UKPC Worcester Blackpole McDonalds Car Park

[Ogrebear]

Thanking you muchly. 

I seem to not be getting reply notices from this site oddly. I will check my filters. 

Will get this actioned.

[Ogrebear]

So it seems DCB has started emailing; just found this in my spam folder dated 13 July. Do you need the questionnaire they sent? 

Good Morning

Having reviewed the content of your defence, we write to inform you that our client intends to proceed with the claim.

In due course, the Court will direct both parties to each file a directions questionnaire. In preparation for that, please find attached a copy of the Claimant's, which we confirm has been filed with the Court.

Without Prejudice to the above, in order to assist the Court in achieving its overriding objective, our client may be prepared to settle this case - in the event you wish to discuss settlement, please call us on 0203 434 0433 within 7 days and make immediate reference to this correspondence.

If you have provided an email address within your Defence, we intend to use it for service of documents (usually in PDF format) hereon in pursuant to PD 6A (4.1)(2)(c). Please advise whether there are any limitations to this (for example, the format in which documents are to be sent and the maximum size of attachments that may be received). Unless you advise otherwise, we will assume not.

Kind Regards,

Litigation Support

DCB Legal Ltd

[b789]

No, I do not need to see it. It is their standard response and a copy of their N180 Directions Questionaire.

Just follow this advice:

You can check your MCOL history to see when your own N180 has been issued or just wait to receive it in the post. Having received your own N180 (make sure it is not simply a copy of the claimants N180) or been notified on MCOL that yours has been sent, do not use the paper form. Ignore all the other forms that came with it. you can discard those.

DO NOT scan it. Download your own N180 DQ here and fill it in on your computer. You sign it by simply typing your full name in the signature box.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk...0_1124.pdf

Here are the answers to some of the less obvious questions:

• The name of the court is "Civil National Business Centre". 
  
• To be completed by "Your full name" and you are the "Defendant".
  
• C1: "YES"
  
• D1: "NO". Reason: "I wish to question the Claimant about their evidence at a hearing in person and to expose omissions and any misleading or incorrect evidence or assertions. 
  
• Given the Claimant is a firm who complete cut & paste parking case paperwork for a living, having this case heard solely on papers would appear to put the Claimant at an unfair advantage, especially as they would no doubt prefer the Defendant not to have the opportunity to expose the issues in the Claimants template submissions or speak as the only true witness to events in question"
  
• F1: Whichever is your nearest county court. Use this to find it: https://www.find-court-tribunal.service....rch-option
  
• F3: "1".
  
• Sign the form by simply typing your full name for the signature.
  

When you have completed the form, attach it to a single email addressed to both dq.cnbc@justice.gov.uk and info@dcblegal.co.uk and CC in yourself. Make sure that the claim number is in the subject field of the email.

[Ogrebear]

Well the N180 arrived this morning. 

I will follow your advise, and send in the downloaded one.

[Ogrebear]

Well this has arrived: 

OFFICIAL

Claim number: xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Parties: UK PARKING CONTROL LIMITED V xxxxxxxxxx
Your telephone mediation appointment

Appointment date: 08/09/2026

Appointment time slot: 9:30-12:30

Your confidential telephone mediation appointment has been booked for the above date and time slot. The mediator may call at any point within your timeslot to start the appointment. Please be ready to accept a call at any point during your timeslot. Your appointment will last for around one hour from the point at which the mediator calls. The mediator will call from a withheld number. Make sure that withheld/private numbers are not blocked on your phone.
The mediator will call both parties separately – you will not talk directly to the other side. They will try to help you come to an agreement with the other party. If an agreement is reached at mediation the case will not need to progress to court.
Where your mediation appointment is mandatory, if you do not attend the appointment, the judge will take this into consideration at any court hearing and may issue a penalty. This could include the judge automatically ruling in the other party’s favour or ordering you to pay for some or all the other party’s costs.

What you need to do to prepare for your telephone appointment:

The mediation service requires a contact number to conduct the appointment. If you have not already provided these details in your Directions Questionnaire then please contact scmreferrals@justice.gov.uk prior to your appointment so that your contact details can be updated.
PLEASE MAKE SURE TO PROVIDE YOUR CASE/CLAIM NUMBER IN THE RESPONSE TO THE EMAIL.
If YOU will be attending the mediation appointment YOURSELF, please provide us with your full name and the best telephone number so the mediator is able to call you.
If you would like SOMEONE ELSE (like a trusted friend, relative or a solicitor) to attend on your behalf please fill out the attached delegation of authority to mediate form. Your representative must know the facts of the case, understand how far you’re willing to compromise and have full authority to act on your behalf. You’re legally bound to any settlement agreements your representative makes on your behalf.
Failure to provide contact details will result in your mediation appointment not taking place and could result in a Judge issuing a penalty where the mediation was mandatory.
If the mediator cannot contact you within 10 minutes of the appointment start, the appointment will be marked as not conducted and you may face a penalty for non-attendance.
Make sure you are in a suitable location for the appointment that is free from distractions. The mediator will cancel the appointment immediately if you are driving even if you are using a hands-free device.
The dates to avoid which you provided on your Directions Questionnaire were taken into account when booking your appointment. We are only able to re-book appointments in exceptional circumstances.

Please see attached documents for more information about what happens within your mediation appointment.

Please ensure you also continue to check your junk email folder for any future email contact from the Small Claims Mediation team prior to your scheduled appointment.
Small Claims Mediation Service contact details

If you have any complaints or issues to raise about the Mediation Service, contact us by email or telephone:
Email:  scmreferrals@justice.gov.uk
Telephone: 0300 123 4593
Webchat: Chat with an agent
Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
We record our calls for monitoring and training as it helps improve the service we deliver. If you want to know more about how we handle your personal data, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/collection...-we-use-it
If you want to make a complaint by email, clearly title your message as ‘complaint’ in the subject field.

OFFICIAL


There were some guides to meditation attached.

[b789]

All normal comms and as expected. Mediation is not part of the judicial process. There is no judge involved, no solicitor deciding anything, and the mediator is not there to assess the merits of your defence.

The mediator will usually speak to the Claimant first, then speak to you and tell you, in broad terms, what the Claimant has said. They may then ask you to summarise your defence.

You do not need to do that. The Claimant already has your filed Defence. The court has your filed Defence. A telephone mediator does not need a legal argument from you and is not there to adjudicate on it. They are not legally trained.

The safest and simplest approach is this:

"To save everyone's time, my offer is £0. Please advise the other side. That concludes the mediation from my side."

If the mediator tries to continue the discussion, simply repeat:

"I deny the claim. My Defence has already been filed and served. I do not accept that any sum is owed. My offer is £0."

That should end the mediation.

Mediation can be useful where both sides accept that something is owed and the only dispute is the amount. Private parking claims are usually binary: either the charge is enforceable, or it is not. In that sort of case, mediation is usually a pointless box-ticking exercise and defendants should not be pressured into paying something merely to make the claim go away.

[Ogrebear]

As always, thank you for the advise. 

Not being very confrontational, am not looking forward to this call, even if it is quick.

[b789]

There is absolutely nothing “confrontational” about it. You get a call from the mediator and you simply tell them that your offer is £0 and they will eventually come back and say that the offer is refused and mediation is over and the court will be informed that mediation was insuccessful.

It will have absolutely zero bearing on anything moving forwards.

[Brenda_R2]

As always, thank you for the advise. 

Not being very confrontational, am not looking forward to this call, even if it is quick.

I’ve been through this exact pantomime.  The mediator calls, you politely inform them your offer is £0, and then — crucially — you absolutely stop talking, because you’ve already given them the only number that matters and you’re not there to provide emotional enrichment for their script.

They’ll pop you on hold, presumably to consult the sacred scrolls of How to Pretend This Is Meaningful, then return to announce — with the kind of faux‑gravitas normally reserved for royal proclamations and village‑hall am‑dram — that your offer has been rejected and mediation is now “over.”

And that’s the whole production: a last‑ditch attempt to spook the average obedient Brit into believing that, because an authority figure has demanded answers, they must immediately collapse into a posture of contrition.  You’re not on the back foot; you’re simply refusing to audition for their little morality play.

It’s just another hoop in the grand obstacle course designed to make you pay a Mickey‑Mouse invoice dressed up as a legal proceeding — a pantomime cow in a judge’s wig.

[b789]

Agreed. I had a mediation call myself just over a week ago concerning a claim I had brought against a car dealer over a servicing contract.

I was the Claimant. The mediator called me, asked whether I was happy for the mediation to begin, and then invited me to explain my position. I said that I was prepared either to accept the full amount claimed, including the claim fee, or for the dealer to honour the servicing contract.

The mediator put me on hold and returned a few minutes later to say that the other party was not prepared to accept my proposal. I said that I was not prepared to reduce my claim and was perfectly content for a judge to decide the matter.

I was then told that the mediation had ended without agreement and that the claim would proceed to the next stage, ultimately a hearing at my local County Court if it was not otherwise resolved. The entire call took less than five minutes. There was no stress and no confrontation.

A few hours later, I received a without-prejudice offer from the Defendant's solicitor to settle for the amount claimed. I replied that I would accept only the full claim amount, including my costs. They agreed. As soon as the agreed sum is in my account, I will file an N279 Notice of Discontinuance, and that will be the end of the matter.

For you, as the Defendant, the process will not be materially different. The mediator will call you, explain the process and may ask you briefly to state your position. You do not need to argue the entire defence or allow yourself to be drawn into a detailed discussion of the evidence. Politely explain that the Claimant already has your defence and that you are not prepared to pay anything to settle the claim. Your position is that the claim should be discontinued with no payment by you.

If the Claimant will not accept that, the mediator will simply record that no agreement was reached. Honestly, the call may be over within a few minutes. That will be it.

As I mentioned previously, mediation is not a trial and the mediator does not decide who is right or wrong. The discussion is confidential and, if no settlement is reached, the court is simply informed that mediation was unsuccessful. No blame attaches to either party merely because no agreement was reached.

I have also explained that this particular claim has almost no prospect of reaching a hearing because DCB Legal's usual approach in properly defended private parking claims is to discontinue, usually around four or five weeks before the hearing. While that is not 100% guaranteed, it is the usual pattern of behaviour by them in over 99% of parking claims, so you must continue complying with every court deadline unless and until you receive formal confirmation that the claim has been discontinued.

Provided you do not allow yourself to be intimidated into paying merely because the process feels unfamiliar, there is nothing to fear from the mediation call. It is simply a short attempt to discover whether the parties can agree a settlement. If they cannot, the claim carries on.