Appeals rejected

Retired70

Firstly can I say this is my first time on MSE .I am 70 years of age , computers do not come easily to me & I have experienced some difficulties accessing this site.

I know the Newbie site is extensive & says many times that there is nothing new that hasn’t already been covered & I have tried to glean , & use,the best advice I could find. However I still need help.

 

I will keep the initial detail as brief as I can but still provide as much of the relevant detail as I can.

 

I received a PCN from Defence Systems Ltd T/A Parkwatch for “Parking in a disabled bay without clearly displaying a valid disabled badge”  at Arena shopping park Coventry .

I received the ticket through the post and was issued on 10/10/22 for an alleged breach on 5/10/22.

I believe the landowner is Tesco but the store has denied this. It is managed by arena Shopping Park & I have e mailed them for the attention of the CEO but have had no reply.

 

I accept that I did not display by badge for a short period during that particular visit this is because, I have a motability vehicle and it was updated on the afternoon of 4/10/22 when I received a new vehicle. Obviously I needed to empty my old car before I could return it and I removed my blue badge which my wife placed into her handbag for safekeeping.

The next day We went to the shopping park. I dropped my wife off then parked the vehicle .It was only when I parked I realized that my wife still had the blue badge in her handbag so I went into M&S ,found her ,retrieved the badge and returned to my vehicle where I put the badge on display. This took no longer that 15 minutes. Ithought that was the end of it until I received the PCN through the post on 10/10/22.

 

When I received the PCN, the first thing I noticed was that it states that Parkwatch operate in accordance with the IPC codes of practice. I knew the signs at the shopping centre state that they are members & operate under terms of BPA because I have had a similar PCN from them previously for the same thing . I checked with BPA who confirmed that Parkwatch had cancelled their membership of BPA in May 2022.

 

I appealed the PCN on the grounds that:

1. I am disabled, sent copy of blue badge, explained the circs & & under the terms of Equality Act I am entitled to use the facilities provided under the Act withor without displaying a blue badge and requested them to consider the short time not displayed (They say it was observed for 5 minutes) as a reasonable adjustment.

2. Their signage at the site is inadequate, contradictory and doesn’t comply with BPA terms.

3. The fact that they claim to be members of BPA is a breach of Consumer Protection against under trading regs 2008 (Schedule 1) & as such any alleged contract was invalid.

The appeal was rejected on the grounds that they have photo’s showing the  car not displaying a badge so was issued correctly. They denied any wrongdoing re Equality Act.

They said I now had only 2 choices, to pay or appeal to IPC.

 

Here I have to apologise because I did not check MSE site for advice as I thought I had a slam dunk case under consumer regs as this had been confirmed by CAB who referred it to trading standards. So I appealed

I mentioned the case of Excel V Greenwood  & also the Beavis decision, at 107,

I produced an E mail from BPA stating Parkwatch were not members.

Parkwatch produced stock copies of photographs to evidence the signage which are totally out of date, incorrect and inaccurate together with a partial, AuthorityAgreement issued by Savills (UK) ltd to Parkwatch  for a period of 36 months from the start date (it is undated) but it also says that they require them to keep to the BPA codes of practice & says any changes will only be effective when a written agreement confirms adjustments. (I have e mailed Savills for a copy of the agreement but again have had no response)

 

Obviously the appeal was again rejected. The adjudicator fully accepted the Operators evidence re signage. They claimed they had no evidence of operator not being in BPA, despite copy of e-mail, so they were not satisfied “but in any event the operator is a member of IPC which is made clear on the signs”

This is totally untrue, there is no mention anywhere in the evidence of them displaying any logo or claim to be members of IPC and this has been completely made up. They go on to say “If the claim is true, and the operator had not updated their signs it would have no bearing on the lawfulness of the charge”

They go on to say that that they are not satisfied re the signage and at the place the vehicle was parked and basically say that as I parked there it is my fault then threw Beavis back at me saying the charge is appropriate.

IPC have then said I have 7 days to pay (Already 3 days in).

What is my legal position re Consumer Protection & Equality Act  etc.

I know Parkwatch will now chase this up through debt collectors, what should I do.

As this is a free car park pretty much the only tickets they can issue is for these type of offences and the seem to me to be targeting disabled people.

I am not sure either if this is a breach of Consumer regs could it invalidate ALL tickets issued on that site since May.

 

I’m rambling now so I’m going to stop.  .

 

I

Coupon-mad

IPC firms do not have to be BPA members, so that point needs dropping entirely.

Email Savills and tell them the appeals service operated by Parkwatch is a farce and that Savills are liable for the actions of their agent.

As such, Savills are in breach of the Equality Act 2010 because their agent knows you are disabled, has seen the Blue Badge (copy attached as proof) and this case is on all fours with Excel v Greenwood where a driver initially forgot to display the Blue Badge, but it was produced in his appeal and ignored.  This was a clear 'failure to make a reasonable adjustment'.

Tell Savills what you want them to do about this continuing harassment of a disabled shopper.  Tell them your family are boycotting the retail park and are scared of being sued.  Tell them you know Savills can step in and cancel a PCN.

If you are up for being filmed for on a respected investigative TV show which might see this cancelled this week,  send me a pm by clicking on my username and I will give you the researcher's email address.  They want some case studies but you have to be quick.

Retired70

Thank you so much for your help. I will e mail Sevilla’s immediately although they haven’t responded to my previous e mail yet.

KeithP

This is a post the OP made elsewhere telling us about the success...

Retired70 said:

I got a ticket in October for “parking in a disabled bay without displaying a blue badge” 
I accept that this was the case for a very short period, my wife had it in her bag & was already in the shops. I retrieved it & displayed it ( total time without displaying about 10-15 mins) . Then received a PCN in the post a week later . The shopping centre is owned by Tesco but managed by Savills. I first contacted Tesco store who directed me to centre management. They directed me to Park Watch .Appealed to park watch ,rejected, E mailed to centre manager Peter Hardingham, no response. Appealed to IPC ((IAS) again rejected out of hand.  E mailed Savills  again ,no response by e mail or on their website contact page.

On advise of Coupon-mad ,wrote to both Park Watch & Savills explaining that although issue of PCN not breach of Equality Act as they couldn’t reasonably known at the time I was disabled the decision to enforce the “fine” could have triggered the duty to provide a reasonable adjustment (which is unlawful) ( also  mentioned  Excel V Greenwood) 
Park Watch rejected everything . Again Savills failed to respond.
Contacted Savills (West Midlands) & got the name of Director Nigel Lea . E mailed him & suddenly got an e mail from Peter Hardingham,who I had contacted 3 months earlier without response, cancelling ticket.
I nearly gave up ,and paid,several times particularly when Savills kept failing to engage but obviously I was not being directed to anyone who could address this,once I got the right person it was dealt with very quickly although it was a bit Ironic that the person who ignored my complaint 3 months earlier was the one who finally cancelled the ticket.

Many thanks to Coupn -Mad who guided,advised & supported throughout.

Healthworker

I have just received a debt collection demand from Arena Park for £170 demanding immediate payment or they will go to court.
i received no prior notification from Premier Park Ltd or any proof of infringement.
The demand came through in a plain envelope so it appeared to be junk mail. This appears to be a deliberate tactic.

I have tried to contact Premier Park limited via Parkwatch email - no reply.
I have tried to call the debt collector - got through and they put the phone down. Tried again and put on permanent hold. Requested call back and nothing. Again this appears to be a deliberate tactic.

I have tried to contact centre management by emailing Peter Hardlingham - no reply
I have tried to contact Savills by calling Nigel Lea - left a voicemail and sent several emails - no reply
I have tried to appeal to Tesco saying to them I am scared to ever park and use one of their stores ever again - no reply

I suffer with long term illness and also anxiety and depression. This is causing me extreme distress. On the day the alleged infringement took place I recall I was taken ill in my car at Arena Park due to long term illness. I have told them all this.
I do not know what to do and I am so worried and upset. I cannot afford £170 and they threatening to add to it

patient_dream

Healthworker said:

I have just received a debt collection demand from Arena Park for £170 demanding immediate payment or they will go to court.
i received no prior notification from Premier Park Ltd or any proof of infringement.
The demand came through in a plain envelope so it appeared to be junk mail. This appears to be a deliberate tactic.

I have tried to contact Premier Park limited via Parkwatch email - no reply.
I have tried to call the debt collector - got through and they put the phone down. Tried again and put on permanent hold. Requested call back and nothing. Again this appears to be a deliberate tactic.

I have tried to contact centre management by emailing Peter Hardlingham - no reply
I have tried to contact Savills by calling Nigel Lea - left a voicemail and sent several emails - no reply
I have tried to appeal to Tesco saying to them I am scared to ever park and use one of their stores ever again - no reply

I suffer with long term illness and also anxiety and depression. This is causing me extreme distress. On the day the alleged infringement took place I recall I was taken ill in my car at Arena Park due to long term illness. I have told them all this.
I do not know what to do and I am so worried and upset. I cannot afford £170 and they threatening to add to it

Hi, of course we can help but this is not your thread.  Please start your own thread and simply copy and paste your post to your own dedicated thread

And please name the debt collector