Disabled parking overstay.

Retired70

I have read the newbie pages but It doesn’t seem to help me.
My problem is I am disabled ,and in my 70’s so not as quick as I used to be.

i attended our community theatre to watch a show with 2 of my grandchildren in and parked in an Excel run car park. In a disabled bay.The car park stated £4 all day parking at weekends and this was a Sunday however when I went to pay the machine asked me how long I wanted.
The show was 2 hours so I selected 3 to allow me plenty of time to get to and fro. & I was charged £1.50 @ 50p per hour.
The car park ,the theatre,and other building on the site are all owned by the same company XLB property of London.

During the performance the fire alarm on the entire site was activated and we were all evacuated through a rear exit and mustered at a fire point. We were subsequently held there for some time while the activation,which turned out to be in an adjoining building, was checked and we were given the all clear to return . In the interim period we were all held as a captive audience. When the all clear was given the performance continued but was now obviously running late. 

At the end of the performance I returned to my car as quickly as I could and left. I realised the timing was tight but the theatre told me the land owner operated a 15 minute grace period and it didn’t allow me to pay any additional fee, (which ,if I could have ,would have cost me £0.50)

About a week later I went abroad for 2 weeks and on returning home I found a PCN from Excel for overstaying.  The difference between what is shown on my ticket as permitted parking and when they say I left the car park is 13 minutes. Due to not being at home the period for reduced rate payment had already expired. It is an ANPR operated car park that records entry & exit time .

The theatres website said ,although they had no control of the car park they did ,as tennants,have some sway on the land owner,so DO NOT pay but to contact them instead which I did.

Obviously as this was being raised with the owners,I did not reply to Excel  as I thought it would be inappropriate to complain to them if I was going over their head to the owner.
I have now received a further notice from Excel saying the permitted time to appeal has now expired and I have to pay £100 immediately or it will increase to £170.

As I hadn’t heard anything from the theatre I chased it up where I was told that the land owner had refused to change their working practices.
I’m not exactly sure what that means when all I actually requested was for them to:
A, cancel the PCN because the overstay was seriously contributed to by the activation/evacuation of the land owner controlled fire alarm.
or 
B, If they challenged that then to consider the overstay as a reasonable adjustment under the Equality act as my mobility was restricted.

The theatre are in dispute with the landowner re the parking issues as it appears there have been numerous similar instances and they are fully supportive of me fighting this matter.

I’m not sure what to do now, should I contact Excel & explain or write directly to the landowner to explain why they are refusing to allow a reasonable adjustment in the circumstances or do I totally misunderstand the situation and should pay up as I am at fault for overstaying.

I appreciate this is probably confusing ,and I am sure I have missed out loads, but if anyone could advise I would be grateful.

Fruitcake

Escalate your complaints, and include your MP in that effort.

I would in this case try to appeal to Excel and take a screenshot as proof it won't let you.
I would also complain direct to Excel pointing out the events that caused a frustration of contract (fire alarm/evacuation) and a copy of your BB if you have one or proof you have a disability and entitled to reasonable adjustments due to having protected characteristics as determined by the Equality Act 2010.

Make sure to use the words I have highlighted.

I think this will end up being settled in court if the landowner fails to cancel it, so retain copies of all correspondence between all parties, including sending your own emails to yourself. If it arrives back in your inbox, then on the balance of probabilities, Excel will have received it as well. It is not uncommon for some PPCs to say they never received something, which is why I suggest doing the above.

Retired70

Thanks for your help fruitcake, I will get on with that straight away. The theatre are involving the local MP because they have an ongoing problem with the landowner & excel, and I believe they are looking at selling the site.

Retired70

The landowner that is,not the Theatre who are a charity granted access in a notice when the original sale was made by the local council.

Fruitcake

I believe landowners and their land agents (estate agents) are required to report any disputes about the site when selling property. You might want to mention that to the landowner, and post on social media, and contact local/national media about the problems and that the sale price could be adversely affected because of these disputes, especially the illegal activities around the breach of the EA 2010.

Coupon-mad

If this is in the Sheffield area, get David Walsh of the Sheffield Star to write about how Excel have penalised you (a disabled person who needs more time and is legally entitled to it, under the Equality Act 2010) due to being held up a few minutes by a fire alarm evacuation, which must have affected other drivers too.

Retired70

I tried to do the appeal as you suggested and it allowed me to, so I have submitted that using the points and phrases suggested and we’ll see what happens ( Although I won’t hold my breath)
It’s in Coventry but I have been in contact with the theatre who are liaising with our local newspaper and MP to publicise the operating practices of Excel in this car park which is greatly affecting their clientele.

Thanks both for the advice & support. I’ll update when I get a response.

Retired70

Although the system allowed me to make the appeal it has now been rejected as being out of time.
I will now escalate to Excel & landowner ( with copy to MP), again I don’t hold out much hope  but I know I have to follow the process.

Coupon-mad

Retired70 said:

Although the system allowed me to make the appeal it has now been rejected as being out of time.
I will now escalate to Excel & landowner ( with copy to MP), again I don’t hold out much hope  but I know I have to follow the process.

Please show us the letter where Excel said "tough, too late...now we'll sue you".

Retired70

Letter attached (I hope) 

Coupon-mad

Retired70 said:

all I actually requested was for them to:

A, cancel the PCN because the overstay was seriously contributed to by the activation/evacuation of the land owner controlled fire alarm.

or 

B, If they challenged that then to consider the overstay as a reasonable adjustment under the Equality act as my mobility was restricted.

The theatre are in dispute with the landowner re the parking issues as it appears there have been numerous similar instances and they are fully supportive of me fighting this matter.

The theatre are involving the local MP because they have an ongoing problem with the landowner & Excel, and I believe they are looking at selling the site.

Retired70 said:

Letter attached
  

It's a 'pay up or else' letter. The appeals process is a joke.