DCBL Private parking (eurocarparks)

[b789]

OK. On July 27 last year, you submitted your defence by email and CC'd DCB Legal. You said you received an auto-reply from "them". Who is "them"? I know you later received an email from DCB Legal around 24 September where they acknowledged your defence and that they intended to proceed with the claim. 

What this means is that there is definite proof that your defence was submitted and a copy of it was received by DCB Legal and acknowledged by them. However, did you ever receive an auto acknowledgement from HMCTS/CNBC when you emailed the defence? For now I am assuming that "them" means the auto response from HMCTS/CNBC.

Now that we have seen the judgment, the position is much clearer. This is a default judgment dated 24 March 2026 and it expressly says that judgment was entered because you had not replied to the claim form.

That is the critical point. On the history you have given, that appears to be false. Your Defence was filed by email on 27 July 2025, DCB Legal were copied into it, and DCB Legal later acknowledged receipt of the Defence and confirmed that their client intended to proceed. That means this was not a case where no reply had been made.

So the immediate position is this.

DCB Legal appear to be the primary culprits because this default judgment did not arise on its own after months of dormancy. Somebody acting for the claimant had to request judgment in default. If DCB Legal did that despite already having received and acknowledged the Defence, then they pressed for a CCJ on a basis they knew, or at the very least ought to have known, was false.

The CNBC are also in the frame. Even if DCB Legal initiated the request, the court should not have entered default judgment if the Defence had already been received and recorded. If the CNBC acknowledged the Defence when it was filed, then they should have known perfectly well that default judgment was not available. So this appears to be a joint mess: DCB Legal likely caused it, and the CNBC appear to have rubber-stamped it when they should not have done.

The consequence is serious. A wrongly entered CCJ is not some harmless administrative slip. It is liable to begin affecting your credit record immediately and may cause severe financial consequences. That is why this now needs to be dealt with as an urgent corrective exercise, not as some routine query.

What you need to do now is this.

First, email the CNBC immediately. Send the email to ClaimResponses.CNBC@justice.gov.uk and CC the following in the same email: CaseProgression.CNBC@justice.gov.uk; bulklitigation@dcblegal.co.uk; info@dcblegal.co.uk  and yourself.

Subject: URGENT – WRONGFULLY ENTERED DEFAULT JUDGMENT – CLAIM M3KF2D9T – IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED

To: ClaimResponses.CNBC@justice.gov.uk
CC: CaseProgression.CNBC@justice.gov.uk; bulklitigation@dcblegal.co.uk; info@dcblegal.co.uk

Dear Sir/madam,

I write in relation to claim M3KF2D9T.

I have now obtained a copy of the default judgment dated 24 March 2026. The judgment states that judgment was entered because I had not replied to the claim form.
That is false.

My Defence was filed by email on 27 July 2025 to ClaimResponses.CNBC@justice.gov.uk. DCB Legal were copied into that email. I have retained my sent email. DCB Legal later expressly acknowledged receipt of my Defence and confirmed that their client intended to proceed with the claim.

This was therefore not a case in which no reply had been made to the claim form. A Defence had been prepared, filed and served. The Claimant’s solicitor was fully aware of it. If the court also received and acknowledged that Defence, default judgment was not available and should never have been entered.

This is an extremely serious administrative failure. A County Court Judgment has now been entered against me on a false basis. It is liable to begin damaging my credit file immediately. That carries obvious and potentially severe financial consequences, including prejudice to credit applications, borrowing, tenancy checks, insurance arrangements and general financial standing. This is not a matter that can be left to sit in a queue for days while a wrongly entered CCJ remains on the register.

I require the CNBC to treat this as urgent and to investigate immediately. I require a substantive response as a matter of urgency, not a generic holding reply and not a response within the usual complaint timescale. That would be wholly inadequate in the circumstances.

Please now confirm in writing, urgently:

1. Whether the court file shows receipt of my Defence.
   
2. The date and time on which the Defence was received and recorded.
   
3. Whether any auto-acknowledgment or other acknowledgment was generated by the court in respect of that Defence email.
   
4. When and how the request for default judgment was made.
   
5. Why default judgment was nevertheless entered on 24 March 2026 on the stated basis that no reply had been made to the claim form.
   
6. What immediate steps will now be taken to remove or set aside this wrongly entered judgment.
   
7. Whether the court will correct this error administratively without requiring me to make and pay for a formal application.
   
8. What urgent steps will be taken to prevent further prejudice to my credit record while this error is being addressed.
   

Please also update the court record immediately with my current address for service as follows:

[full current address]

For the avoidance of doubt, DCB Legal are copied into this email because they appear to have initiated the request for default judgment despite their prior receipt and acknowledgment of my Defence. If that is correct, then they requested judgment on a basis they knew, or plainly ought to have known, was false.

I attach:

1. My Defence email dated 27 July 2025.
   
2. Any court auto-acknowledgment, if available.
   
3. The later email from DCB Legal acknowledging receipt of the Defence and confirming that their client intended to proceed.
   
4. The default judgment dated 24 March 2026.
   

This matter requires immediate corrective action. I require a substantive written response without delay. Given the immediate and ongoing prejudice caused by a wrongly entered CCJ, any attempt to hide behind routine response times or standard complaint handling will be wholly unacceptable.

Yours faithfully,

[full name]

Also, send the following email to DCB Legal at bulklitigation@dcblegal.co.uk and CC info@dcblegal.co.uk and yourself.

Subject: FORMAL COMPLAINT – WRONGFUL DEFAULT JUDGMENT PROCURED DESPITE FILED DEFENCE – CLAIM M3KF2D9T

Dear Sirs,

I write to raise a formal complaint regarding the default judgment entered on 24 March 2026 in claim M3KF2D9T.

I have now obtained a copy of the judgment. It states that judgment was entered because I had not replied to the claim form.

That was false.

My Defence was filed by email on 27 July 2025. DCB Legal were copied into that email. I retain my sent email. DCB Legal later expressly acknowledged receipt of my Defence and confirmed that your client intended to proceed with the claim.

You were therefore fully aware that this was not a case in which no reply had been made to the claim form.

In those circumstances, DCB Legal appear to have requested or procured default judgment on a basis which you knew, or at the very least plainly ought to have known, was false. That is a matter of the utmost seriousness.

As a direct result, a County Court Judgment has now been entered against me and is liable to begin affecting my credit file immediately, with potentially severe financial consequences. It has already caused distress, alarm, inconvenience and wasted time. This is not a minor procedural mishap. It is a serious wrongful escalation of proceedings which should never have occurred.

I now require DCB Legal to provide an urgent substantive response and to take immediate steps to remedy the position. I will not accept a slow complaints-handling timetable while a wrongly entered CCJ remains outstanding and continues to cause harm.

Please confirm immediately:

1. Whether DCB Legal requested default judgment in this claim.
   
2. The date on which that request was made.
   
3. On what basis DCB Legal requested default judgment despite already having received and acknowledged my Defence.
   
4. Whether DCB Legal will now immediately notify the court that judgment was wrongly sought and consent to its removal or setting aside.
   
5. Whether DCB Legal will meet any costs necessary to correct this position, including any application fee, should the court refuse to remedy the matter administratively.
   
6. Whether DCB Legal will undertake, with immediate effect, not to take any step to enforce the judgment, rely on it, report upon it, or cause any debt recovery or enforcement correspondence to be sent while this matter is being corrected.
   

For the avoidance of doubt, DCB Legal are hereby put on notice that I hold you responsible for your role in causing this wrongful judgment. You are further put on notice that I will seek to hold you liable for all consequences flowing from it, including distress, inconvenience, wasted time and any financial harm caused. Any continued reliance on this judgment, or any debt recovery or enforcement activity after receipt of this complaint, will be treated as a deliberate aggravation of the harm already caused.

A formal complaint to the Solicitors Regulation Authority will be filed in any event. DCB Legal are now on notice that their apparent role in requesting or procuring default judgment despite their prior receipt and acknowledgment of my Defence will be placed before the regulator. Nothing in this correspondence should be taken as any concession, waiver or election not to pursue any further complaint or claim arising from this matter.

I require a substantive written response without delay.

Yours faithfully,

[full name]

Attach to both emails:

• the Defence email dated 27 July 2025,
  
• any CNBC auto-acknowledgment if you have it,
  
• the later DCB Legal email acknowledging receipt of the Defence and saying their client intended to proceed,
  
• and the default judgment itself.
  

   

This is a case where a Defence was filed, DCB Legal knew about it, and default judgment was nevertheless obtained and entered on a false basis. That needs to be confronted directly and urgently. Compensation claim can come later.

[merweetntr]

Hi, thank you so much for your help. 

I have sent all those email and did everything you said. 

I have received auto acknowledgement letters from all now just awaiting response.

[merweetntr]

Hi, I still haven’t received any replies from neither the court of DCBLegal. 

As my time is running short and I only have until the 24th.

At what point do I take action and what do I do if I still don’t get any response ?

[b789]

You cannot wait around any longer. Both the CNBC and DCB Legal were put on notice on 7 April and neither has done a damned thing of substance. Meanwhile, the CCJ remains live and is liable to be affecting your credit position right now. Every further day of inaction increases the risk of real financial prejudice.

That is why two separate escalation emails now need to be sent immediately.

The email to DCB Legal is to force them to confront the cost consequences of their own conduct. If they now cooperate in a set aside by consent, the N244 fee for them is only £123. If they continue to sit on their hands and force you to apply without consent, the fee becomes £313. If you are forced to make that application, you will ask the court to order the claimant to pay that fee because this judgment should never have been requested in the first place.

The email to the CNBC is different. That one is to confront them with the fact that they acknowledged receipt of the Defence and still entered default judgment on the false basis that no reply had been made. If they are prepared to correct their own error administratively, that needs to happen now, not after more delay and not after your credit file has suffered further harm.

So the position now is simple. DCB Legal must be pressed to consent immediately, because that is the cheapest and quickest route to undoing the damage they caused. The CNBC must be pressed to correct their own administrative blunder immediately, because they should never have entered the judgment once the Defence had been acknowledged. If both continue to sit on their hands, then you move to an N244 without consent and seek recovery of the £313 fee when the judgment is set aside.

Email to CNBC:

To: ClaimResponses.CNBC@justice.gov.uk
CC: CaseProgression.CNBC@justice.gov.uk; info@dcblegal.co.uk

Subject: FINAL URGENT CHASER – NO RESPONSE TO 7 APRIL EMAIL – WRONGFULLY ENTERED DEFAULT JUDGMENT – CLAIM [claim number]

Dear Civil National Business Centre,

I refer to my email of 7 April 2026, to which I have received no substantive response.

This concerns a default judgment entered on 24 March 2026 stating that judgment was entered because I had not replied to the claim form.

That was false.

My Defence was filed by email on 27 July 2025 to ClaimResponses.CNBC@justice.gov.uk The court acknowledged receipt. DCB Legal were copied into that email and later expressly acknowledged receipt of the Defence and confirmed that their client intended to proceed with the claim.

The court had therefore already received and acknowledged my Defence. Default judgment was not available. It should never have been entered.

This is an extremely serious court error. A County Court Judgment is now live against me on a false basis and is liable to be affecting my credit file immediately, with potentially severe financial consequences. The continued failure of the CNBC to deal with this urgently is unacceptable.

I require the CNBC, by return and in any event no later than 12 noon on Friday 17 April, to provide a substantive written response confirming:

1. What immediate steps will now be taken to remove or set aside this wrongly entered judgment.
   
2. Whether the court will correct this error administratively without requiring a formal N244 application.
   
3. When the court received and recorded my Defence.
   
4. Why judgment was entered on 24 March 2026 despite the court’s prior acknowledgment of the Defence.
   
5. What immediate steps will be taken to prevent further prejudice to my credit file while this error is being corrected.
   

Please also confirm that the court record has been updated with my current address for service as previously notified.

For the avoidance of doubt, if the court does not now act immediately to correct its own error, I will be forced to pursue an N244 application in the claim. That application will be directed against the claimant side, but the need for it will have been compounded by the court’s own failure to act on and give effect to a Defence which it had already acknowledged.

I am not prepared to accept a generic holding reply or any reliance on routine response times. This matter is urgent and requires immediate corrective action.

I again attach:

1. My Defence email dated 27 July 2025.
   
2. The court acknowledgment of receipt.
   
3. The later email from DCB Legal acknowledging receipt of the Defence and confirming that their client intended to proceed.
   
4. The default judgment dated 24 March 2026.
   

Yours faithfully,

[full name]

Email to DCB Legal:

To: info@dcblegal.co.uk
CC: ClaimResponses.CNBC@justice.gov.uk; CaseProgression.CNBC@justice.gov.uk

Subject: FINAL NOTICE – CLAIM [claim number] – WRONGFUL DEFAULT JUDGMENT – CONSENT REQUIRED IMMEDIATELY

Dear Sirs,

I refer to my email of 7 April 2026, to which DCB Legal have failed to provide any substantive response.

The position is straightforward. The default judgment entered on 24 March 2026 states that judgment was entered because I had not replied to the claim form.

That was false.

My Defence was filed by email on 27 July 2025. DCB Legal were copied into that email. DCB Legal later expressly acknowledged receipt of my Defence and confirmed that your client intended to proceed with the claim.

You were therefore fully aware that this was not a case in which no reply had been made to the claim form.

In those circumstances, DCB Legal appear to have requested or procured default judgment on a basis which you knew, or plainly ought to have known, was false. This wrongful judgment is now live and is liable to be affecting my credit file immediately, with potentially severe financial consequences. Every further day of silence aggravates that harm.

You now need to decide whether you are going to mitigate the consequences of your conduct or make them worse.

If DCB Legal immediately consent to the judgment being set aside, the N244 application fee to yourselves will be £123.

If DCB Legal continue to refuse or ignore the matter and force me to apply without consent, the N244 application fee will be £313.

If I am forced to issue an on-notice N244 because of DCB Legal’s continued inaction, I will seek an order that the claimant pay that fee and the costs of the application. DCB Legal are therefore on notice that by failing to act now, they are exposing their client to an avoidable increase in costs caused entirely by a judgment which should never have been sought.

I require DCB Legal, by return and in any event no later than 12 noon on Friday 17 April, to confirm in writing:

1. That DCB Legal consent to the default judgment being set aside immediately.
   
2. That DCB Legal will cooperate without delay in the filing of the necessary consent documentation.
   
3. That DCB Legal will meet the cost consequences flowing from the need to undo this wrongful judgment.
   
4. That DCB Legal will take no step to enforce the judgment, rely upon it, report upon it, or cause any debt recovery or enforcement correspondence to be sent.
   

For the avoidance of doubt, DCB Legal are already on notice that I hold you responsible for your role in causing this wrongful judgment. You are further on notice that I will seek to hold you liable for all consequences flowing from it, including the N244 fee, distress, inconvenience, wasted time and any financial harm caused. Any continued reliance on this judgment, or any debt recovery or enforcement activity after receipt of this email, will be treated as a deliberate aggravation of the harm already caused.

A formal complaint to the Solicitors Regulation Authority will be filed in any event. Your apparent role in requesting or procuring default judgment despite your prior receipt and acknowledgment of my Defence will be placed before the regulator. Nothing in this correspondence should be taken as any concession, waiver or election not to pursue any further complaint or claim arising from this matter.

I am not prepared to accept a generic holding reply or any attempt to hide behind routine complaint timescales while a wrongly entered CCJ remains in place and continues to cause harm.

If I do not receive a substantive response confirming immediate corrective action by 12 noon on Friday 17 April, I will proceed without further notice on the basis that DCB Legal have chosen to force an on-notice N244 application at a cost of £313 rather than resolve this by consent.

I again attach:

1. My Defence email dated 27 July 2025.
   
2. The later email from DCB Legal acknowledging receipt of the Defence and confirming that their client intended to proceed.
   
3. The default judgment dated 24 March 2026.
   

Yours faithfully,

[full name]

[merweetntr]

I have actually just received an acknowledgment email from DCBlegal. Does that change anything?

https://ibb.co/SD6QKf8m

---

Sorry the email was dated yesterday but I have just noticed it

[b789]

No, that does not change anything in any meaningful way.

What you have received is just a standard acknowledgment of complaint. It is not a substantive response, it does not address the wrongly entered CCJ, it does not confirm consent to a set aside, and it does not offer any immediate corrective action. In other words, it is just DCB Legal trying to shove this into their normal 28-day complaints process.

That is nowhere near good enough. A live CCJ is not something that can be left sitting there for 28 days while they work through their usual queue. The issue is urgent because the judgment is already on the record and is liable to be affecting your credit position right now.

So this acknowledgment does not alter the course of action at all. If anything, it helps because DCB Legal can no longer deny they are on notice of the problem. From now on, every further day they fail to take corrective action only makes their position worse.

So the next step remains exactly the same: send the escalation emails, reject any attempt to hide behind a 28-day complaints timetable, and make clear that if they do not provide a substantive response and immediate cooperation within the short deadline, you will proceed without further notice.

And for the DCB Legal email, add this paragraph after the opening:

I note your acknowledgment email dated 14 April 2026 stating that a response will be provided within 28 days under your complaints procedure. That is wholly inadequate in the present circumstances. This is not an ordinary complaint that can be left to a routine 28-day response cycle. A wrongly entered CCJ is already live and is liable to be affecting my credit file immediately. Immediate corrective action is required. Your generic acknowledgment does not answer the complaint, does not address the wrongful judgment, and does not justify any further delay.

If DCB Legal’s acknowledgment came from a specific email address rather than only a generic inbox (info@dcblegal.co.uk), include that address in the 'To' field as well.

The point is to remove any scope for them to later pretend that the escalation only went to a general mailbox and was not seen by the person or team already handling the complaint. If they have chosen to respond from a specific address, then that is now a live contact point and should be used.

So send the DCB Legal escalation to the generic DCB Legal address already used (info@dcblegal.co.uk) and also to the specific DCB Legal address from which the acknowledgment came. Copy the CNBC into it as planned. That way DCB Legal cannot play games about internal routing or say they thought somebody else was dealing with it.

[merweetntr]

Hi, so I haven’t received any response from them.

What are my next steps?

[b789]

If paying the £313 fee is not going to cause you serious financial difficulty, my advice is to make the N244 application now rather than wait any longer. The reality is that the CCJ is likely to be entered on the register in the meantime anyway, so there is little to be gained by further delay. What matters now is showing the court that you acted promptly once you discovered the judgment, and that any additional delay has been caused not by you, but by the failure of the CNBC and the claimant’s solicitor to take proper corrective action after being put on notice.

You need to make an on-notice N244 application because the judgment was wrongly entered on a claim that had already been acknowledged and defended. The core point is simple: this was never an undefended claim. You, the defendant, filed an Acknowledgment of Service on 14 July 2025 and a Defence by email on 27 July 2025 to the CNBC, with DCB Legal copied in. The CNBC sent an auto-acknowledgment, and DCB Legal later confirmed receipt and said their client intended to proceed. There was then further correspondence with DCB Legal about the live claim. Despite all of that, default judgment was entered on 24 March 2026 stating that no reply had been made. That was plainly wrong.

The application should therefore be put primarily under CPR 13.2 because the conditions for default judgment were never satisfied. CPR 13.3 is pleaded in the alternative only. The application should also ask the court to strike out the claim rather than simply revive it, because default judgment appears to have been procured on a false basis despite the claim having been actively defended and engaged with for months. The claimant should be ordered to pay the £313 application fee. Any HMCTS complaint about CNBC is separate and should not be confused with the N244 itself.

Download the N244 here and complete it as follows:

1. What is your name or, if you are a legal representative, the name of your firm?

• [Defendant’s full name]
  

2. Are you a claimant or defendant?

• Defendant
  

3. What order are you asking the court to make and why?

The Defendant applies for an order that the default judgment dated 24 March 2026 be set aside, that the claim be struck out, that enforcement be stayed pending determination of this application, that the judgment be removed from the register upon being set aside, and that the Claimant pay the Defendant’s application fee of £313. The judgment was wrongly entered because the Defendant had already filed an Acknowledgment of Service and a Defence. This was therefore a defended claim and the conditions for default judgment were not satisfied. In the alternative, the Defendant acted promptly on discovering the judgment and has a real prospect of successfully defending the claim.

4. Have you attached a draft of the order you are applying for?

• Yes
  

5. How do you want to have this application dealt with?

• At a hearing
  

6. How long do you think the hearing will last?

• 30 minutes
  

7. Give details of any fixed trial date or period

• None
  

8. What level of Judge does your hearing need?

• District Judge
  

9. Who should be served with this application?

• The Claimant’s solicitor, DCB Legal Ltd
  

9a. Please give the address for service of the respondent or defendant

• DCB Legal Ltd, Direct House, Greenwood Drive, Manor Park, Runcorn, Cheshire, WA7 1UG.
  

10. What information will you be relying on in support of your application?

• The attached witness statement and exhibits.
  

That is the full answer set from Q1 to Q10.

For box 10, tick:

• the witness statement
  
• the evidence set out in the box below
  

Do not tick statement of case unless you are actually putting substantive evidence in that lower box on the form itself, which you do not need to do if you are attaching a separate witness statement.


Use the following for your Witness Statement (WS) which will be attached as a separate PDF to the N244:

IN THE COUNTY COURT

Claim No: [insert]

Between:

Euro Car Parks Limited
Claimant

and

[Defendant’s full name]
Defendant

WITNESS STATEMENT OF [DEFENDANT]

1. I am the Defendant in this matter. I make this witness statement in support of my application to set aside the default judgment entered on 24 March 2026, to strike out the claim, and for the Claimant to pay the application fee.

2. The facts in this statement are within my own knowledge except where stated otherwise.

3. The Claim Form was issued on 8 July 2025.

4. I filed an Acknowledgment of Service on 14 July 2025.

5. I then filed my Defence by email on 27 July 2025 to the Civil National Business Centre. DCB Legal, the Claimant’s solicitors, were copied into that email.

6. The Civil National Business Centre sent an automatic acknowledgment confirming receipt of the Defence email.

7. Later, on or about 24 September 2025, DCB Legal confirmed receipt of the Defence and stated that their client intended to proceed with the claim.

8. There was thereafter further direct correspondence between me and DCB Legal concerning this live claim.

9. No Notice of Proposed Allocation was received by me. No Directions Questionnaire was received by me. No hearing date was provided to me.

10. On 24 March 2026 default judgment was entered against me.

11. The wording of the judgment states that judgment was entered because I had not replied to the claim form.

12. That was false. By that stage I had already filed both an Acknowledgment of Service and a Defence.

13. This was therefore not an undefended claim. Both the court and the Claimant’s solicitors had already been notified that the claim was defended.

14. I later became aware of the judgment through a credit reference alert.

15. After discovering the judgment, I acted promptly.

16. On 7 April 2026 I sent urgent emails to the Civil National Business Centre and to DCB Legal making clear that default judgment had been wrongly entered on a defended claim.

17. DCB Legal responded only with a generic complaints acknowledgment stating that they would respond within 28 days.

18. No substantive corrective action was taken by DCB Legal.

19. No substantive corrective action was taken by the Civil National Business Centre.

20. The default judgment was wrongly entered because the conditions for default judgment were not satisfied. I had already replied to the claim form, first by filing an Acknowledgment of Service and then by filing a Defence.

21. The court is therefore required to set aside the judgment.

22. In the alternative, if required, I have acted promptly upon discovery of the judgment and I have a real prospect of successfully defending the claim, as shown by the Defence already filed.

23. The claim had been actively defended and the Claimant’s solicitors had expressly acknowledged that fact. Despite that, default judgment was entered on the false basis that no reply had been made. The continuation of the claim would be contrary to the overriding objective given the manner in which judgment was obtained.

24. In those circumstances, I ask the court not merely to set aside the judgment but also to strike out the claim and order the Claimant to pay the £313 application fee.

25. I respectfully ask the court to grant the order sought in the attached draft order.

Statement of Truth

I believe that the facts stated in this witness statement are true. I understand that proceedings for contempt of court may be brought against anyone who makes, or causes to be made, a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth.

Signed: ______________________

Name: [Defendant’s full name]

Date: ______________________

You also need to attach the following Draft Order as a PDF file to the application:

IN THE COUNTY COURT
Claim No: [insert]

Between:

Euro Car Parks Limited
Claimant

and

[Defendant’s full name]
Defendant

DRAFT ORDER

Upon reading the Defendant’s application dated [insert date of N244], the witness statement in support and the exhibits

IT IS ORDERED THAT:

1. The default judgment entered on 24 March 2026 be set aside.

2. Enforcement of the judgment be stayed pending determination of this application and, upon paragraph 1 taking effect, the judgment shall cease to have effect.

3. The claim is struck out.

4. The Claimant shall pay the Defendant’s application fee of £313 within 14 days of service of this order.

5. Upon the judgment being set aside, the judgment shall be removed from the Register.

Exhibits list:

Exhibit 1: Claim Form issued 8 July 2025

Exhibit 2: Proof of Acknowledgment of Service filed 14 July 2025

Exhibit 3: Defence email sent to the Civil National Business Centre on 27 July 2025, copying DCB Legal

Exhibit 4: Civil National Business Centre automatic acknowledgment of receipt of the Defence email

Exhibit 5: DCB Legal correspondence from about 24 September 2025 acknowledging receipt of the Defence and stating that their client intended to proceed

Exhibit 6: Further correspondence between the Defendant and DCB Legal concerning the live claim after the Defence had been filed

Exhibit 7: Default judgment dated 24 March 2026 stating that no reply had been made

Exhibit 8: Emails sent on 7 April 2026 to the Civil National Business Centre and DCB Legal notifying them that judgment had been wrongly entered

Exhibit 9: DCB Legal generic complaints acknowledgment

[merweetntr]

Is completing N244 the only way?

What happens if I lose? Do I lose that money?

I want to get rid of that CCJ asap before it’s too late if I complete N244 what will that do to the CCJ on my file already?

[b789]

This is not really about whether you are likely to “lose” in the ordinary sense. The point here is that judgment should never have been entered in the first place because you had already filed an Acknowledgment of Service and a Defence. On the facts you have shown me, the prospects of the court refusing to set aside the judgment are extremely low. The real issue is not whether the application is strong, but how quickly the court will deal with it.

It is simple… if the court has entered the judgment in error, they MUST set it aside. CPR13.2 is a MANDATORY set aside. As you can see from the application I have advised, the fee for application is also being requested because this is not your fault. You have done everything by the book.

In practical terms, the N244 is the only formal route that puts the matter before a judge and gets you an order setting aside the judgment. If you do nothing, the CCJ simply remains there. Filing the N244 does not make the CCJ disappear immediately from your credit file. It is likely to remain showing for now unless and until the court makes an order setting it aside. Once that happens, it should then be removed.

So, if paying the £313 would not cause you serious financial difficulty, my advice is to make the N244 application now rather than lose more time. The CCJ is still likely to appear on the register in the meantime anyway, so there is little to be gained by further delay. What matters now is showing the court that you acted promptly as soon as you discovered the judgment, and that any further delay has been caused not by you, but by the failure of the CNBC and the claimant’s solicitor to correct an obviously wrong default judgment after being put on notice.

If the £313 fee would cause hardship, you should check whether you qualify for Help With Fees. If you are eligible, the fee may be reduced or you may not have to pay it at all. So that is worth checking before deciding that the application is unaffordable.

Apart from the N244 itself, there are other steps you can and should take, but they are secondary and they do not replace the application if your aim is to get rid of the CCJ. You should continue pressing DCB Legal in writing and make clear that they already knew this was a defended claim, that they should have consented promptly to a set-aside, and that if they force you into an on-notice application you will seek the full £313 fee from their client.

You should also make a formal complaint to HMCTS about the conduct of the CNBC, because judgment appears to have been entered despite the Defence having been received and acknowledged. That complaint will not itself remove the CCJ, but it is still worth pursuing and they are likely to also offer compensation.

You should also report DCB Legal to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), because they were plainly on notice that the claim had been defended and yet the matter still ended in default judgment on the false basis that no reply had been made. I would also get your MP involved, because that can add pressure, particularly in relation to HMCTS failings, even though it is not a substitute for the court application.

So the position in short is this: if the fee is manageable, issue the N244 now and pursue the complaints in parallel. If the fee is a problem, first check Help With Fees. But do not assume that complaints alone will get the CCJ removed quickly, because only the court can actually set it aside.

Even if the CCJ is registered on your file, once it is set aside, it is completely expunged from the record. It may take a couple of months before it clears, but it will disappear.

I will assist you with all the steps through this process.