Claim form received - allegedly failed to display blue badge when parked in a disabled bay

nayfeee

Last year a ticket was received from UKPC for parking in a disabled bay without displaying a blue badge. They are correct and the blue badge was not displayed.

As a blue badge holder, I contacted UKPC and informed them with proof that I do hold a blue badge and I asked if they would consider dropping the charge.

They offered to reduce the charge to £20, and to avoid any further headache, I decided to pay it. When I attempted to pay through the online portal, the charge had not been reduced and it would only allow me to pay the full amount.

It was literally impossible to contact them. You can't phone them and speak to a human. I sent multiple emails and received no reply. I sent a letter, explaining the situation to them and asked informed them that I'd consider the matter closed if I didn't hear back from them within 14 days.

Last week I received a claim form for the full amount + costs from DCB legal.

I'm happy to pay the charge at the reduced sum of £20, as I felt this was fair. I messed up and forgot to put my blue badge on the dash.

However, considering the fact that they offered to reduce to £20, didn't apply this reduction to the charge when I attempted to pay and gave me no way to contact them, I'm not going to quietly agree to be £250+ out of pocket.

I want to complete the forms and get them sent back ASAP as I know what I'm like, and I know I'll forget it if I wait any longer. However, do I have to provide income and circumstance details if I'm not asking for time to pay? I'm not admitting to a part of the claim for financial reasons, I'm admitting to part of the claim that was offered by UKPC. I would be happy to pay the £20 immediately and without delay.

It may seem petty, but I'd rather not provide any information that I don't have to legally give them.

Thanks in advance for any help.
C

Gr1pr

As a blue badge holder then I assume that you qualified for reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010. ?

So not displaying the badge is one aspect, but the law possibly trumps their blue permit rule

You have zero chance with a £20 offer, so we advise that you contest in full, it is likely to be discontinued anyway at some point 

Do not fill any forms in, no paperwork needs to be done, not these days 

Post a redacted picture of the claim form, obscuring the reference number, your name and address, your VRM details, plus redact the password on the right too 

Then wait for further advice 

nayfeee

Gr1pr said:

As a blue badge holder then I assume that you qualified for reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010. ?

So not displaying the badge is one aspect, but the law possibly trumps their blue permit rule

You have zero chance with a £20 offer, so we advise that you contest in full, it is likely to be discontinued anyway at some point 

Do not fill any forms in, no paperwork needs to be done, not these days 

Post a redacted picture of the claim form, obscuring the reference number, your name and address, your VRM details, plus redact the password on the right too 

Then wait for further advice 

Thank you, here's the form. I'll be honest, I'm not sure what reasonable adjustments I'd be entitled to that would help. I do have a lifelong mobility condition.

Gr1pr

but you could easily google the Equality Act 2010 that you qualify under with your long term condition, , its obvious that if you have a mobility issue and have a blue badge then you must meet the conditions under the act and in theory UKPC should have made allowances by dropping the claim invoice as soon as they were made aware of the existence of your disability, as proven with your blue badge

meanwhile, login to MCOL using that password and complete the AOS online , that way you get longer to draft a suitable defence against that court claim , with help from this forum

read the NEWBIES FAQ sticky thread and also the template defence thread in announcements near the top of the forum, above this thread of yours, guidance is in there for you, please study them

you should know that it costs UKPC £35 to proceed with the claim so your £20 offer would never be accepted, hence my advice on contesting all of it, plus they added non existent debt collection fees to the claim too

KeithP

With a Claim Issue Date of 16th April, you have until Tuesday 7th May to file an Acknowledgment of Service but there is nothing to be gained by delaying it. 

To file an Acknowledgment of Service, follow the guidance in the Dropbox file linked from the second post in the NEWBIES thread.

Having filed an Acknowledgment of Service in a timely manner, you have until 4pm on Monday 20th May 2024 to file your Defence.

That's over three weeks away. Plenty of time to produce a Defence, but please don't leave it to the last minute. 

To create a Defence, and then file a Defence by email, look again at the second post on the NEWBIES thread - immediately following where you found the Acknowledgment of Service guidance.

Don't miss the deadline for filing an Acknowledgment of Service, nor that for filing a Defence.

Do not try and file a Defence via the MoneyClaimOnline website. Once an Acknowledgment of Service has been filed, the MCOL website should be treated as 'read only'.

Coupon-mad

DO NOT ADMIT ANY OF THE CLAIM.

Nononononono and more no!

You are defending in full.

You owe nothing.

Brie

nayfeee said:

Gr1pr said:

As a blue badge holder then I assume that you qualified for reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010. ?

So not displaying the badge is one aspect, but the law possibly trumps their blue permit rule


Thank you, here's the form. I'll be honest, I'm not sure what reasonable adjustments I'd be entitled to that would help. I do have a lifelong mobility condition.

Reasonable adjustments are things that are put in place to level the playing field between those we consider able bodied and those that are not.  So if a lack of mobility is your particular issue RAs would include things such as allowing more time to get to and from a shop, needing more time to do your shopping, even things like needing assistance because you are not able to pick up your badge if you had dropped it on the floor of the car.  Personally I wouldn't get hung up on these things at this point.  The fact that you have a blue badge should be all the proof of anything you need in this regard.  

nayfeee

Just wanted to reply and thank you all for your assistance. I have already submitted my defence using the template provided.

I did read on another thread that complaining to the landowner and claimant/solicitor was recommended even after receiving a claim form. Is that advice still current or is it best to leave it with the court now?

Coupon-mad

Nothing to lose by asking, and pointing out to the landowner that they are liable for the actions of their agents, which is disability discrimination because UKPC knew about your disability when you appealed:

As a blue badge holder, I contacted UKPC and informed them with proof that I do hold a blue badge and I asked if they would consider dropping the charge.

They offered to reduce the charge to £20, and to avoid any further headache, I decided to pay it. When I attempted to pay through the online portal, the charge had not been reduced and it would only allow me to pay the full amount.
It was literally impossible to contact them.

Because you tried to appeal but they made you what appears to be a false promise (so your appeal failed to resolve the issue) please do this:

Earn yourself a genuine £60 and help regulate the parking industry.  This is official Government research and MSE Towers has agreed I can share it...

Short notice but do the survey now (and then a short & friendly video call next week) to tell the Government's consultancy outsourced firm your experience of 'appealing' and just getting false promises and them being sued:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6528490/official-dluhc-paid-research-have-you-ever-appealed-a-parking-charge-notice#latest

URGENT - help us push the regulation of the parking industry and new appeals service over the line.  There should be appeal (ADR) available at ALL stages to keep cases out of court.  Your experience would be useful for the research.

This research needs responses from a diverse mix of real people.

nayfeee

Signed up! Thank you

Coupon-mad

Great!

Please can you edit your thread title as it's no longer relevant & is really confusing to see!