We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

IMPORTANT: Please make sure your posts do not contain any personally identifiable information (both your own and that of others). When uploading images, please take care that you have redacted all personal information including number plates, reference numbers and QR codes (which may reveal vehicle information when scanned).
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

Parking in Disabled bays

13

Comments

  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 155,642 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 31 December 2012 at 12:32AM
    We are more or less resigned to the fact that we will pick up pcn's from time to time and as long as they are not frequent we just have to pay them

    Miss H


    You do know the difference between a Council parking ticket (appeal it) and a private one (ignore it, or appeal and then appeal via POPLA if you are in England/Wales, then ignore it again if not cancelled)?

    I am saddened that you think you have to pay these. You are actually wrong and are throwing money away. Really hope you nave NEVER just paid a private fake one?!!

    Penalty Charge Notice = real one from the Council, has the Council logo on. APPEAL IT!! Help from pepipoo gets most people off most PCNs.

    Parking Charge Notice = fake one from a private company (use POPLA or ignore the whole scam because it isn't a fine).

    HTH
    PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
    CLICK at the top or bottom of any page where it says:
    Home»Motoring»Parking Tickets Fines & Parking - read the NEWBIES THREAD
  • Rustyj52
    Rustyj52 Posts: 2 Newbie
    edited 3 January 2013 at 11:39AM
    Hi
    Im sorry if this has been posted before but have just joined and lost as to what to do.
    On 21 Dec 12 I took my granddaughter for a blood test at Royal Gwent Hospital with my daughter app 10.30, 11.15 came out and went to local Tesco, I parked in a disabled car space and waited while daughter went into shop, I have a Blue Badge but did not display it as was sitting in car, I had to make a dash to loo as have weak bladder, on return daughter was waiting and I found a PCN on my windscreen stating I arrived at 11.24 till 11.29, fine was for £60.00, I went searching for attendant and no where to be found, I was furious to say the least.
    I am in mind not to pay it but wife keeps nagging to get it paid, what is your advise
    Thanks in advance
  • Ticket was given from TPS (Total Parking Solutions)and I was in Harlech Retail Park, Newport
  • ManxRed
    ManxRed Posts: 3,530 Forumite
    The Blue Badge Scheme does not apply on Private Land. Disabled Bays on private land, while we wouldn't condone abusing them, are nothing more than graffiti.

    You had a blue badge anyway, so were entitled to use the bay, regardless of the legalities of whether you need to display it or not.

    You can either appeal sending a copy of the blue badge (they will likely reject this, but you have at least put them on notice that you were more than entitled to use that bay), or just ignore them completely.

    Most definitely don't pay it. Why on Earth does your wife believe you have cost anyone £60 for failing to display a badge where there is no legal requirement to do so?
    Je Suis Cecil.
  • fivetide
    fivetide Posts: 3,811 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Stroma wrote: »
    The problem with that is one they are obviously not fines! Two yes people do take the michael as those images on the paper show! Three what about all the times he goes to this asda and finds nobody doing this? And finally is he some kind of psychic, how does he know that all the people using these bays are considered disabled under the equalities act? You don't need a blue badge to use private disabled bays

    Yes but you do have to sympahise.

    As you say, is he supposed to be psychic? How does he know that the drivers are not disabled?

    You then (rightly) point out that the blue badge scheme doesn't count and that those abusing the spaces simply don't have to pay the charges.

    To be honest, this is one area where I think there needs to be further thought. My mrs is disabled, blue badge holder and we regularly have issues thanks to lines of cars without badges takign up spaces.

    Now, either we have a proportionally high number of disabled drivers in our area or a lot of people are abusing it. However, since the blue badge means nothing you have no way to tell.

    There has to be a way of sorting the wheat from the chaff as it were.
    What if there was no such thing as a rhetorical question?
  • halibut2209
    halibut2209 Posts: 4,250 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 3 January 2013 at 12:46PM
    What annoys me is that disabled bays and P+C bays were developed as a courtesy and a way of encouraging people to visit stores. Now people seem to act as though they have a legal right to have them (as in that article above). Can you imagine the hoo-haa if bus companies tried to fine people who didn't give up their seats for other people?

    I think you'd get a lot further with signs saying "Please leave these spaces for those who need it more than you" than with silly threats and invoices.

    You attract more flies with honey etc
    One important thing to remember is that when you get to the end of this sentence, you'll realise it's just my sig.
  • Trebor16
    Trebor16 Posts: 3,061 Forumite
    Buzby wrote: »
    Considering the supermarkets parking contractors WILL ticked vehicles not displaying a BB, they are doing something. But as most will treat it with contempt and refuse to pay on principe, what more do you expect them to do?

    It's not treating them with contempt by refusing to pay, it is standing up to private parking companies and supermarkets who think they can fine people when they have no legal power to do so.
    "You should know not to believe everything in media & polls by now !"


    John539 2-12-14 Post 15030
  • Half_way
    Half_way Posts: 7,545 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 3 January 2013 at 6:35PM
    Theres a lot of confusion on here regarding disabled parking, blue badges and atitudes here goes...

    Fact: not all people who are disabled and need extra space/closer parking are blue badge holders, if you fall into this category ( or you havent displayed a BB for whatever reason) then you should complain to the store/car park owner or at a last resort the pakring company, reminding them of the obligations under the equalities act.

    If your after a parent and child space, but there full, please dont park in the disabled area.

    If all disabled spaces are full and you need extra space ( ie for wheelchair acces etc) park across bays ( ie use two spaces ) if this is not p[ossible find somehwere else to park, but dont cause an obstruction, or safety issue - park sensibly always let the shop know that you need the space to avoid any confusion/conflict, if you get ticketed return to the shop and ask them to cancell the ticket imediatly - be firm be polite remind them that they/the car park owner is responsable for the actions of their agent (ie the parking company)

    If youve made a genuine mistake and pakred in a disabled spot by mistake, then try and avoid doing it again, if you feel guilty abuot it make a donation to a disablity charity of your choice, but dont pay the parking company a penny.

    If youve parked in a disabled spot because you couldnt be arsed to find another,/you dont care, then you can ignore all the letters form the PPC, but you have a seriously bad atitude and actions such as that only encourage the private parking companys, by giving them an excuse to exist causing much more misery for genuine motorists and dsiabled drivers who may not have a blue badge/forget it etc etc.

    One more thing - if you need a disabled spacce, and you visiting an event with a temporary car park in a field, rough ground. or any other actively maned car park wind your window down and ask some one for a suitable space asking for a disabled spot when directed to a parking space is a pain in the rear, also waving a blue badge like a loon as your driving up isnt exactly helpful either. Wind your window down and ask, if the car park site people are clued up we may be able find you a good/suitable spot ( not always the disabled enclave), and even assist with getting in/out as well as any aditional transport help with goods ( lifting carrying etc etc ) if possible.
    From the Plain Language Commission:

    "The BPA has surely become one of the most socially dangerous organisations in the UK"
  • Coupon-mad
    Coupon-mad Posts: 155,642 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 3 January 2013 at 8:01PM
    fivetide wrote: »
    Yes but you do have to sympahise.

    As you say, is he supposed to be psychic? How does he know that the drivers are not disabled?

    There has to be a way of sorting the wheat from the chaff as it were.



    Why? As some posters know, I used to work in a disability provision service and my view would be that your store needs to consider adding extra disabled bays. Have you actually put that in as a suggestion, in writing, at Customer Serivice and asking for feedback from the Store Manager? Constructive feedback from him/her that doesn't involve passing the buck to their PPC or a knee-jerk assumption about bay abuse? How can they know if no-one tells them about the issue of the bays always being full? They will be relying on their USELESS PPC issuing fake 'fines' to people but that doesn't address the need, and the failure of the provision, does it?

    PPCs have to abide by disability law in the same way that any service has to make any provision for its disabled customers or service users. There is no simple 'Blue Badge scheme' anywhere else in life! Do you suggest that employers, for example, have to be 'psychic' to know how many disabled employees they have (and what provision is or will need to be being made for them, best practice being to keep this under regular review)? Nope. A good employer will ask new and exisiting employees 'do you consider yourself to be disabled, and if so, what needs do you have that we need to know about'? Why do you think they word it that way? Because it is about an individual's needs, that's what the disabled part of the Equality Act 2010 is about. Not about who has this permit or that permit!

    Or, as I posted on another thread, take the example of those wheelchairs that large Supermarkets have and will dish out to those people who have need for them.

    A staff member will provide one when asked, and sometimes when it's busy - shock horror - all of them are already in use. That may mean the Supermarket needs to provide more if it's a regular occurrence. But, equally, it may just be a fact that sometimes/rarely, they are all in use. Like disabled bays, sometimes all are busy. That does not necessarily mean that some people using them (bays or wheelchairs) are taking the mickey/lazy!

    And with the wheelchairs, they would not leave them out loose with the trolleys for anyone to use and abuse - nope, they have staff members who are responsible for overseeing them without a Spanish Inquisition about whether the person needs it! But no-one gets 'fined' for using one just because they have the wrong kind of disability (no Blue Badge!)...or parked badly in the bread aisle...or presented their credit card the wrong way up...

    So why is this situation any different? Supermarkets should be paying more attention to the NEED and have a staff member responsible for the fair use of the disabled bays, whilst the store is open. The big Stores can CERTAINLY afford it and it will be cheaper than being sued - and all the bad publicity that will go along with a case started by a person who is disabled but has no Blue Badge, for harassment & Equality Act breaches by their agent. It's only a matter of time I am sure.
    PRIVATE 'PCN'? DON'T PAY BUT DON'T IGNORE IT (except N.Ireland).
    CLICK at the top or bottom of any page where it says:
    Home»Motoring»Parking Tickets Fines & Parking - read the NEWBIES THREAD
  • Stroma
    Stroma Posts: 7,971 Forumite
    Uniform Washer
    fivetide wrote: »
    Yes but you do have to sympahise.

    As you say, is he supposed to be psychic? How does he know that the drivers are not disabled?

    You then (rightly) point out that the blue badge scheme doesn't count and that those abusing the spaces simply don't have to pay the charges.

    To be honest, this is one area where I think there needs to be further thought. My mrs is disabled, blue badge holder and we regularly have issues thanks to lines of cars without badges takign up spaces.

    Now, either we have a proportionally high number of disabled drivers in our area or a lot of people are abusing it. However, since the blue badge means nothing you have no way to tell.

    There has to be a way of sorting the wheat from the chaff as it were.

    Of course I sympathise with him, he's looking at this and can see obvious abuse of the bay, even if those bays are advisory only. But what he is doing is taking pictures of vehicles without blue badges and asuming that the person using it is not disabled.

    Ultimately this might not be the case as you can be disabled without a badge, for example I am considered disabled under the equalities act, but I don't use them as I think there is no need.

    These bays cannot be policed like council ones as there is no way to determine if the person has a need to use the bay, for example my friend has a disability that effects his mobility sometimes. He doesn't have a blue badge but is entitled to use these bays when he goes there.

    So what right would a parking company employee have to say he can't park there ? The answer is no right as if he insists that he moved despite my friend saying he's disabled, that would be a breach of the equalities act. The company and retailer could be sued for such a breach. There is no legal need to prove disability in these places.
    When posting a parking issue on MSE do not reveal any information that may enable PPCs to identify you. They DO monitor the forum.
    We don't need the following to help you.
    Name, Address, PCN Number, Exact Date Of Incident, Date On Invoice, Reg Number, Vehicle Picture, The Time You Entered & Left Car Park, Or The Amount of Time You Overstayed.
    :beer: Anti Enforcement Hobbyist Member :beer:
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 352.1K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.5K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 454.2K Spending & Discounts
  • 245.1K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 600.7K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 177.4K Life & Family
  • 258.9K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.2K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.