

Questions:

How should we draft the robust Reply Form response to DCB Legal to highlight the broken machine (frustration of contract), the 5-minute overstay falling within the mandatory 10-minute grace period, and the lack of POFA keeper liability?

What is the best way to inform DCB Legal of the Keeper's upcoming travel dates to prevent a default judgment while away?

Thanks!

Could the OP confirm that the driver was never revealed in any appeal etc?

If you said that you, the registered keeper, did not receive the PCN then this does not identify the driver, nor does saying that you paid for parking.
Saying that “I parked” does, so if you didn’t say that then you’re possibly fine. If you don’t have a copy of what you sent them in your appeal then you can obtain it with a Subject Access Request to Smart for all personal details and correspondence it holds for you.