mother and toddler parking in disabled bay got ticket

big_daft_idiot

Hi, my wife was out shopping on a retail park the other day with our 8 week old son, as she arrived all the parent and toddler spaces were taken up, knowing she had a car seat to take out and did not want to damage any other cars, she parked in a disabled bay for approx 10 mins, when she came back she had a fine for 100 pound from UKCPS , I think its outrageous, should we follow the advise and just ignore this ticket, please help, Thanks

bryanb

Worth looking on peppipoo for advice.

peter_the_piper

Ignore, ignore then ignore some more.

The_Slithy_Tove

bryanb wrote: »

Worth looking on peppipoo for advice.

Not really. It's not a fine, and can simply be ignored.

Check out the sticky threads on this forum to learn why this is the case, and what to expect coming through your letter box (which you can also ignore).

give_them_FA

With all due respect to bryanb, this is a question we deal with here. But of course, get a second opinion on pepidoo if you want!

Parking of vehicles in disabled bays on private land constitutes no offence at all. The markings and designation are purely advisory and cannot be enforced.

Thus, whilst we would never condone use by a fit person, the "fining" of people by companies such as UKCPS has no legal basis at all. In your wife's case, if no parent and child space was available and she needed a larger space then, I am not criticising her actions.

But it isn't a moral issue, it's about an unscrupulous private company trying to profit from the situation. This is a company which has a track record of "fining" (or trying to fine) people who actually ARE disabled, on some pretext such as the badge was upside down, or slipped off the dash. Do they cancel the fine when the victim proves they were disabled? They do not- that would eat into their profits, which is the only thing they are actually in it for. Not car park management!

So, what I am saying is that there is no legal basis for this fine; no private company has the right to fine any citizen.

So the current advice always given is that all you need to do is to TOTALLY IGNORE each and every communication you will get from them, and any stooges they get to write to you on their behalf.

All manner of threats will be made, the amount demanded will rise, but ultimately, they do that because they know full well they can't legally enforce so have to rely on threats and bullying.

DON'T reply, DON'T seek to explain, DON'T say who was driving (you are under absolutely NO obligation to) just IGNORE.

They WILL go away. That happens 99.999% of the time. In the event the .001% possibility comes up, DO come back here and we will show you how to

1. Make them look stupid in Court (that always happens when we defend for you)
2. Show you how to sue THEM for harassment- your claim will stick, unlike theirs.

trisontana

As this is UKCPS be wary of any private messages you receive and don't disclose too much information on here. This is because UKCPS' tea boy (sorry "office manager") monitors these forums hoping to glean information regarding the identity of the driver.

big_daft_idiot

Thanks very much for the advice, this has given ma and my wife some peace of mind, especially in this economic climate, cheers everyone,

Coupon-mad

big_daft_idiot wrote: »

Hi, my wife was out shopping on a retail park the other day with our 8 week old son, as she arrived all the parent and toddler spaces were taken up, knowing she had a car seat to take out and did not want to damage any other cars, she parked in a disabled bay for approx 10 mins, when she came back she had a fine for 100 pound from UKCPS , I think its outrageous, should we follow the advise and just ignore this ticket, please help, Thanks

Which retail park then?

Agree with the others, ignore it but please tell her not to take up disabled bays ever again unless she has a disability or a disabled passenger. A baby car seat is not a reason to park in a disabled bay, even one on private land.

And yep I do know what I am talking about, have 4 kids of my own and I used to work in disability advice and my late mother was in a wheelchair for her last years. I never parked in a disabled bay unless I was with Mum; even with a baby in a car seat, parent and child bays are a PR exercise and not a right.

big_daft_idiot

To coupon mad, well the same goes for the disabled, why should disabled people park in parent and todler if there isnt any disabled spaces, because it happens, and its damn right out of order, that's if the blue badge is legit anyway, now that there is so many people faking it,

give_them_FA

The "blue badge" scheme does not apply in private car parks. Someone needs to make the scamming car park cowboys understand that. However spaces should be left for people who are genuinely disabled, badge or no badge.

But the advice is good, don't pay the crooks. Keep the threatening correspondence you will get as it will enable you to sue Mr Haswell for harassment.

Coupon-mad

big_daft_idiot wrote: »

To coupon mad, well the same goes for the disabled, why should disabled people park in parent and todler if there isnt any disabled spaces, because it happens, and its damn right out of order, that's if the blue badge is legit anyway, now that there is so many people faking it,

No it really IS NOT the same thing.

Disabled people are entitled to reasonable adjustments provided by the retailer/service provider, by law. Such as a wider bay/nearer bay.

Parent and Child bays are just a fairly recent 'gimmick' by retailers to get your business. Not a right. So if a disabled driver arrives and all the disabled bays are full then it would be reasonable to use another wide/near bay. In fact the retailer/service provider could be sued by a disabled person who was unable to use the service due to a lack of adjustments.

Parents with kids do NOT actually need P&C bays, it's all a PR exercise. And, as I said, I have 4 kids, so I do know. You can use a normal bay!

And disabled drivers in private car parks do NOT need Blue badges (although none of us here condone bay abuse or on-street Badge abuse).