Advice re blue badge owner

D_P_Dance

You are counter claiming £1250 for disability discrimination. i love it.  

DoaM

Sorry but that LBC seems to be a meandering mess (IMHO) ... it's not clear what the claim is for nor the basis of it. (You've launched straight into specific detail without any preface to give it context - it's been written as though the other party will know the whole prior history at the point of reading this LBC). I applaud your intent but the LBC needs work to give it clarity.

PS ... it's BPA not BPS (typo), and you also need to add claim filing and hearing fee costs in your LBC.

Umkomaas

Payment of £1250 or your reasons for non payment are required by 15th April 2020 to avoid the above legal action........

........ which will be instigated without further reference to you. 

But do heed what DoaM says above. 

[Deleted User]

DoaM said:

Sorry but that LBC seems to be a meandering mess (IMHO) ... it's not clear what the claim is for nor the basis of it. (You've launched straight into specific detail without any preface to give it context - it's been written as though the other party will know the whole prior history at the point of reading this LBC). I applaud your intent but the LBC needs work to give it clarity.

PS ... it's BPA not BPS (typo), and you also need to add claim filing and hearing fee costs in your LBC.

I appreciate this, thanks.

Which paragraphs would you change and how would you change it?

DoaM

You need to structure it better:

* Amount of claim (what you're claiming for ... Damages, plus claim filing fee and claim hearing fee [if it goes that far])
* Particulars of claim, which are:
** Basis of claim (reasons why you believe you have a valid claim)
** Supporting evidence (in brief, not your full evidence pack)
* Date by when they must pay what you're seeking, else you'll proceed to raise a claim without further reference to them.

[Deleted User]

knightstyle said:

If I were you I would write to:

Provincial Grand Lodge of Devonshire

The Provincial Office,
Unit 7, Harrier Court
Exeter Airport, Clyst Honiton
Devon EX5 2DR

OK, I will do. Do i need to send it 'signed for'?

[Deleted User]

DoaM said:

You need to structure it better:

* Amount of claim (what you're claiming for ... Damages, plus claim filing fee and claim hearing fee [if it goes that far])
* Particulars of claim, which are:
** Basis of claim (reasons why you believe you have a valid claim)
** Supporting evidence (in brief, not your full evidence pack)
* Date by when they must pay what you're seeking, else you'll proceed to raise a claim without further reference to them.

OK, I'm on it now. Thanks.

Le_Kirk

HotelUniform74 said:

knightstyle said:

If I were you I would write to:

Provincial Grand Lodge of Devonshire

The Provincial Office,
Unit 7, Harrier Court
Exeter Airport, Clyst Honiton
Devon EX5 2DR

OK, I will do. Do i need to send it 'signed for'?

Given that there may not be anybody working there currently, I would just obtain a free certificate of posting and it is deemed delivered two days later.  Using any type of signed for service means that if the recipient refuses to accept (or is not there) they have proof of non-delivery, not what you want.

[Deleted User]

Hi again, have attempted to structure my letter better. I would appreciate constructive criticism please.

Letter Before Claim

Dear Sir/ Madam,

I write in reference to correspondence from yourselves and bwlegal regarding an alleged breach of contract on 22/11/2019, which I have appealed against and still dispute. I now intend to file a claim against yourselves which I outline below.

Particulars of Claim

Basis of Claim

1. In your reply to my appeal, dated 20/12/2019 you state £0.70 was payable from the time of entry at 17:51 until 6pm, and then another £2.00 from 18:00. Your ambiguous signage does not indicate a charge for partial hours and stipulates a £0.70 charge between 08:00 and 18:00, suggesting that as long as £0.70 is paid before 18:00, an hour of parking is given. As you note, a payment £0.70 was made in good faith. 

1. Your invoice dated 28/11/2019 only records the time of entry and exit to the car park from your ANPR, with no indication of any grace period given for parking. I enquired as to the grace period in my appeal and no response was forthcoming. You should have included a grace period as a member of and in line with the British Parking Association’s (BPA’s) and Independent Parking Committee’s (IPC’s) Code of practice (CoP).

1. As a disabled person, with protected characteristics, you must make ‘reasonable adjustments’ and ensure that you do not put disabled people at a disadvantage compared to an able-bodied person. You must provide a reasonable adjustment in terms of both increased legibility of signage, so that the terms and conditions are legible from within the vehicle and a grace period over and above that stipulated by the BPA’s/ IPC’s CoP. If you had done so, there would be no overstay and no breach of contract.

1. Based on the above, I believe that you have indirectly discriminated against me and I am claiming for injury to feelings due to this discrimination. I am also claiming court fees and estimated interest.

Supporting Evidence

1. The Consumer Rights Act (CRA) (2015)  provides that a term is "unfair" if "contrary to the requirements of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations to the detriment of the consumer". The contra proferentem rule provides that where any clause in a contract is ambiguous the term should be interpreted against the interests of the party that created, introduced, or requested that a clause be included. 

1. The BPA's Code of Practice (CoP) defines the ‘grace period’ as the time allowed after permitted or paid-for parking has expired but before any kind of enforcement takes place. The BPA allow for 5 minutes before entering into a parking contract to read the terms and conditions and at least 10 minutes after the parking event. As referenced above, you did not allow any grace period at all and therefore you are in breach of S16.1 and S16.2 of the BPA’s code of practice (CoP) and S15.1 and S15.2 of the IPC’s CoP.  Your actions contravene S16.1 and S16.2 of the BPA’s CoP.

 

1. Chapter 5, S.39 of the EHRC Services, Public functions and Associations Statutory code of practice states that there is an anticipatory mandatory duty to consider, in advance, the likely needs and adjustments of the disabled population at large. You have failed to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to remove barriers for a disabled person, and have put me at a disadvantage compared to an able-bodied person, contravening S16 and S21 of The Equality Act (2010). I enclosed a copy of my blue badge in my appeal, so you were therefore aware of my disability and had the opportunity to cancel your invoice at the appeal stage. S16.2 of the Equality Act (2010) does not therefore apply in this instance.

1. In the well-known case of Vento v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police No. 2 (2003) the Court of Appeal set guidelines on the amount of compensation to be given for injury to feelings (the so-called Vento bands). The lower band is appropriate for less serious cases such as where the act of discrimination is an isolated or one off occurrence.

Estimated Claim

Failure to make reasonable adjustments (indirect discrimination) and damages from injury to feelings: £1250.

Estimated interest: £4.32

Court fee: £70

Estimated total: £1324.32

[Deleted User]

I don't know why the formatting hasn't transferred properly, but the items numbered 1-4 on basis of claim match supporting evidence on my googledocs file. I hope that makes sense?