Parking 'fine' letter for Blue Badge holder?

baward

Hi,

The driver is disabled and has a Blue Badge. Are there any special considerations that need to be made in a case such as this? They think they read that a scan/copy of the Blue Badge should be made and submitted but they can't remember where it was.

Cheers!

Half_way

Who issued the ticket?

in whos car park was this?

why did the vehicle get a parking ticket?

Do not attempt to identity the driver, all thats needed to be known is an occupant of the vehicle had a protected characteristic under the Equality act and/or a blue badge ( depending upon if the ticket was private or council issued)

Umkomaas

baward said:

Hi,

The driver is disabled and has a Blue Badge. Are there any special considerations that need to be made in a case such as this? They think they read that a scan/copy of the Blue Badge should be made and submitted but they can't remember where it was.

Cheers!

You need to tell us more. We need the background. Unfortunately, MSE Towers have removed all crystal balls from the forum regulars! 😕

Half_way

There is a huge difference between council issued tickets and tickets issued by private companies on private land.

 likewise the way to deal with this will vary depending upon whos car park this was/where the car park was , from a stand-alone pay and display type place to a supermarket, retail park and so on .

 Same again with why a ticket was issued - private car park that was a pay car park, private car park with a time limit and so on.

One of the key things with the Equality act ( formerly disability discrimination) is that reasonable adjustments should be made for those with a protected characteristic - again this kicks in more with private car parks .

 For example when I have been running car parks at events ( such as country shows and so on) we have charged all cars an entry fee disabled or not, however those with blue badges/mobility issues have been either put into a special area and/or offered additional assistance in parking ( ie extra space round the vehicle/level bit of the field etc)

D_P_Dance

The driver is disabled and has a Blue Badge. Are there any special considerations that need to be made in a case such as this?

Yes, please read The Equalities Act 2010 paying special attention to "protected characteristics".

It is not a fine, please read the newbies and complainn to your MP.

fisherjim

D_P_Dance said:

.

It is not a fine, please read the newbies and complainn to your MP.

It could be DPD the OP hasn't told us anything about it

Half_way

Still in the dark over this, if it is an official Penalty charge on the road/council car park then it can bee seen off, likewise with a private parking charge .

 either which way more information is needed so that baward can be offered the correct help and advise

Brie

Having a blue badge doesn't exempt one from fines (if that's what it is) depending on circumstances.   You can still be fined for parking where you block traffic or on crossed double yellows.  OH was fined for parking in a loading zone, for instance, which was only done as all the disabled spots had been taken by drivers, most of whom did not have a blue badge on display. 

I've also heard of people receiving a penalty charge at a supermarket for using a parent and child spot when the disabled spots were full.  That was overturned when the story hit the local press.

Fruitcake

Brie said:

Having a blue badge doesn't exempt one from fines (if that's what it is) depending on circumstances.   You can still be fined for parking where you block traffic or on crossed double yellows.  OH was fined for parking in a loading zone, for instance, which was only done as all the disabled spots had been taken by drivers, most of whom did not have a blue badge on display. 

I've also heard of people receiving a penalty charge parking charge notice at a supermarket for using a parent and child spot when the disabled spots were full.  That was overturned when the story hit the local press.

It would have been a parking charge notice from an unregulated private parking company at a supermarket.
In addition, the blue badge scheme does not apply on private land, even though PPCs would have you believe otherwise.

However, we don't know if this was a fine or penalty from an authority, or an invoice from a private company issued on private land.

Half_way

Brie said:

Having a blue badge doesn't exempt one from fines (if that's what it is) depending on circumstances.   You can still be fined for parking where you block traffic or on crossed double yellows.  OH was fined for parking in a loading zone, for instance, which was only done as all the disabled spots had been taken by drivers, most of whom did not have a blue badge on display. 

I've also heard of people receiving a penalty charge at a supermarket for using a parent and child spot when the disabled spots were full.  That was overturned when the story hit the local press.

Depends upon who issued the ticket - a fine is only issued by a council/authority or the police if it was a private company it is not a fine, if your OH was issued a parking charge notice from a private company it was not a fine.

On private land a blue badge is only an indicator that a driver or occupant of the vehicle has a protected characteristic under the Equality act ( disability discrimination) if a driver parks a vehicle in a disabled space, and has - or an occupant of the vehicle has a disability that requires extra adjustments ( ie wider bays/disabled bays etc) / mobility issues but they do not possess or have upon them a blue badge then they are entitled to make use of the reasonable adjustments , and/or request them.

 The sequence of vents in that case should be - disabled persons vehicle receives parking charge notice for "no blue badge" disabled person contacts parking company/car park owner and states they have a disability ( protected characteristic under the equality act) pakring ticket dropped like hotcakes by the parking company - with the invitation to have the vehicle reg whitelisted.

No penalty charge will be issued for using a so called parent and child bay - these are nothing but relatively recent gimmicks, this would have been a parking charge notice.

 P&C bays take away spaces needed for those with a disability, and also give people a false sense of entitlement believing they can park in disabled bays of no P&C bays are available or even present in a car park.

If Brie's OH received a parking charge notice for parking in a loading area as no disabled spaces were available then Brie's OH may be able to get their money back from the car park owner - as they are jointly and severally liable for the actions of their agents

baward

Thanks all. Hopefully this will make things clearer. The (Parking Charge Notice) issuer was APCOA, on Chippenham Railway Station, and the alleged offence was 'Use of a Private Car Park without a valid payment/permit'. The driver merely entered the car park with the hope of finding a parking place, found there was none, and drove straight out again. The driver subsequently found the disabled parking spaces in the second station car park., and parked in a designated disabled space and obtained a required display ticket, displaying it along with the required Blue Badge.  The vehicle is owned by Motability, a registered charity for the disabled.

Up until the time of parking up, the Blue Badge was not located on the dashboard; considering it all, it's believed that there were actually TWO situations recorded by APCOA, 1) the alleged breach of the rules when they drove in looking for  space (generating the Charge Notice letter) and 2) the situation of parking correctly in the Bus Badge space, which passed without problem.

The letter says that 'As we do not know either the name of the driver or their current serviceable address, we request that [the driver] pay...'