Letter Before Claim / BLUE BADGE. H E L P.

samnotsam21

Hi all,

I’m new here so apologies if this isn’t the right place.

I received two private parking tickets dated 23/05/2022 and 29/05/2022 for parking in a disabled bay without displaying a Blue Badge. I’ve now been sent a Letter Before Claim.

I am a genuine wheelchair user and drive an adapted notability vehicle. A few weeks before these dates my Blue Badge slipped down behind the dashboard and became stuck. Retrieving it requires a VW appointment to strip part of the dash, which couldn’t be done straight away. I regularly park here and normally display my badge as I can’t walk and my car requires space for ramp etc.

Staff at the Flannels store said it was fine to park there, and I wasn’t abusing the bay — I physically need disabled parking. I’m now being asked to pay £170 x 2, which feels completely unreasonable.

I’m not lying or trying to avoid anything — I am genuinely disabled and require the bay.

Has anyone dealt with something similar or can advise what I should do next at Letter Before Claim stage?

Aylesbury_Duck

You'd be better off posting on the parking board.  I presume you had prior correspondence before it got to this stage?  What happened, did you ignore it or did you try appealing unsuccessfully?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

OP, have requested this be moved to parking:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/parking-tickets-fines-parking

Admin are usually pretty quick  

jon81uk

As above you will be better asking the parking board. Parking tickets, fines & parking — MoneySavingExpert Forum

But if the sign states you must display a blue badge in that space and you were not, then the parking company will want to try and charge you. The store staff won't work for the parking company.

dnpark38

I'm surprised you did not put a short note visible for the parking attendant to read.
When renewing in my area we do this when renewal as been done because it takes council 6 months to process renewals.

Coupon-mad

samnotsam21 said:

Hi all,

I’m new here so apologies if this isn’t the right place.

I received two private parking tickets dated 23/05/2022 and 29/05/2022 for parking in a disabled bay without displaying a Blue Badge. I’ve now been sent a Letter Before Claim.

I am a genuine wheelchair user and drive an adapted notability vehicle. A few weeks before these dates my Blue Badge slipped down behind the dashboard and became stuck. Retrieving it requires a VW appointment to strip part of the dash, which couldn’t be done straight away. I regularly park here and normally display my badge as I can’t walk and my car requires space for ramp etc.

Staff at the Flannels store said it was fine to park there, and I wasn’t abusing the bay — I physically need disabled parking. I’m now being asked to pay £170 x 2, which feels completely unreasonable.

I’m not lying or trying to avoid anything — I am genuinely disabled and require the bay.

Has anyone dealt with something similar or can advise what I should do next at Letter Before Claim stage?

In your case I would email the solicitors and attach a copy of your Blue badge, and evidence you are a wheelchair user.

Tell them of the difficulty due to the temporary slipped blue badge that required specialists to retrieve it and that Flannels had made a contractual 'reasonable adjustment' by giving permission to you to park there on account if disability need. The Equality Act protects you fully in these circumstances so the parking firm is breaking the law by persisting to demand money for using a bay you had permission and a statutory right to use.

Send the same thing to the retail park managing agents whose name invariably appears at the entrance to retail parks.

Look carefully. Not at the parking firm signs. Take someone with you to look on foot if needed. Email THEM saying their agents are breaching the Equality Act. They can cancel!

Which parking firm?

Which solicitors?

Which retail park & town?

Coupon-mad

dnpark38 said:

I'm surprised you did not put a short note visible for the parking attendant to read.
When renewing in my area we do this when renewal as been done because it takes council 6 months to process renewals.

This is cowboy territory. Private land.

No genuine parking attendants exist and quite possibly, no PCN was affixed to the windscreen. In our loooonnnng experience, private parking firms are not reasonable people and do not read notes or give a flying fox about disabled rights.

dnpark38

Coupon-mad if not checked by a human how do they know no Blue Badge displayed?
My wife holds a blue badge so I would like not to fall into a trap.

Coupon-mad

dnpark38 said:

Coupon-mad if not checked by a human how do they know no Blue Badge displayed?
My wife holds a blue badge so I would like not to fall into a trap.

 I didn't say there wasn't a human. I said there wasn't a genuine parking attendant.

They either took images by covert CCTV, which is more common recently, or a staff member (maybe of a shop) took images and may or may not have affixed windscreen PCNs.

samnotsam21

Hi all,

New poster here so please bear with me.

I’m looking for advice regarding two private parking charges from May 2022 (23/05/22 and 29/05/22) at Fort Shopping Park, Birmingham. I’ve now received two Letters Before Claim from Moorside Legal, each for £170.

The allegation is parking in a disabled bay without displaying a Blue Badge.

I am a full-time wheelchair user and drive an adapted Motability vehicle. I genuinely require disabled bays due to my disability and the space needed for ramp access and transfers. I regularly parked at this site and always normally displayed my Blue Badge.

A few weeks before these dates, my Blue Badge slipped behind the dashboard and became stuck. It couldn’t be retrieved without a VW appointment to strip part of the dash, which couldn’t be done straight away. During this period I still needed to travel and park due to my disability.

I am not abusing disabled bays — I am disabled, use a wheelchair, and the vehicle is adapted accordingly. At the time, staff at the Flannels store said it was fine for me to park there and offered to help carry shopping to the car due to my limitations (no written proof unfortunately).

I did contact the parking company back in 2022 explaining the situation and then heard nothing further until these recent LBCs.

I’m now being asked to pay £340 total, which feels completely unreasonable. I’m not trying to avoid anything — I am genuinely disabled, and even replacing a Blue Badge takes time.

I’d appreciate advice on:

• How best to respond at Letter Before Claim stage
• Whether the Equality Act 2010 applies here (private land, disabled motorist)
• Next steps (SAR / response wording etc.)

Thanks in advance for any help.

knightstyle

You need to read the stickies at the start of this board.   The best way to stop this is to write or email the land owners with pics of your BB, but also make sure you reply to the parking company LBC in good time.  Yes your defence will include reference to the equality act.
Ignore debt collectors and never communicate by phone, always in writing.