please help my poor old mum

bigpauly

hi there ,
recently my mum has been issued with a £70 "parking fine" in a private carpark by a private company for parking in a disabled parking bay and not displaying a blue badge as she has'nt got one . now all the signs are there for all to read and i know she doesnt have a blue badge which im not disputing to be wrong but she drives a mobility car issued by the DLA which does have mobility stickers in the window and also the tax disc clearly states DISABLED on it . she use to have a badge when she was on the lower incapacity benefit and owned her own car but when her incapacity was increased and she received the mobility car i think she assumed that with the stickers in the window this allowed her to park in disabled bays as she has done now for the last 5 yrs or so and has never had a problem even in the very same carpark reguarly. she hasnt payed it yet and ive read all over hear that she should just ignore it but she being 60yrs of age is worrying as the fine is all glossed up with court summons this and that. i appreciate it could be as clear as no badge = fine but is this really the case ? , the car is clearly a mobility car and the car park was practically empty at the time so if she was just joe blogs taking advantage the she could of clearly parked in any other space opposite or otherwise. does anyone think she has grounds to dispute as i dont think she will just ignore it ? please help £70 pounds is pretty much half of her incapacity benifit a week and though i will happily pay it for her i feel this is very stupid and unfair, i have spoken to the dla and they stated that they get many complaints like this to which i responded that wouldnt it be a good idea to issue a blue badge automatically to those with a mobility car ? i was told to take it up with the tiicket issuer which i will be doing soon. if anyone has experienced this or can help i will be most greatfull thanks

CFC

Read all the posts in the motoring forum. Private car park operators cannot issue punitive fines.

Tickets issued by private companies
Private companies can issue tickets to drivers parked on their property, but the rules are not the same as local authorities.

If you receive a ticket in a private car park, such as a supermarket car park, or private multi-story car park, remember that it is not criminal law, but contract law that applies. The driver enters into a contract with the landowner when they driver into the car park.
This means that it is only the driver that can be subject to a ticket from a private company. If they do not know who the driver was, they cannot claim a penalty. They have no legal right to demand that you identify the driver.
If you are approached by a member of staff inside a private car park there is no obligation for you to assist them in any way
If the company wish to pursue a claim in the small claims court, they have to prove that you were the driver of the car. Any comments that you make may assist them in this aim, so best to say nothing.
If you refuse to pay, the private company has to pursue you through the small claims court. It is up to them to prove a breach of contract so look at the terms carefully. These are usually printed on a sign at the entrance to the car park.
Additionally, you may be able to reduce any fine issued by a private company. Under contract law, they can only claim for any loss they have suffered because of your offence. They may try to claim a penalty of, say, £100, but in law they may only be entitled to any revenue they had lost. So, if you pay £2 to park for one hour, but stay for three hours, they can only claim for two hours of lost revenue, which is £4.


Read more: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-1708393/How-fight-parking-ticket.html#ixzz1SgX10BdJ

Richie-from-the-Boro

bigpauly wrote: »

hi there ,
recently my mum has been issued with a £70 "parking fine" in a private carpark by a private company for parking in a disabled parking bay and not displaying a blue badge as she hasn't got one . now all the signs are there for all to read and I know she doesn't have a blue badge which im not disputing to be wrong but she drives a mobility car issued by the DLA which does have mobility stickers in the window and also the tax disc clearly states DISABLED on it . she use to have a badge when she was on the lower incapacity benefit and owned her own car but when her incapacity was increased and she received the mobility car I think she assumed that with the stickers in the window this allowed her to park in disabled bays as she has done now for the last 5 yrs or so and has never had a problem even in the very same carpark reguarly. she hasn't paid it yet and Ive read all over hear that she should just ignore it but she being 60yrs of age is worrying as the fine is all glossed up with court summons this and that. i appreciate it could be as clear as no badge = fine but is this really the case ? , the car is clearly a mobility car and the car park was practically empty at the time so if she was just joe blogs taking advantage the she could of clearly parked in any other space opposite or otherwise. does anyone think she has grounds to dispute as I don't think she will just ignore it ? please help £70 pounds is pretty much half of her incapacity benefit a week and though i will happily pay it for her i feel this is very stupid and unfair, i have spoken to the dla and they stated that they get many complaints like this to which I responded that wouldn't it be a good idea to issue a blue badge automatically to those with a mobility car ? i was told to take it up with the ticket issuer which i will be doing soon. if anyone has experienced this or can help i will be most greatfull thanks

You don't give enough info, so I'll assume you mean a local authority / not private / car park.

Your mam is 100% wrong. Without a BB its inarguably illegal to use the space, it would also be illegal if she did have a BB and failed to display it - or displayed it upside down or even the wrong way round. However she should apply for a BB with her local authority ASP.

Your mam should not pay, and appeal in writing to whoever issued the ticket stating the info you have written above. Technically the ticketing authority is right. Who was the ticket issuer working for ?, if it was the local authority its unlikely she will be fined on this the first occasion in a Motability vehicle. Who owns the car park ? You say you spoke to the DLA about it, the DLA are nothing whatsoever to do with Blue Badge's, who did you actually speak to ?

kingfisherblue

I'm not sure what you mean when you say the car is clearly a mobility car. A car from Motability is just the same as any other car. It might have adaptations, but these are not always visible, and it is possible to have the same adaptations on a privately owned car. It's the same with a disabled tax disc - you can have one on a privately owned car.

From what you have said, your mum needs to apply for a blue badge and use it - even though the car is from Motability, this isn't clear to others and it doesn't give her the right to use a disabled parking space without a blue badge.

scoped1

As Richie says - you can get 'done' even if you display your badge and it's the wrong way up.
This has happened to me once, when i displayed the side with the photo instead of the other way around, I rang up the council (or who ever it said to appeal to) and they let me off the fine, but said if it happened again with the same badge they wouldn't clear the fine.

It depends what car park it is though, CFC seems to know more about private parking

so where exactly was she parked?

Edit: also, this was in a car that was adapted, had a free tax disc and had wheelchair stickers saying don't park too close - so I don't think it matter what your car looks like