PCN In a disabled bay

tyramhall

Hi everybody

the other day i got a PCN from ukcps for parking in a disabled spot on a retail park whilst going to pizza hut.
I know its ethically wrong but there was 6 disabled spaces in total and all were free. It was late in the evening so there was little chance of all being full or needed.
I know the government website says that blue badge bays can not be enforced on private land.
Ive searched the web recently and it appears more and more people are receiving official stamped court papers. The main advice is to completely ignore all letters but i am worried that if i ignore every letter and i get taken to court then the judge would have a dim view about this.
Is it worth sending one letter only when i start to receive their threatening letters etc..?

Any help would be much appreciated.
Paul

C_Mababejive

Just throw it away and forget it.

peter_the_piper

C_Mababejive wrote: »

Just throw it away and forget it.

Don't throw it away, file it in a deep dark drawer. You'll get about 5-6 pieces of threatening letters and (so called) debt collectors letters which can safely be ignored but file with above. Take them out at xmas and show your friends and rellies and have a good laugh.
Don't call them, appeal, reply or pay. Above all don't worry.

taffy056

I would recommend not throwing the ticket or any letters away, just file them in case of you needing them in future, though its highly unlikely

With the ticket you got though, its safe to completely ignore that and any letters you get as the ticket is unenforceable, if you get court papers which are real, come back for more advice.

tyramhall

Thanks for the replies everybody. I will not contact them and i will safely file away any correspondance.
If the worst did happen and i had to go to court, what would be the likely outcome bearing in mind that the government stipulate that blue badge bays can not be enforced on private land?

Thanks everybody
paul

McKneff

Just do what the other posters have said.

And in future dont park in disabled bays, how do you know that the next 6 cars behind do not have a disabled driver in the car.

Which would you rather have.
Walk a little bit further from the parking space because you can
or have a disability so that you cant walk very far at all.

I know which i would choose.

I know its not illegal, but think first please.
Annie

taffy056

If they took you to court, you would need to defend it, but they can only claim material loss, if its a free parking there is no loss, also I beleive only the landowner can claim the loss, so these scammers don't own the land so they have no loss, they like scaring people and rely on a percentage paying without checking if the ticket is real, make sure you pass on what you've learned.

Basically if you get any ticket with 'Parking Charge Notice' on it, its a scam.

Coupon-mad

tyramhall wrote: »

Hi everybody

the other day i got a PCN from ukcps for parking in a disabled spot on a retail park whilst going to pizza hut.
I know its ethically wrong but there was 6 disabled spaces in total and all were free. It was late in the evening so there was little chance of all being full or needed.
I know the government website says that blue badge bays can not be enforced on private land.
Ive searched the web recently and it appears more and more people are receiving official stamped court papers. The main advice is to completely ignore all letters but i am worried that if i ignore every letter and i get taken to court then the judge would have a dim view about this.
Is it worth sending one letter only when i start to receive their threatening letters etc..?

Any help would be much appreciated.
Paul

Did you have anyone with you who is disabled (never mind the blue badge)?

If not then please think again next time as we do not ever condone anyone parking in disabled bays if they do not genuinely need to (even private advisory bays). You cannot assume that disabled people do not need to visit pizza hut or anywhere else in the evening - there is no curfew on certain sections of the community!

You could just ignore all the letters, as 99% of people just get the usual garbage.

Or, as UKCPS have apparently chanced their arm in Court recently - reportedly choosing at least one person who never replied at all - the registered keeper could wait for the first letter and just send a basic reply without stating who was driving, along the lines of:

'I have received the attached letter but I fear you have mistakenly sent it to me, as the registered keeper of the vehicle, when I am sure you are aware you need to direct any correspondence in this matter to the person who you may allege was driving the vehicle at the time you specify.

No contract exists whatsoever between myself and your company.

If you intend to allege otherwise, do not waste my time and yours with any further letters and do not add any extra costs, as I will not reply further in the absence of genuine Court papers. If no Court case is pursued within the next 14 days then I will consider the matter closed and will have no hesitation in reporting as harassment, any further contact from you or your agents.'

Do not send this now, only as a possible reply if you want to when you get the first letter. You don't want to reply now as you shouldn't acknowledge the bogus PCN (only the driver would know about that). I think I would chuck that away, personally.

tyramhall

I know what i did was wrong and i have learnt a valuable lesson. I hope i have not offended anybody and if i have i am sorry.
Thanks for the replies.

AlexisV

The actions of the private parking company are many times worse from a moral point of view!

Keep all your paperwork and ignore.

There was a disabled case last month. The judge stated that the sum was unenforceable because it was not a genuine pre-estimate of loss incurred.

McKneff

If the very worst came to the worst, they can only threaten to take the DRIVER to court, as long as you didnt tell them who was driving they couldnt issue a summons.