Fined for Disabled badge date not visable

elambchops

Hi can anybody please advise me, being disabled I have a disabled badge which I put on the dash of my car when parking in any disabled parking space, on the 28th of March 2012 while visiting the doctors in Talbot Green Mid Glamorgan I parked in a disabled space and put the badge on my dash as usual, on my return I had a parking charge notice for £70 stuck to the windscreen of my car from a company called TCP parking, while in the surgery the badge had slipped down slightly in its cellophane pocket and had just obscured the expiry date, I drove around and found the attendant and showed him the date and the fact that it was current, he said he could not read it and consequently I would have to pay the fine, I told him that was discraceful.......Is there anything I can do other than pay the charge?

Regards

Dave

ManxRed

Let's just clarify - this ticket does not mention the Road Traffic Act anywhere on it? Also, what is it called? (e.g. Parking Charge Notice)?

It sounds private to me, but if you could confirm?

TrickyWicky

Parking Charge Notice = Ignore, do not pay, it's a private company and not a real 'fine' in the eyes of the law.

Penalty Charge Notice = Issued by council / private contractor on their behalf which means it is a legal fine and you should write in to challenge it. For a disabled badge it's usually a trivial issue of sending them a photocopy of it.

Trebor16

TCP sound like a private parking company to me so you can safely ignore them. The attendant was talking out of his hat when he said you had to pay it.

elambchops

Hi Manxred, no there does not appear to be any words relating to Road Traffic Act anywhere on it, the ticket is called Parking Charge Notice (PCN)

Dave

pogofish

It looks very much like a private ticket and the Blue Badge Scheme does not apply in private car parks, so you had no need to display it to begin with.

The Equality Act applies here and any disabled person can use the space.

Was it the Doctor's car park? Whilst it is the right thing to ignore TCP, it would be the right thing to haul the Doc/site operator over the coals for their failure to comply with the Act's requirement.

ManxRed

As I thought. Ignore it completely, and ignore all the scary letters they might send to scare you into paying. Its all hot air, legally they haven't got a hope in Hell of obtaining this money through the courts, and they know it, so they won't even try. Just the scary letters.

give_them_FA

TCP = private company. So have absolutely no conscience about trying to swindle money out of a disabled person if it boosts their bank account. Upon being shown the badge, the attendant should have cancelled the ticket IMMEDIATELY. Instead, he lied to you and told you that you had to pay it.

Why? Because his wages depend upon fining people even if it is totally unjustified.

As you have proved that you were entitled to park in the space, any attempts to keep demanding money are illegal harassment.

If they do that you should sue. It really is easy and they (and the surgery) will pay you. Ask me how.

elambchops

Hi Pogofish, the parking area I think is all council owned and there are a miltutude of shops there such as Marks and Spencer, TKMAX etc, there are clearly laid out disability parking area's and no it was not the surgery parking area as they do not have one for the general public. I just do not know what to do for the best really, maybe appeal? I was so annoyed that I could have cheerfully brought my walking stick up sharply between his legs.

Regards

Dave

vax2002

Luckily you found this forum, now ignore the scammer, they are known to target disabled drivers as they think they will fall for the impersonation of authority scam they run.
However this time it looks like they have picked on a tough boot, so ignore, sit back and enjoy the letter scam trail and try to guess which characters of authority they will impersonate first to get your money, debt collctors or solicitors? its fun waiting to guess.
By the way, there is no appeal, it is just a scam to save them £2.50 from DVLA who will sell the registered keepers details.
Do not be coaxed out of your fort in to a fight, stick firm, pull up the draw bridge and ignore them.

If they send franked mail, bob it back in the post box, it come straight back and they get charged each time, so eventually you can fine them !

give_them_FA

Dave, DO NOT waste your time appealing. There is no appeal system worthy of the name. Why do you want to APPEAL when they are entirely in the wrong? "Appealing" sends the message that you think there is some validity in their grubby little scheme. Either IGNORE or set about collecting money off them. I wish more people would do the latter.