Does Blue Badge Scheme Apply on Private Land?

NotanIdiot

bluesteve71 wrote: »

Hi folks. By way of an update, I issued a claim in the Small Claims Court, & a defence has been filed by the clamping company.

They state the following in their defence: "The claimant was parked in a designated disabled parking bay at the entertainment complex without displaying a blue badge. Upon entering the complex the claimant was abiding by our terms & conditions of parking. There are over 50 signs situated throughout the complex stating our terms & conditions of parking.
Whilst we appreciate the claimant was experiencing temporary mobility issues, the disabled bays are to be used strictly for blue badge holders only...the claimaint had parked in a disabled bay without a Blue Badge therefore resulting in his vehicle being immobilized as stated on our signs situated throughout the complex".

My point is that the signs do not stipulate that a blue badge must be displayed. It states that vehicles will be immobilised "if improperly parked in a designated disabled parking bay." There is no mention of a blue badge, & I thought that the blue badge scheme did not apply on private land anyway. Also, when my wife called to to discuss this with the clamping company, they stated over the telephone that the signs clearly state that a blue badge must be displayed. This is incorrect, as can be seen from the image earlier in this thread. When my wife challenged this, they hung up on her.

Additionally, my wife & I visited the site again on Sunday. Guess what? The original signs have been replaced! The new sign now clearly states the conditions of parking. Vehicles will be issued with a Parking Charge Notice Notice (as opposed to previously being immobilised) "if parked in a designated parking space between 2 white lines, if parked in a disabled bay without displaying a valid blue badge".

When we visited the complex originally the old signs stated "if improperly patked in a designated disabled parking bay". If they had stated that a blue badge had to be displayed when the incident took place, we would not have parked there. The new signs are no longer ambiguous.

Do you think that we should mention this in our response to the clamping company's defence to our claim?

The statement you must display a Blue Badge is discriminatory. Many disabled people (as defined in the Equality and Disability Act 2012) as disabled but do not possess a blue badge, so specifying they must have one is itself per se discrimination.,

bluesteve71

Thanks all for your help and advice. Just to let you know, the defence struck out and I WON!!! Got my reimbursement cheque from them last week!

Coupon-mad

Very well done for seeing this through to Court and winning your refund! :T