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#Post#: 112739--------------------------------------------------
Default judgement despite filing a defence on the MCOL website
By: carlosescobar Date: March 10, 2026, 1:11 pm
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I was taking my daughter for a driving lesson and we entered
Colchester United FC car park where she practiced some
manouevres before we left, we didn't park at all. Smart Parking
Limited sent us an invoice claiming we parked there as they had
photos of us entering and leaving the car park. I've ignored all
correspondence from them as I wasn't the driver but the
registered keeper of the vehicle.
DCB Legal then started sending correspondence and I eventually
received a County Court Claim Form.
Having followed the advice on this forum I submitted an
Acknowledge Service (AoS) online via MCOL selecting to defend
all the claim. I then submitted a defence on the MCOL website on
09/02/2026
I then received a default judgement dated 19/02/2026 for £293.74
delivered to me on 24/02/2026. I immediately rang MCOL who claim
no defence is filed. However, on the portal it showed under
'Response History' for the claim that the 'Latest Document' was
'Defence'. Separately, on the MCOL dashboard there is an entry
'Response Forms' with a 'Delete' option, indicating a
response/defence had been generated and stored on the portal.
It's just the advisor can't see it.
I emailed
caseprogression.cnbc[member=6517]justice[/member].gov.uk ccing
claimresponses.cnbc[member=6517]justice[/member].gov.uk the day
after I received the default judgement highlighting the issue
but as yet (10/03/2026) haven't received a response.
What can I do, their website clearly had an issue when I
submitted my defence?
#Post#: 112740--------------------------------------------------
Re: Default judgement despite filing a defence on the MCOL websi
te
By: DWMB2 Date: March 10, 2026, 1:17 pm
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Essentially, keep urgently contacting the court and try to
resolve their cock up. Once that's sorted we can look at the
actual case.
Out of interest, when was the parking incident? Smart's more
recent notices do sometimes comply with the requirements of
Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act, which means that
not being the driver isn't necessarily a defence, although other
defences are likely available.
#Post#: 112879--------------------------------------------------
Re: Default judgement despite filing a defence on the MCOL websi
te
By: carlosescobar Date: March 11, 2026, 12:28 pm
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Thanks DWMB2 for responding. The alleged offence occurred on
03/11/2024. Today I again rang the court office on 0300 123 1056
and mangaged to speak to someone after waiting in a queue for
over an hour.
They say there's nothing they can do as they can't see what I'm
seeing on the MCOL dashboard.
[img width=1100
height=179]
HTML https://i.postimg.cc/fLLVJ5Yt/Screenshot-2026-03-11-at-17-09-47.png[/img]
#Post#: 113613--------------------------------------------------
Re: Default judgement despite filing a defence on the MCOL websi
te
By: carlosescobar Date: March 18, 2026, 8:37 am
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Looks like I'll just have to go ahead and pay the charge. The
court is not fit for purpose.
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