UKPC PCN - Parking in a disabled space without a blue badge (but with a disability)

mercuteio

Good afternoon, all - it's been some time, and I hope you are all keeping well.

Thought I would just run a quick appeal past you all if possible. Someone in my household, driving my car, received a PCN in a large shopping centre nearby where we live operated by UKPC on 21st May. If I understood correctly from them, they mistook a disabled space for a parent and child parking space which is probably due to a certain element of baby brain (they were with a 4-month-old child at the time, and sleep is a current rarity). However, as it so happens, they also have a disability under the Equality Act 2010, although they do not have a blue badge -  we have a recent letter from the hospital demonstrating that they required hospital treatment for the condition just a couple of weeks before this PCN was issued due to the severity of symptoms and impact on normal daily life. So far as I am concerned, this is probably the most straightforward argument to get this PCN squished. 

They tried to ring the shopping centre who told them something that didn't quite make sense to me - that is, that had they called the shopping centre's customer services beforehand they would have offered a few specific spaces for people with disabilities for whom a blue badge is not required, but that because UKPC have now issued a PCN, there is nothing they can do about it at this point, except advise an appeal. This, to me, is utterly absurd, and I suspect that if I write to them directly quoting the Equality Act 2010 then they may override the previous advice and cancel the PCN. However, I figured that I may as well heed their initial advice and formally appeal. It's Day 27 today, so the last date for appeals is tomorrow.

So, the appeal I've written is as follows, and I wondered if I could double check with the good people of this forum whether this seems like it hits the mark. If it gets rejected, then I think the next move will be to write to the shopping centre formally and cite that the Equality Act 2010 has been breached here, and request cancellation on that basis.

Your thoughts would be gratefully received - here's the appeal draft:

Dear Sir,

I am the registered keeper of the vehicle in relation to PCN xxxx (registration xxxx). The reason given by UK Parking Control Ltd for the issuance of this PCN is as follows:

“Parked in a designated disabled person’s parking place without displaying a valid disabled person’s badge”

As you will be aware, the blue badge scheme does not apply on private land, and therefore to require a valid disabled person’s badge in order to park in a space designated for people with a disability has no lawful basis. In this circumstance, disability is defined by the Equality Act 2010, not the blue badge scheme, or any other disabled person’s badge.

According to the Equality Act 2010 (link provided below), a person is considered to be disabled if they "have a physical or mental impairment that has a ’substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities”

Under the Equality Act 2010, the driver of the vehicle at the time this PCN was issued had a disability, and had a right to park in the disabled person’s parking space, irrespective of whether a disabled person’s badge was displayed or not. Indeed, given that the blue badge scheme does not apply on private land, this cannot and should not be a requirement to indicate disability in the first instance.

I have provided a recent hospital letter that was written on <date>, shortly before the issuance of this PCN, to evidence the disability in question. Most of the details of the hospital letter are redacted, as they are highly sensitive and are not relevant to this case, but I have left both the diagnosis and the treatment plan unredacted to demonstrate that this is a long-standing inflammatory arthritis which has recently required a steroid injection due to the substantial impact of the condition on normal daily activities. As such, the driver comfortably falls within the definition of having a disability according to the Equality Act 2010. I have left the address unredacted, to confirm that the address on the letter matches the address that the vehicle is registered to. 

To summarise, there is no legal basis to insist upon a disabled person’s badge in order to verify a disability, but the driver in question does have a disability under the Equality Act 2010, and this is evidenced in the attached letter. The driver therefore correctly parked in a designated disabled person’s parking place, and now that evidence has been provided of their disability, this PCN should be cancelled with immediate effect.

Please note that to pursue a PCN regarding parking in a disabled person’s parking place in light of proof of disability constitutes indirect discrimination, and will be pursued as such.

Yours faithfully,

Quick note to forumites: I've redacted pretty much everything in the hospital letter, including the name (as I don't wish to disclose this and don't wish the driver to be pursued), but have included the diagnosis, evidence that treatment was needed at the time, and the address, which matches the address of the registered keeper, i.e. me