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#Post#: 80471--------------------------------------------------
Re: Claim Form from DCB legal for overstaying in G24 car park in
2019
DIR By: jfollows
Date: July 10, 2025, 9:42 am
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It will stay in the court process until the deadline for payment
of the court fee, at which point DCB Legal will discontinue.
And you’ll only know that date when you get the notice of
allocation to your local court.
#Post#: 99520--------------------------------------------------
Re: Claim Form from DCB legal for overstaying in G24 car park in
2019
DIR By: Hiram
Date: November 24, 2025, 7:20 am
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Got the court date.
Costs for them is only £27. Is that enough to be a deterrent
from taking this to court pls? Letter in the links below.
HTML https://ibb.co/n9hc4kN
HTML https://ibb.co/HpnyvJVW
HTML https://ibb.co/DfRHR3R1
#Post#: 99522--------------------------------------------------
Re: Claim Form from DCB legal for overstaying in G24 car park in
2019
DIR By: jfollows
Date: November 24, 2025, 7:26 am
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Search the forum and you will see that DCB Legal invariably
discontinue, it’s not the £27 but the cost of time and effort to
send someone to appear in court. They use the process either so
that you ignore it and they get a judgement in default, or
you’re frightened into paying them.
Call the court on 22 January if you haven’t heard anything.
You have to provide a Witness Statement earlier, so keep an eye
on that date, but don’t file until the claimant does.
#Post#: 99523--------------------------------------------------
Re: Claim Form from DCB legal for overstaying in G24 car park in
2019
DIR By: Hiram
Date: November 24, 2025, 7:28 am
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Copy that. Thank you
#Post#: 99524--------------------------------------------------
Re: Claim Form from DCB legal for overstaying in G24 car park in
2019
DIR By: jfollows
Date: November 24, 2025, 7:31 am
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--- Quote from: Hiram link ---
>
> Copy that. Thank you
>
--- End Quote ---
In case you missed my update, you have an earlier deadline for a
Witness Statement.
#Post#: 99527--------------------------------------------------
Re: Claim Form from DCB legal for overstaying in G24 car park in
2019
DIR By: Hiram
Date: November 24, 2025, 7:35 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Oh, would you mind linking me to your update pls?
#Post#: 99547--------------------------------------------------
Re: Claim Form from DCB legal for overstaying in G24 car park in
2019
DIR By: jfollows
Date: November 24, 2025, 8:53 am
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: Hiram link ---
>
> Oh, would you mind linking me to your update pls?
>
--- End Quote ---
Reply #42
#Post#: 99552--------------------------------------------------
Re: Claim Form from DCB legal for overstaying in G24 car park in
2019
DIR By: Hiram
Date: November 24, 2025, 9:11 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Should the claimant file a witness statement, does ours have to
be from the person who was driving or not? I also didn’t notice
on the letter where and how I'm supposed to file this.
#Post#: 99560--------------------------------------------------
Re: Claim Form from DCB legal for overstaying in G24 car park in
2019
DIR By: b789
Date: November 24, 2025, 9:35 am
---------------------------------------------------------
FFS!!!! That timetable is the worst of both worlds for a
defendant when you’re dealing with a serial discontinuer like
DCB Legal.
What the court has done (and why it’s a problem)
[indent]• Hearing: 18 February 2026
• Claimant’s trial fee deadline: 21 January 2026
• Both parties’ WS/evidence deadline: 15 December 2025[/indent]
So you, as defendant, must:
[indent]• Do all the heavy lifting (WS, exhibits, case law
bundle) before Christmas 2025
• While the claimant still hasn’t even shown they’re serious
enough to pay the trial fee in January 2026[/indent]
Given DCB Legal’s history of:
[indent]• Filing weak claims
• Dragging defendants through the directions stages
• Then discontinuing at the eleventh hour when trial fee / real
work is due[/indent]
…it is entirely rational to say this timetable loads the burden
onto the defendant and encourages exactly that abusive pattern.
You have two options:
Option 1:
You can apply under CPR 3.3(5) / CPR 23 to vary the directions,
on the basis that they are disproportionate and unfair to the
defendant. The simple request is:
[indent]That the deadline for exchange of witness statements and
documents be moved to a date after the claimant’s trial fee
deadline (e.g. 14 days after 21 January 2026), so that the
defendant is not forced to incur unnecessary costs where the
claimant does not pay the fee and the claim is automatically
struck out.[/indent]
However, that will already incur an extra cost to submit an N244
application.
Option 2:
If you decide you don’t want the hassle/cost of an N244:
Write a short letter/email to the court (headed with the claim
number) saying:
[indent]• You note the listing order
• You are concerned about disproportionate costs being
front-loaded onto a litigant in person where the claimant may
not even pay the trial fee
• You respectfully invite the court, of its own initiative under
CPR 3.3, to move the WS deadline to after the trial fee date
• If the court declines, you will comply but reserve the right
to seek wasted/indemnity costs if the claimant discontinues
after you’ve prepared your WS.[/indent]
I would suggest you go for option 2. If the court declines or
insists on an N244 application, just wait until you receive the
claimants WS, which is highly unlikely going to happen.
Courts do sometimes move the WS deadline to after the trial fee
date if you ask clearly and reasonably and keep it short.
There’s no guarantee. A “procedural” DJ may just shrug and say
“these are standard small-claims directions”.
But you are absolutely not being unreasonable to say: “If the
claimant won’t even pay £27 to continue, I shouldn’t have to
burn hours drafting a detailed WS before that’s known.”
I suggest you email the following to the court at
civil.romford.countycourt@justice.gov.uk and CC DCB Legal at
info@dcblegal.co.uk and yourself:
--- Quote ---
> Subject: Claim [CLAIM NUMBER] – Request to Vary Directions
(Witness Statement Deadline)
>
> Claim No: [XXXXX]
> Between: G24 Ltd
> and
> [Defendant]
>
> TO: The Court Manager
> Romford County Court
>
> Dear Sir or Madam,
>
> Re: Listing and directions – request to vary witness statement
deadline
>
> I write as the Defendant in the above matter, regarding the
recent order listing the hearing for 18 February 2026.
>
> The order provides that the parties must file and serve their
witness statements and documents by 15 December 2025, and that
the Claimant must pay the trial fee of £27 by 21 January 2026.
>
> I respectfully ask the Court to reconsider this timetable. As
a litigant in person, preparing a witness statement and evidence
bundle is a significant amount of work and time. Under the
current order, I am required to complete this work more than a
month before it is known whether the Claimant intends to proceed
and will pay the trial fee. In a low-value small claim, this
front-loads the burden and risks unnecessary expense.
>
> In particular, I draw the Court’s attention to the fact that
the Claimant is represented by DCB Legal Ltd, a bulk-litigation
firm in private parking matters. I have been following a
long-running public thread on the MoneySavingExpert consumer
forum where defendants post copies of Notices of Discontinuance
(Forms N279) in parking claims conducted by DCB Legal. Over a
little more than two years that thread has recorded in excess of
700 such discontinuances, each evidenced by a redacted N279.
Whilst I do not suggest this is a definitive or complete
dataset, it does, in my respectful submission, demonstrate a
clear pattern: defended small claims issued by this firm are
overwhelmingly likely to be discontinued before trial, always
shortly before the trial fee falls due. If the Court would find
it of assistance, I can provide a small sample of those N279s by
way of illustration.
>
> Against that background, requiring a litigant in person to
complete a full witness statement and evidence bundle before the
Claimant has even demonstrated a genuine intention to pursue the
claim by paying the modest trial fee is, in my respectful
submission, disproportionate and contrary to the overriding
objective in CPR 1.1. It effectively facilitates a pattern
whereby the represented party can put defendants to unnecessary
work and then discontinue at the last moment without having to
undertake equivalent preparation.
>
> In light of this, I invite the Court, of its own initiative
under CPR 3.3, to vary the directions so that the deadline for
exchange of witness statements and documents is set after the
trial fee date. For example:
>
> [indent]“The parties shall file and serve their witness
statements and all documents on which they intend to rely no
later than 4 February 2026.”[/indent]
>
> (being 14 days after the trial fee deadline of 21 January
2026).
>
> If the Court is not minded to adopt that exact date, I would
be grateful if some alternative date after the trial fee
deadline could be set, so that I am not required to incur the
time and effort of preparing a full witness statement bundle in
circumstances where, on past form, this particular Claimant’s
solicitors are very likely to discontinue if they do not even
pay the trial fee.
>
> If the Court declines to vary the order, I will of course
endeavour to comply with the existing timetable. However, I
wished to raise this concern at the earliest opportunity.
>
> A copy of this email has been sent to the Claimant’s
solicitors, DCB Legal Ltd.
>
> Thank you for your consideration.
>
> Yours faithfully,
>
> [Defendant’s name]
> [Address]
--- End Quote ---
#Post#: 99569--------------------------------------------------
Re: Claim Form from DCB legal for overstaying in G24 car park in
2019
DIR By: Hiram
Date: November 24, 2025, 10:01 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Thank you very much b789. Will take option 2 and keep you
posted.
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