UKPC – Screwfix Chadwell Heath – disabled bay / Blue Badge not displayed

XcelestialX

Hi all,

Back again for some advice before appealing this one!

Received a postal NTK from UKPC for Screwfix Chadwell Heath:

Parking date: 06/08/26
NTK dated: 12/08/26
Reason: Parked in a designated disabled person's parking place without displaying a valid disabled person's badge
Charge: £100 (£60 discounted)

Nothing was placed on the windscreen.

The vehicle was there for less than 4 minutes while a pre-ordered Screwfix item was being collected.

There was a genuine Blue Badge holder travelling in the vehicle and the valid badge was actually in the car, but unfortunately it wasn't displayed on the dashboard at the time.

I have the Screwfix order/invoice and can also provide proof that the Blue Badge was valid on the date.

I've looked at UKPC's online evidence. There are 6 handheld photos, with the first at 14:37:38 and the last at 14:37:58, so their entire photo sequence is only around 20 seconds. The NTK itself gives the alleged breach time as 14:38:01.

Their sign does state that a valid disabled badge must be clearly displayed at all times, so I'm not trying to argue that it was displayed when it wasn't.

Plan A is to complain directly to Screwfix/landowner with the order evidence and proof of the valid Blue Badge and ask them to get UKPC to cancel it.

Before sending anything to UKPC though, I'd appreciate the regulars' thoughts on a couple of things:

1) Anything worth looking at on the POFA side? The postal NTK only gives a single time of 14:38:01, rather than what I'd understand to be a "period of parking". Is that of any use or am I barking up the wrong tree?

2) Is UKPC's roughly 20-second observation/photo sequence relevant at all here? I realise the usual consideration/grace period argument may not apply in the same way to a disabled bay, so don't want to rely on a duff argument.

3) Given that a genuine valid Blue Badge holder was travelling in the vehicle and the badge was actually present in the car, would you include the redacted Blue Badge evidence with the initial UKPC appeal, or concentrate on getting Screwfix/landowner to cancel first?

4) If Plan A doesn't get it cancelled, would you just use the current NEWBIES keeper appeal for UKPC or include the above circumstances as well?

Driver has not been identified to UKPC.

Happy to upload a redacted copy of the NTK and UKPC evidence if anyone needs to see the exact wording/signage.

Thanks all.

Coupon-mad

20 seconds is predatory and a scam, specifically:

• having a warden on foot but 'choosing' not to affix a windscreen PCN in disabled bays is also a scam: not a timely consumer notice (CRA 2015 breach) and
• using the photos to run straight to the DVLA as a 'first resort' breaches the ICO rules about body-worn (hand held phone) surveillance. Getting DVLA data should be 'last resort', and
• given that the ticketer would have been lurking very near and has undoubtedly seen the passenger (and should have stopped them to kindly remind them to "display the Blue Badge please"), there was a failure to mitigate the loss, and
• given the fact the ticketer saw the passenger, yet disingenuously chose to sneakily get DVLA data immediately without affixing a fair and timely PCN to the windscreen (which would be the correct process for accessible bays and avoids data harvesting altogether) could also breach the DUA Act 2025 . This is because the data could very likely (knowingly) be that of a Blue Badge holder. That makes it 'special category data' which - unlike other data - must have a 'double justification' legal basis under articles 6 and 9 of UK GDPR. No parking firm can concoct that double justification so they should never have gone straight for DVLA data, and
• 20 seconds is clearly not an adequate time allowance for observation because the driver cannot have read the terms in that time. So they are not bound by the sign (contract). Even in an accessible bay there must be a fair time allowed for the driver to realise either "oh wait, this is a disabled bay, …eek I will move!" or "hang on Marjorie, did you put your Blue Badge on the dashboard?"

"I've looked at UKPC's online evidence. There are 6 handheld photos, with the first at 14:37:38 and the last at 14:37:58, so their entire photo sequence is only around 20 seconds. The NTK itself gives the alleged breach time as 14:38:01."

Please screenshot those images and zoom in and screenshot those times as well.

And screenshot their pic of the sign.

Show us those screenshots please.

XcelestialX

Thanks CM, really appreciate the detailed reply.

Just to clarify before I upload the screenshots - I deliberately shifted the dates/times slightly in my opening post for privacy, just in case UKPC monitor these public threads and could easily match it to their records.

I kept all the intervals exactly the same though. The actual UKPC photo sequence is still exactly 20 seconds from the first to last photo, and 23 seconds from the first photo to the time stated on the NTK.

I'll leave the original timestamps untouched in the screenshots below and have only redacted the VRM.

The actual sequence is:

• 13:47:38 - first wide photograph
• 13:47:40 - second wide photograph
• 13:47:43 - windscreen photograph
• 13:47:46 - close windscreen photograph
• 13:47:55 - rear photograph
• 13:47:58 - photograph of the UKPC sign

The NTK then states the alleged breach time as 13:48:01.

So first vehicle photo to sign photo = 20 seconds, and first vehicle photo to the NTK time = 23 seconds.

Screenshots below.

A-134738 - first wide photograph.jpg

B-134740 - second wide photograph.jpg

C-134743 - windscreen photograph.jpg

D-134746 - close windscreen photograph.jpg

E-134755 - rear photograph.jpg

F-134758 - photograph of the UKPC sign.jpg

James_Poisson

That space could be for anything at all there are no signs denoting it as a disabled space that can be seen, no ground markings are visible, and that sign they have photographed is too high to be read from a vehicle which contravenes the joint COP.

4.1.1 The parking operator must ensure that at least one sign containing the terms and
conditions for parking can be viewed without the driver needing to leave the
vehicle.

A blue badge is only accepted on private land as a help to the operator it isn't supplied for private land and in theory by the spirit of the appeal process retrospectively evidencing it in an appeal should effect cancellation, but that is where the scammers revert from parking management and morph into a company with a commercial contract to reject.

patient_dream

Please do follow CM's advice, this is certainly one for the DVLA.

It seems UKPC are back to their dirty tricks again.

The DVLA banned UKPC a few years ago for timestamp issues

Going back in time, UKPC produced a training video explaining how their goons could earn commission. Sounds like the goon who took those pictures is on commission

James_Poisson

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82105422#Comment_82105422

Well remembered @patient_dream the old secret "profit centre" presentation was a way around the incentivised bonus ban:

Each attendant is responsible for his costs (uniform, vehicle, fuel, wages, equipment, stationery) set against income from PCNS that are successfully paid, which is just pressure to get as many PCN's as possible or you are in trouble!