Disabled Bay on private land

coraljo1

My husband has received a parking charge as the registered keeper of the vehicle because the vehicle was parked in a disabled bay at a local retail park on boxing day without displaying a blue badge.
The vehicle was driven by a friend from Sweden who was staying with us for christmas and new year
It was parked in a disabled bay because one of the passengers has progressive multiple sclerosis i.e. is disabled and has walking difficulties, but does not have a blue badge.

He did respond to the parking charge stating that he was not the driver, and explained that the vehicle was carrying a disabled passenger. UKPC have replied :
"We have investigated your appeal based on the information you have submitted and confirm that this parking charge was correctly issued because there are sufficient signs at Outlet Centre advising drivers that disabled parking bays are reserved for blue badge holders only and that a valid disabled badge must be clearly displayed at all times. We have a duty to ensure these bays are protected for disabled people under the equalitiy act 2010.
Our appeals process is now concluded"
It then carries on to outline the payment methods and warnings of debt collectors, increased charges and Court.

Now the information I have managed to find so far seems to indicate that the Blue Badge scheme is not legally enforceable on private land, and that their charge of £100 requires some explanation (did ask for this in his initial reply to them)( I /FONT][/SIZE]
They seem to have completely ignored that my husband was not the driver of the vehicle, and that there was a disabled person in the car.

Apologies if you think you've heard it all before, but I have searched the forum and I have found some good information but could do with some help on which bits of it should apply here.

Castle

Have UKPC issued a POPLA code?

coraljo1

Yes they have because we asked for one, but on further reading I'm getting the impression that Popla is not always as impartial as they ought to be?

claxtome

Yes they have because we asked for one, but on further reading I'm getting the impression that Popla is not always as impartial as they ought to be?

Not as bad as the other appeal service IAS for IPC members

If you haven't already I suggest read post #3 of Newbie sticky and construct your POPLA appeal.

Redx

just do it anyway and make sure your draft popla appeal is as good as it gets by reading and following the info in post #3 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread

a win is a win

if you lost , you do not have to pay it as the popla appeal is not binding upon the motorist or keeper

if you lose at popla and then if a judge in civil court says you must pay, pay up , promptly

Castle

Redx wrote: »

just do it anyway and make sure your draft popla appeal is as good as it gets by reading and following the info in post #3 of the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread

a win is a win

if you lost , you do not have to pay it as the popla appeal is not binding upon the motorist or keeper

if you lose at popla and then if a judge in civil court says you must pay, pay up , promptly

Even if they lost at POPLA, they could always name their Swedish friend as the driver.

Ralph-y

as above .....name the driver .... would like to see how they take this up in Sweden ........


Have you complained to the retail park / shops stating the disabilities ?

Ralph:cool:

Fruitcake

As above, provide the scammers with the name and address of the driver.

Coupon-mad

coraljo1 wrote: »

Yes they have because we asked for one, but on further reading I'm getting the impression that Popla is not always as impartial as they ought to be?

Where did you read that, seeing as we win almost all of them here? You can give POPLA a go.

Or you could reply:

Dear UKPC,

I am pleased you said: 'We have a duty to ensure these bays are protected for disabled people under the Equality Act 2010' because as you well know, a person with MS is indisputably a disabled person who is protected under the EA. You do indeed have that legal duty and it's illegal to refuse to make reasonable adjustments for person like the passenger we described, and illegal to restrict a provision and extend it only to 'some' disabled people waving a red flag/showing a permit or badge, and refusing the provision for others with protected characteristics.

I refer you to Excel v Greenwood Case Number 3QT60496 (4/10/2013), where a driver with MS (the same condition...) forgot to display his Blue Badge due to forgetfulness being a feature of his condition. The Judge threw the case out because Excel had a duty to make a reasonable adjustment as soon as they knew about his condition, and had no lawful excuse to harass the disabled person by continuing to demand money. Excel could not legally offer any contract to make a disabled bay available to a person with protected characteristics at a price, given the facts of his MS and the fact they already knew about it from his appeal (as here).

As you know all about the EA - and will surely know that contract cannot override statutory rights - we trust you will now cancel the charge, if not, you can take the matter up with the driver who was:

xxxxx xxxxxx
(Swedish address)
Sweden

In the meantime we will complain in the strongest terms to the retail park owners about your actions as their agent, due to UKPC's abject failure to cancel the charge as soon as you 'knew or should have known' about the legitimate mobility need of the passenger. Since you seem so familiar with the law, I refer you to the law of agency, and the liability of your client, for your disability discrimination.

yours faithfully,





...
Then DO send a major complaint to the retail park owner/agent (Google the place to find them) mentioning the truth about their duty and their own liability for this sort of discrimination against people with protected characteristics.

coraljo1

Thank you all for your comments, especially coupon mad.

Think we will respond to the appeal rejection letter in the first instance pointing out once again that the registered keeper was not the driver (which they seem to have missed but we think it,s quite relevant) and reinforcing the disability point.

Can UKPC stipulate the time frame we have (28 days) for a POPLA appeal?

Umkomaas

Think we will respond to the appeal rejection letter in the first instance pointing out once again that the registered keeper was not the driver (which they seem to have missed but we think it,s quite relevant) and reinforcing the disability point.

Please use the Coupon-mad draft rather than doing your own. CM is the foremost expert on private parking charges in the country and she has been a disability rights adviser. You have the best of two world's expertise in the draft.

Can UKPC stipulate the time frame we have (28 days) for a POPLA appeal?

POPLA dictate the time frame for an appeal to them. Not to be confused by the 28 days provided by the parking company for the initial appeal to them.