Form submission: Private Parking Ticket Details

[b789]

So, having reviewed the thread over on FTLA, I want to be clear about where things now stand and what you need to do next.


The original problem was that you never received the claim because of an IT failure at the Civil National Business Centre. After advising you to complain, The court accepted that this was an administrative error and set the judgment aside using its own powers. The claim has therefore been restored and re-allocated to the small claims track, with fresh directions. We are now bound by those directions.

The court has ordered that witness statements must be filed and served by 16 February 2026. Separately, DCB Legal have been ordered to pay the hearing fee by 3 March 2026, with the hearing listed for 31 March 2026.

Although it looks illogical that the witness statement deadline comes before the trial fee deadline, the court is extremely unlikely to change that simply because DCB Legal may not pay the fee. This sequencing is common in small claims. The court expects parties to comply with directions as given, not to assume that the claimant will later abandon the claim.

Based on experience, it is overwhelmingly likely that DCB Legal will discontinue before the hearing fee deadline. They do this routinely and very late in the process. Unfortunately, that likelihood does not remove your current obligations.

Two things are important.

First, even if DCB Legal fail to file a witness statement by the deadline, you are still required to file yours. Your obligation is independent of theirs. If you do not file a witness statement on time, you risk being barred from relying on your defence or evidence.

Second, even if the claim is later discontinued, the court will expect to see that you complied fully with the directions up to that point. Non-compliance can seriously weaken any later position on costs or unreasonable conduct.

The practical consequence is that you now have to prepare and submit a witness statement by the deadline. I appreciate that this is a lot of work and that there is a very real chance it will never be tested at a hearing because DCB Legal are likely to discontinue anyway. However, there is no safe procedural shortcut around this.

Given the time pressure, the aim is not to overcomplicate things. The witness statement needs to be clear, factual, and focused on why you are not liable. Judges tend to skim witness statements, so clarity and structure matter far more than volume or heavy legal argument.

If DCB Legal discontinue, the effort will feel wasted, but it was still necessary. If they do not, having a compliant and properly prepared witness statement in place is essential.

In short, you must proceed on the basis that the claim is live, comply with the witness statement deadline, and treat any later discontinuance as a bonus rather than something you can rely on.

Here is a draft WS you can use. However, do NOT submit anything until the last possible moment which is 4pm on Monday 16 February.

IN THE COUNTY COURT AT NEWPORT     Claim No: [Claim Number]

BETWEEN:

New Parking Generation Management Ltd

Claimant

- and -

[Defendant's Full Name]

Defendant

---

WITNESS STATEMENT

1. I am the Defendant in this claim and the registered keeper of the vehicle. I make this witness statement from matters within my own knowledge to address the issues of service of any Notice to Keeper, the alleged transfer of liability to me as keeper, and the absence of any evidence identifying me as the driver.

2. The claim concerns an alleged parking event said to have occurred on 23 May 2024.

3. At the time the Defence was filed, I had not been provided with any evidence capable of establishing keeper liability, driver identity, or effective service of a Notice to Keeper. The Particulars of Claim were sparse and did not plead the facts necessary for me to understand or respond to the claim beyond a general denial. In those circumstances, and in the absence of any contemporaneous evidence or properly particularised allegations, the Defence was necessarily framed on the basis that the Claimant had failed to plead or disclose a viable cause of action.

4. I did not receive any Parking Charge Notice or Notice to Keeper at the time of the alleged event, nor did I receive any such notice within the weeks following it. My first awareness of any alleged parking charge was many months later, via third-party debt-recovery correspondence.

5. At the material time, I was in the process of moving home. I had access to my new property from 9 May 2024 but remained resident at my previous address until the end of May 2024.

6. The alleged parking event occurred on 23 May 2024.

7. On 25 May 2024, I put a Royal Mail redirection in place from my previous address to my new address. That redirection ran for a period of three months. I permanently vacated my previous address on 31 May 2024.

8. I updated the vehicle’s V5C with the DVLA on 1 June 2024. That update was made promptly once I had permanently moved, and I have confirmation of the update date.

9. Accordingly, during the period immediately following the alleged event, I had taken reasonable and responsible steps to ensure continuity of postal service by way of Royal Mail redirection, and I updated the DVLA without delay once the move was complete. I did nothing wrong and did not fail in any obligation to notify the DVLA.

10. The alleged parking event occurred on 23 May 2024. Under Schedule 4 paragraph 9(3)(b) of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, any Notice to Keeper must be given to the registered keeper within the relevant period of 14 days beginning with the day after the parking event, namely no later than 6 June 2024.

11. The Claimant relies on a document described as a Notice to Keeper dated 31 May 2024. The Claimant has acknowledged that at the time of the parking event it obtained keeper details from the DVLA showing my former address and that correspondence was sent on that basis. Any Notice to Keeper sent to that address was not received by me. This is despite the fact that a Royal Mail redirection was in force at the time, further demonstrating that the notice was not effectively served.

12. The Claimant has produced no proof of posting, no certificate of posting, and no other evidence demonstrating that the Notice to Keeper dated 31 May 2024 was correctly addressed, posted, and given to me. The Claimant has disclosed only the date the notice was generated. Under the applicable Private Parking Single Code of Practice, operators are required to retain evidence of posting of notices. In the absence of such proof, the Claimant cannot establish that the Notice to Keeper was “given” within the meaning of paragraph 9 of Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. Accordingly, keeper liability cannot arise.

13. I have never identified the driver of the vehicle to the Claimant or to any of its agents. I have made no admission at any stage as to the identity of the driver.
The burden of proof rests with the Claimant to establish that I was the driver at the material time. The Claimant has produced no evidence capable of proving the identity of the driver.

14. No adverse inference can be drawn against me as registered keeper in respect of driver identity. In the absence of evidence, any assertion that I was the driver is unsupported.

15. In summary, I did not receive a Notice to Keeper within the relevant period, the Claimant has failed to prove that any Notice to Keeper was given in accordance with Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, the driver has never been identified, and the Claimant has no evidence capable of proving that I was the driver. On that basis, the Claimant cannot establish that I am liable for the alleged charge.

Statement of truth

I believe that the facts stated in this Defence 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:

Date:

In the meantime, review it and let me know if there is anything missing or wrong in it. You will need all the evidence you have from correspondence between yourself and the claimant/DCB Legal which you will need to index on separate pages with the court header on each page and referenced with your initials and numbered sequentially as they will appear in the WS. Eg; "Exhibit XX-01" and then you need to mention in the WS, the reference to that exhibit with "See exhibit XX-01" etc.