Blue Badges & Parking

steve_2012

Errata wrote: »

Sometimes, just sometimes, if the culprit goes in person to the LA office and grovels and apologises profusely they are let off.

thanks errata,
im afraid he nor i can do grovelling, well not for £25 anyway.
he is not well off but he knows it is just an error which can be fully explained, but too grovel, no cant do that, apologise profusely yes but too grovel for being an old man who made an error is a bit too much.
i could understand ie being there for longer than he should be, parking on loading bays i could go on.
im not knocking the warden, fair play to him for spotting this error and for giving a ticket but when explained i just dont see this as a once explained as a reason for issuing a ticket or i should say enforcing this ticket.
we have not even been told hard luck yet but you just know that is what they will say. i could even understand if it was going into the deciders pocket but we are are paying there wages too service the public from wrongdoing and for me this isnt wrongdoing.
but i just know he will be down £25 or more.
it just seems like a situation where the computer says NO.

Richie-from-the-Boro

#28 """he wasn't parked in a bay just for disabled people"""


- don't pay for now
- GoTo the issuer with 'in force' blue badge evidence on Monday or within 10 days, then appeal; then
- GoTo the local authority with 'in force' blue badge evidence on Monday or within 10 days, then appeal

If both / neither work, and you can't lodge an immediate appeal pay on the 13th day and appeal later to the local authority concerned.

steve_2012

Richie-from-the-Boro wrote: »

#28 """he wasn't parked in a bay just for disabled people"""


- don't pay for now
- GoTo the issuer with 'in force' blue badge evidence on Monday or within 10 days, then appeal; then
- GoTo the local authority with 'in force' blue badge evidence on Monday or within 10 days, then appeal

If both / neither work, and you can't lodge an immediate appeal pay on the 13th day and appeal later to the local authority concerned.

thanks richie,
i will get him to follow that advise or similar and see where it goes.
i suppose my gripe is or will be i like to see justice served where deserved but not when it is not, sadly our world dont seem to follow this any more.
or maybe we will get a pleasant surprise and someone actually listens and acts in a sensible way.

BobQ

Q1 Was he parked in council carpark or a private car park. If the latter it may be a privately issued penalty charge notice (ie an invoice) which he should just ignore.

Q2 If it was a council car park did the car park provide free car parking for the disabled. If not he cannot do anything. If it did then he could try explaining that he put the old badge up by mistake but I doubt they will accept the argument.

One of things they are clamping down on is abuse. While your father made a mistake, others have probably tried the same excuse but in their case have kept their old badge and allowed it to be used by a family member. who if caught gets the owner to invoke the excuse.

steve_2012

BobQ wrote: »

Q1 Was he parked in council carpark or a private car park. If the latter it may be a privately issued penalty charge notice (ie an invoice) which he should just ignore.

Q2 If it was a council car park did the car park provide free car parking for the disabled. If not he cannot do anything. If it did then he could try explaining that he put the old badge up by mistake but I doubt they will accept the argument.

One of things they are clamping down on is abuse. While your father made a mistake, others have probably tried the same excuse but in their case have kept their old badge and allowed it to be used by a family member. who if caught gets the owner to invoke the excuse.

thanks bob,
A1 council car park
A2 there are 3 for disabled out of around 50 spaces, all spaces can be used with a BB.
i accept this clamp down and that people use this excuse but it is his car ie registered to him and with disabled tax, it is not like he was in my car using his BB and they will know and have the evidence of that, it just seems that it would be easier to "sorry but you broke the rules".
too be honest i am a bit surprised that either the police were not notified/called as it could be someone as you say using someone else's BB albeit it is nearly 2 years out of date.
the annoying bit is why didnt he just cut the old BB up but as he said it was left in the car andat the bottom of his manuals and would not have been seen till he needed to use his car manual.
but there you go i fully accept your fraud point.

Richie-from-the-Boro

BobQ is right about BB abuse, but lets no confuse two quite different issues :

- there is no BB abuse, if the local authority accept his mistake and he has an 'in force' blue badge
- expect and get no sympathy from the ticket monkey or his company they're there to make ££££ or else

The LA can warn / suspend / fine him for BB abuse, but it is my case that he did not intend abuse !. How far you get depends on whether or not the LA is prepared to issue your dad with a 'first warning' and tell the issuing company to quash the ticket.

Make a reasonable 'in person' approach with your dad to the local authority its a 'low level' contravention.

Savvy_Sue

steve_2012 wrote: »

im not knocking the warden, fair play to him for spotting this error and for giving a ticket but when explained i just dont see this as a once explained as a reason for issuing a ticket or i should say enforcing this ticket.
we have not even been told hard luck yet but you just know that is what they will say. i could even understand if it was going into the deciders pocket but we are are paying there wages too service the public from wrongdoing and for me this isnt wrongdoing.
but i just know he will be down £25 or more.
it just seems like a situation where the computer says NO.

Until you've asked, you have absolutely no idea what the computer's going to say. The warden issued a ticket, absolutely properly. The warden does NOT have access to a list of 'current' blue badges, so could not be expected to know that this was an error at the time.

FWIW, we were once involved in a minor RTA. The police checked our tax disc. For some reason, we hadn't put the new tax disc in: I think it was sitting on the kitchen table several days after it should have been taken out to the car! We were in the wrong: however they checked we WERE taxed and sent us off with instructions to get the disc on display pronto!

CKhalvashi

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Until you've asked, you have absolutely no idea what the computer's going to say. The warden issued a ticket, absolutely properly. The warden does NOT have access to a list of 'current' blue badges, so could not be expected to know that this was an error at the time.

This is a good point.

In the wallet with my BB in, I've got about 3 old blue ones (with an orange one behind the blue one) :eek:, and unbeknown to me, DD1 when she was about 7 had moved them around in the wallet.

This triggered a charge when we were looking at plans for something, which the council did reverse when presented with my card wallet.

CK

missile

Originally Posted by Richie-from-the-Boro
For myself, it is the case that those who share the wonderful benefits of the BB and abide by the rules .. .. have nothing to fear whatsoever, ....

Would be nice if that was true.

luxor4t

BobQ wrote: »

You may be quoting from the Scotland version?

The English version states:
"
The badge is for your use and benefit only. It must only be displayed if you are travelling in the vehicle as a driver or passenger, or if someone is collecting you or dropping you off and needs to park at the place where you are being collected or dropped.Do not allow other people to use the badge to do something on your behalf, such as shopping or collecting something for you, unless you are travelling with them[FONT=Helvetica 55 Roman,Helvetica 55 Roman][FONT=Helvetica 55 Roman,Helvetica 55 Roman].[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica 55 Roman,Helvetica 55 Roman][FONT=Helvetica 55 Roman,Helvetica 55 Roman]• You must never give the badge to friends or family to allow them to park for free, even if they are visiting you.• [/FONT]
[/FONT]You should not use the badge to allow non-disabled people to take advantage of the benefits while you sit in the car. [FONT=Helvetica 55 Roman,Helvetica 55 Roman][FONT=Helvetica 55 Roman,Helvetica 55 Roman]Although it is not illegal for a badge holder, or a non-disabled person waiting for the badge holder to return, to remain in the vehicle while the Blue Badge is displayed, consideration should be given to using a car park whenever possible."[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica 55 Roman,Helvetica 55 Roman][/FONT]
http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum.../dg_186198.pdf

Just for clarity, it is the same in Wales.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg/groups/dg_digitalassets/@dg/@en/@disabled/documents/digitalasset/dg_201280.pdf