UKPC Parking Charge - Parking in disabled space

mmccullion

Hi All,

I recently got a parking charge on my vehicle for parking in a disabled spot without a blue badge.

I had appealed to UKPC as I was with my granddad who is disabled and holds a blue badge, along with my appeal I supplied an image of the blue badge that show's it is valid.

They however replied to say the parking charge has been correctly issued and so it will not be waived, however they will reduce the cost to £15 if paid within bla bla bla 10% will be donated.

The original charge was for £90 or £50 if paid within 14 days!!

Do I have a case to put forward to POPLA? If so I would be grateful if someone had a template I could use?

The_Deep

Do not give them a penny, hang on, I am wrong, offer them one penny.


Were this to get to court and you called your gf as a witness and he showed the judge his BB, it is most likely they would get a wigging for wasting the Court's time, and it would cost them money.

Guys_Dad

Did you display the Blue Badge? If so, fight it.

If not, weigh up whether £15 is reasonable for making an error of failing to display against a possible court case decision going against you and facing an amount of 10 times that sum. Sometimes you have to pay for your mistakes and if the price of that is reasonable, you need to take it on the chin.

It's your call.

Redx

those spots are provided by law for disabled people , under the EA2010, so although POPLA wont consider that argument , it is a legally valid one , in your defence (and his)

mmccullion

I understand what everyone is saying.

Unfortunately my granddad forgot his blue badge but is not capable of walking long distances (which other spaces would have been).

I was alway's under the impression that a disabled spot on private land is not enforceable as legally you don't have to have a BB to be defined as disabled?

Also the car park is a free car park so how can they prove that they have had costs incurred?

Does anyone have a template I can use to send to POPLA to fight this?

Thanks
M

Redx

as I said earlier , POPLA is not an option and they wont accept your appeal as you have no reference from UKPC (plus you wont get one either)

so definitely NO POPLA

and as I said earlier, its the EA2010 that protects him on private land like this , but a landholder can require the use of permits (in this case the BB) to be shown , which it wasnt (although some disabled people cannot even get a BB , yet can still use those spaces legally)

so its a battle of wills , with different laws in place and fighting each other

just IGNORE it and come back if you get an LBC or an MCOL in the post

if you wish to complain , direct it at the landholder and insist that they cancel the invoice , or they will be called to court to defend an EA2010 counter claim

Coupon-mad

mmccullion wrote: »

I understand what everyone is saying.

Unfortunately my granddad forgot his blue badge but is not capable of walking long distances (which other spaces would have been).

I was alway's under the impression that a disabled spot on private land is not enforceable as legally you don't have to have a BB to be defined as disabled?

Also the car park is a free car park so how can they prove that they have had costs incurred?

Does anyone have a template I can use to send to POPLA to fight this?

Thanks
M

You've missed the POPLA template wording in the NEWBIES thread post #3?

Did you use the forum appeal template to UKPC, as keeper, not saying who was driving (again, as shown in the NEWBIES thread)?

Guys_Dad

mmccullion wrote: »

I understand what everyone is saying.

Unfortunately my granddad forgot his blue badge but is not capable of walking long distances (which other spaces would have been).

I was alway's under the impression that a disabled spot on private land is not enforceable as legally you don't have to have a BB to be defined as disabled?

Also the car park is a free car park so how can they prove that they have had costs incurred?

Does anyone have a template I can use to send to POPLA to fight this?

Thanks
M

If I was the barrister for the other side should this get to court, I would ask you why, under the circumstances, you did not simply enter the bay, let grandad out, then park the car in a normal bay? Or drop grandad at the entrance? And then infer that there was no EA issue if you had taken these reasonable steps. I would then seek to make a clear distinction between a disabled driver who was actually driving and one who was a passenger in a vehicle driven by an able bodied driver who had other options other than to occupy a disabled bay in contravention to the signed t&c

As you have been advised, POPLA will not be sympathetic unless you can win on signage. So either the PPC will simply huff and puff or you will need a decent defence for court.

The_Deep

It is an argument GD, but the EQ states that service providers must make "reasonable adjustments" for people with "protected characteristics".

OP may have needed to be elsewhere (on foot) giving granddad a key to get back into the car.

Granddad can also take the PPC to the SCC for disability discrimination.

Guys_Dad

The_Deep wrote: »

It is an argument GD, but the EQ states that service providers must make "reasonable adjustments" for people with "protected characteristics".

OP may have needed to be elsewhere (on foot) giving granddad a key to get back into the car.

Granddad can also take the PPC to the SCC for disability discrimination.

Might have, could have.............

It's up to the OP. As I have said, it's a £15-v-£150-v-£0 gamble. Turn the £15 down and it's a £150-v-£0 gamble.
I have highlighted a potential argument that could be presented to court. And we all know how fickle judges can be. Too many focus on the parking contract. And as I have said on other threads, parking cases are separate from EA and it is possible to lose a parking case and win an EA case.

The problem that we regulars have is that we all have a long resentment against PPCs and invariably encourage others to take the PPCs on in our war against them. I have won a few cases against PPCs helping others but only when I had the angles covered and when the amount demanded was £100.

But it's the OP's money and if we are genuinely moneysavers, then it's only right to put other scenarios to enable the OP to make a decision.

Half_way

Who's car park is/was it? You need to get in touch with the car park owner asap and make sure you use the correct terms and words when dealing with them