Disabled driver parking ticket - reduced as 'goodwill'. Don't want to pay it.

Andi71

Hi all, looking for advice as follows:

Disabled driver - badge displayed.

Parked in hospital car park where disabled drivers are exempt from paying for parking.

Car was registered with parking firm for exemption for years with no issue.

They had recently changed the rules whereas disabled drivers had to scan the barcode on the disabled badge at the payment machine to get free parking.

I was not aware of this change so did not do this.

Got parking ticket. Appealed as above.

They said they'd reduce the penalty to £20 as 'goodwill'.

Do I have to pay this as they have incurred no loss and the ticket should just have been cancelled in my opinion?

Many thanks.

Umkomaas

Which parking firm?

Have you contacted the hospital’s PALS team, explain the situation and ask them to help.

Car1980

They had recently changed the rules whereas disabled drivers had to scan the barcode on the disabled badge at the payment machine to get free parking.

Has this new rule been communicated with new signage?

Andi71

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82089542#Comment_82089542

Thanks for your response. Yes, PALs won't get involved. They said I had to go through the appeals process.

Andi71

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82089644#Comment_82089644

Thanks for your response. Not sure about signage. Never looked for it as had no reason to. It was only when I got the parking ticket that I googled it and saw rules had changed, as they put the reason on the ticket.

Before a photo was taken of vehicles on entry and you put your registration into pay, so if you didn't the system would issue a ticket. Vehicles with disabled badges were registered on the system so they wouldn't get a ticket as exempt so never needed to check signage or go to a pay point.

Just wanted to know if they would have a legal leg to stand on to make it worthy of taking me to court for £20 when they've not had any loss and I was exempt from paying for parking under their rules anyway.

Coupon-mad

They wouldn't take you to court for £20, that's a blink-and-you-miss-it bribe. After 14 days it reverts to £100 and later they'll sue you for about £250…

…BUT YOU DO NOT PAY THIS.

There will never be a court hearing.

You must have already appealed it to have been offered the unlawful £20 settlement. Unlawful/illegal because traders cannot charge disabled people anything for using an accessible bay. It's your legal right under the Equality Act 2010 to use an accessible bay and not to be harassed for doing so.

They can't legally charge disabled people a penny for using an accessible bay and it is also probably illegal (a data protection breach) for them to have a system that 'scans' and processes the data on Blue Badge barcodes because it is health-related data identifying you, and this system puts an unfair burden on people like you to take 'extra steps'.

Not OK under the Equality Act 2010.

Not OK under the DUA Act 2025 either because they are processing 'health related data' without the double justification needed in Articles 6 and 9 of UKGDPR.

Especially as the signs about this change weren't in-your-face conspicuous at each and every accessible bay. This is an onerous term and it required really prominent extra signage.

Are you going back soon? Get photos of:

• the entrance signs and wider view you see as you approach them;
• the signs at the accessible bays
• other t&cs signs not near those bays
• the Blue Badge scanner machine.

Which parking firm?

What date is on the rejection letter?

DO NOT PAY.

GrannyKate

Which hospital is this?

James_Poisson

This is a "Material Change" and is covered in the joint COP, they should not have issued a PCN in this instance, it would be perfectly acceptable to send just a notification to you if they were truly "managing" the car park instead of scamming people purely for profit:

3.4. Material changes – notices

Where there is any material change to any pre-existing terms and conditions that would not
be immediately apparent to a driver entering controlled land that is or has been open for
public parking, the parking operator must place additional (temporary) notices at the site
entrance for a period of not less than 4 months from the date of the change making it clear
that new terms and conditions/charges apply, such that regular visitors who might be
familiar with the old terms do not inadvertently incur parking charges.

NOTE: Examples of material changes can include introduction of parking enforcement
where none has previously applied, introduction of time-limited free parking, or reductions
in the time limit within which free parking is available. Given the need to avoid confusion
and clutter at entrances the test is whether the fact that a change has been made is clearly
signalled to drivers on entering the land and the nature of the change is clearly displayed
thereafter – it may also be necessary to install repeater notices depending on the scale of
the premises.