Parked in disabled bay with wheelchair passenger but no blue badge Options

[Bentleydog]

Looking for advice. My wife had open-heart surgery, complicated by a stroke. A week after coming out of hospital, we went shopping with her in a wheelchair, and used a disabled bay wihtout displaying a blue badge, which had not arrived at that point.

We got a PCN, and two weeks later, our blue badge arrived. I appealed, and sent a copy of the blue badge and a photo of my wife arriving bakc at the car on the day of the PCN.

UKPC have offered a reduced settlement of £15 to drop the proceedings.

Our view is that my wife was disabled from the day she left hospital, and was entitled to use the disabled facilities.

On the other hand, I could avoid all the worry by paying up.

any thoughts?

This post has been edited by Bentleydog: Tue, 12 Dec 2017 - 07:53

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[fedup2]

Did it say,blue badge needed to park there? Was one displayed?

[Churchmouse]

The £15 offer is surely their last, reptilian grasp at making a quick buck off the disabled? The last thing they probably want the OP to do is get an article in the local newspaper written about this incident. I'd suggest doing just that.

--Churchmouse

[SchoolRunMum]

Complain to the Retail Park manager, or Store Manager, to quash the irritating bugs completely.

[fedup2]

I didnt get a ticket to park,cos im skint.Why the hell should i be ticketed for that...Ha ha

Lets keep it real!

Im not a lover of some of the sharp practices being used by some of the ppc's but So far im not seeing this case as sharp practice.IF the signs said that a blue badge was to be displayed,then one should have been or other parking space should have been sought until that was possible,IF that was the case.
With all the sympathy in the world,that doesnt change reality.

The choice here seems an easy one,pay a very low priced lesson and move on,or post up the paperwork and see if theres anything to fight with risking more money.

Tip:always check a badge and clock is in place on the dash displayed AFTER the car is locked to prevent a next time.

[SchoolRunMum]

With all the sympathy in the world,that doesnt change reality.

The reality is the Equality Act 2010.

She needs no blue badge to have the right to use a provision put in place by the retailers, for people with protected characteristics.

I didnt get a ticket to park,cos im skint.Why the hell should i be ticketed for that...Ha ha

Did you read the OP or just get a red mist descending? There is nothing about not paying; from the info given I take it to be a free car park, infested by notorious, fake-photo evidencing, rogue ex-clampers UKPC.

[The Rookie]

I didnt get a ticket to park,cos im skint.Why the hell should i be ticketed for that...Ha ha

Tip:always check a badge and clock is in place on the dash displayed AFTER the car is locked to prevent a next time.

Not only overly obnoxious, even by your low standards, but you cant even see the blatant contradiction in the two parts of your own post.

[Churchmouse]

I didnt get a ticket to park,cos im skint.Why the hell should i be ticketed for that...Ha ha

Did you read the OP or just get a red mist descending? There is nothing about not paying; from the info given I take it to be a free car park, infested by notorious, fake-photo evidencing, rogue ex-clampers UKPC.

It's fedup2. Nothing more to say, really.

If they're ready to forgo their standard contractual charge based on the evidence they have been provided by the OP, then they know the entire circumstances of the incident and have accepted the truth thereof. And yet, they still can't stop themselves from extracting a "token payment". They probably think their "generous offer" proves that they really aren't the odious reprobates people say they are...

As far as the legals go, we don't know what the sign said. It could have specified "blue badge holders" or something else. Either way, as SRM points out, the EA 2010 would be relevant here.

--Churchmouse

[cabbyman]

Did they include a POPLA code with their offer?

[Bentleydog]

Did they include a POPLA code with their offer?

Yes, there is a POPLA code.

[freddy1]

use the POPLa code , mention Equality Act 2010. , if POPLa cock this up , show reply to the press

[SchoolRunMum]

Did they include a POPLA code with their offer?

Yes, there is a POPLA code.

You need to research how to maximise your chances at POPLA, because it is NOT a case of writing about what happened, mitigation, Equality Act or that the charge is disproportionate. None of that will win.

[Half_way]

Inform the parking company that a passenger I the vehicle has a protected characteristic under the equality act, and as such they MUST drop this.
Also inform the car park owner.
If the ppc continues inform the retailer that they are responsible fur the actions of their agents, and this is a clear batch of the equality act


Pay the £15 add you could be admitting liability, plus giving them an excuse to continue.

[nosferatu1001]

Or dont pay the £15, and sue the retailer if they dont drop it. That might cause UKPC some issues and solve the REAL issue, which is UKPC.

[nosferatu1001]

The contract was illegal. You cannot restrict access to spaces left to comply with EA2010 such that it excludes those ENTITLED to use the space. NO contract was formed because the terms were illegal.

[hcandersen]

A little ahead of the facts here.

We do not know what privelege was conferred by the display of a BB. This could be free parking if in a dedicated disabled bay, chargeable but may park in a dedicated bay or free in any bay, but dedicated bays are available.

We just do not know. The Equality Act does not confer free parking on private land to holders of, or those who think they're entitled to hold, a BB. It might confer certain rights is specified circumstances, but as these are unknown, reliance on the EA would be a tad foolhardy.

And we don't know the tenor or substance of the OP's 'appeal', but based on their posts, I could hazard a guess.

[Jlc]

The contract was illegal. You cannot restrict access to spaces left to comply with EA2010 such that it excludes those ENTITLED to use the space. NO contract was formed because the terms were illegal.

The Equality Act requires 'reasonable adjustments' - and having dedicated bays and signs/meters accessible would probably comply with that.

I would not agree that this automatically overrides the driver from freely entering into the contract on offer. One hopes commonsense would apply but a court may well conclude the contract was enforceable. (The trouble with court judgment is that we don't always like the result, take Beavis for example...)

This post has been edited by Jlc: Wed, 13 Dec 2017 - 10:23

[nosferatu1001]

The space was provided to meet their obligations. Restricting use of that space to a narrower class of people than that which the obligation is there for, means they have NOT complied with the EA2010, and there is no contract formed as a result.

[cabbyman]

Here is my recent thrashing of Indigo in a hospital situation:

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=115744

Use my POPLA appeal but adapt it to your circumstances, being sure to add, near the beginning, the protected characteristics argument and Equality Act.

Post it here for critique and fine tuning.

There's a lot of defeatist talk from certain elements recently. Anyone would think this was a roll over and die forum rather than a fight back forum!!!!!

[Jlc]

There's a lot of defeatist talk from certain elements recently. Anyone would think this was a roll over and die forum rather than a fight back forum!!!!!

No defeatist, but realist. I like to give a balanced view but I think the OP has some rather important matters to deal with. But happy to assist should the fight commence.