UKPC penalty: blue badge holder charging electric car

lou73798

Hi
I would be very grateful if anyone could help me with a quick run through of what I need to do in order to submit a defence to the court regarding this parking charge. I am aware of the FAQ's, etc., for newbies but I found it too confusing due to my inability to focus/short concentration span. I also have issues using technology due to various disabilities, which is the main reason why I only have a few days left to submit my defence (I think). 
 The first letter that I had from UKPC stated that the only way to appeal was in writing and so I sent a letter which I had no response to. I can't find the original UKPC notice so I assume that I put this into the envelope with the appeal letter as that's the kind of stupid  thing that I would do. I have great difficulty keeping track of things and huge accessibility issues, especially concerning technology and telephone calls and so these subsequent letters have been forgotten/not acted upon. I filed an acknowledgment of service on 18/10/24 but I am unsure of what I need to do now.....

lou73798

I have written this..... Is this all I need to write/add/change on the defence template provided on this forum?

3. The Defendant is a Blue Badge holder and the registered keeper and driver of the Disabled Class vehicle in question, which the Defendant leases from the Government’s Motability Scheme. The vehicle is fully electric and the Defendant relies on public charging points in order to charge this vehicle. These public chargers at present are not as widespread in sufficient numbers to enable the guaranteed availability and convenience of a charging point when and where needed and therefore it is necessary to locate the nearest charging point and detour a journey to go via that charging point. Although there are improvements being made to the infrastructure surrounding public electric vehicle charging availability the Defendant encounters issues frequently, especially on long journeys. If the battery has very low power it can take between 50 minutes to several hours to charge back up, depending upon the type/speed of charger used. The Defendant’s view is that the Instavolt charging point located at McDonald’s Castle Bridge was not obviously part of the car park for the McDonald’s restaurant and there were no obvious signs beside the charging bays or in their vicinity. At 11:15:23 on 04/05/2024 the Defendant’s vehicle began charging from Instavolt’s charging point and was fully charged at approximately 12:21, upon which the Defendant would have had to exit the vehicle, unplug the charging cable, replace the Instavolt plug/cable into the charging point’s port, replace the two plug socket caps into the vehicle’s charging plug socket, close the cover and get back into the vehicle before preparing to start and drive the vehicle. This process requires a reasonable adjustment as per Section 29 of the Equality Act 2010 as the Defendant has protected characteristics relating to a disability within the meaning of Section 6 of the Equality Act 2010. Once having charged their vehicle, the Defendant proceeded to drive to the McDonald’s in order to use the facilities and purchase food and drink after spending a long period in their vehicle whilst it was charging. It was necessary for the Defendant to wait until their vehicle was charged before driving their vehicle to a disabled parking bay outside the restaurant in order to access the toilets and services because of the distance from the Instavolt charging point’s bay to the McDonald’s’ car park, alongside the lack of any accessible pedestrian route from the location of the Instavolt charging bay, going across a road and then through the vehicular access for the actual car park to get to the entrance of the restaurant.  

It is averred that the Defendant has an absolute defence under the Equality Act 2010 as the Defendant has a disability within the meaning of Section 6 of the Equality Act 2010 and therefore, in all the circumstances, the Claimant’s conduct amounts to indirect discrimination within the meaning of Section 19, 20 and 29 of the Equality Act 2010 and/or discrimination arising from disability within the meaning of Section 15 of the Equality Act 2010. 

Keep_pedalling

I will leave dealing with the parking charge to the experts, but for future reference you should never need to use a rapid charger for in excess of an hour because you should be limiting charging to 80%. This is for a number of reasons unrelated to getting a parking charge. 

First off charging rates rapidly decrease once you are over 80% so getting that last 20% can take a lot longer than getting to 80%, and doing this on a regular basis does not help with battery longevity. This is why on a long journey 2 stops to charge to 80% will get you to your destination faster than one stop to 100%

More importantly while you are charging from 80-100% someone else could be charging from 20-80% so you are hogging the charger and annoying other EV drivers. 

RogerPensionGuy

To the Opening Poster. 

Can you just confirm why this charge was issued. 

Maybe a brief on the rules for using that bay?

Plus how did you use the bay on that occasion?

Half_way

Was the vehicle parked, or was it being refuelled?

what do the signs say on/in the area and  by the chargers

Gr1pr

UKPC don't issue Penalty notices, the original missing invoice was a Parking Charge Notice 

That paragraph 3 is more like an explanation, a witness statement, a story 

Most of it should be removed and instead it can and should be used in your Witness statement bundle in several months time 

Concentrate on a short concise paragraph 3 that states that the electric vehicle was legitimately recharging at a dedicated Instavolt charging bay, that the disabled driver is subject to the Equality Act 2010 and reasonable adjustments should have been made in regards to all aspects in the case

LDast

It's UKPC and DCB Legal. Para 3 need only be something along the lines of:

The vehicle was not parked. It was being recharged at an Instavolt charging point.

That's all you need for a claim from this verminous duo. It will be discontinued next year. End of!

lou73798

Keep_pedalling said:

I will leave dealing with the parking charge to the experts, but for future reference you should never need to use a rapid charger for in excess of an hour because you should be limiting charging to 80%. This is for a number of reasons unrelated to getting a parking charge. 

First off charging rates rapidly decrease once you are over 80% so getting that last 20% can take a lot longer than getting to 80%, and doing this on a regular basis does not help with battery longevity. This is why on a long journey 2 stops to charge to 80% will get you to your destination faster than one stop to 100%

More importantly while you are charging from 80-100% someone else could be charging from 20-80% so you are hogging the charger and annoying other EV drivers. 

Hiya, thanks for the comment/advice.... I normally only charge to 80% due to the reasons that you have stated. There were no other people waiting and there was a second charge point which remained unused the whole time I was there! Inconsiderate charger users really p*ss me off!!!!

lou73798

RogerPensionGuy said:

To the Opening Poster. 

Can you just confirm why this charge was issued. 

Maybe a brief on the rules for using that bay?

Plus how did you use the bay on that occasion?

Hiya, the charge was issued as an overstaying of time, which was stated as 90 minutes on signs for the McDonalds car park. The charging bay was separate from the car park with no obvious signs stating restrictions. I used the bay as a consumer purchasing electricity from the EV charge point.
Thanks

Half_way

There are lots of issues surrounding EV charging areas in car parks infested with parking companies (PPCs)

 If the vehicle is being refuelled (albeit with electricity as a fuel and not a liquid or gas fuel)  then it can be argued that it is not  "parked"

Signage - sometimes the signs may say something along the lines of EV charging only and/or no parking. If the signage around the EV bay contradicts the PPC signs, then there is a question of what signage takes precedent, usually its the one that offers the best terms to the consumer

Who's area is it? the EV company mat lease the land ( ie bays) from someone, so to enter the EV charging area ( bays) first you enter the car park infested with the PPC then exit the car park to enter the EV charging area - once the vehicle is done in the EV charging bay it then leaves the EV companies area, re-enters the car park infested by the PPC and then leaves.

Ponsienella2

Most of your response is superfluous information. Your defence is essentially that you were charging your electric vehicle and there were no signs advising you had to pay parking fees in order to charge your vehicle.