Home Bargains Cannon Ln, Tonbridge TN9 1PN - PCN from Group Nexus / CP PLUS

hillcats

Hello, I certainly didn't expect to find myself here asking for the best advice… however…

My wife and daughter are both registered disabled and have their own Blue Badges, this is a regular shopping and coffee location for them. On a previous visit to this exact location my vehicle was issued with a parking charge for an overstay due to their disabilties, I appealed directly to the operator Group Nexus / CP Plus Ltd and gave very basic information that more time was needed due to their disability and supplied a copy of BB, they allowed the appeal and cancelled their parking charge notice. thought no more of it…

Recently my daughter has received a parking charge from the same company, I thought this would be no problem as last time, so we drafted a factual appeal (all within their timeframes) on their web portal fully expecting this to be accepted and cancelled.

On the day in question it was my daughter who drove her vehicle to this site, as stated already she is disabled too and has her own BB plus her car is registered with DVLA as taxation of DISABLED.

The pcn was appealed providing a full account that on the day in question advising them that there were three disabled persons at the site / travelling in the vehicle, as the elderly MIL was also with them, she uses a walking frame on wheels to get around at about 1mph and requires frequent stops due to her disability and also her own Blue Badge.

Copies of all THREE blue badges were sent to the operator plus a detailed outline of each persons disabilities advising them that disabilities led to the overstay in the car park by 35mins, due to the speed of the slowest person (the MIL) moving between shops and then around shops etc. It was a shock that Group Nexus / CP Plus actually declined the appeal even with sight of THREE DISABLED BADGES all of the people present that day…

I then thought that this was just greed taking over and the operator just trying to play their game, and that the POPLA appeal would surely see just how ridiculous it was to decline an appeal with three disabled persons visiting a site - WRONG ! POPLA sent a detailed appeal and also DECLINED the appeal… now waiting on the next move…

Car1980

Popla just ignore the Equality Act 2010, even if you did mention it.

A proper court shouldn't.

But CP Plus / Nexus usually discontinue anyway.

Just ignore and come back if you receive a Letter Before Claim from a litigator.

hillcats

Equality Act 2010 was definitely mentioned - thanks Car1980

hillcats

an update to this situation…

I have attempted to make contact with the landowner and outlined the situation hoping to locate someone who could help, await reply - I believe the landowner for this site to be CBRE.

Further I moved on to contact each retailer that we spent money in, these were Home Bargains, Food warehouse and Costa Coffee all so far 'claim' they can do nothing but acknowledge disabled persons, I responded and asked each retailer to escalate internally and await replies… can anyone offer some advice please

Are Group Nexus / CP PLUS really likely to pursue to CC - three disabled people for a 35min overstay, the message being sent out to me is, if you can't shop fast, and depart within time, we don't want your custom as we'll ignore the Equality Act 2010 disabled or not…

how do I prepare for this further, is it just a case of producing same stated written and photgraphic evidence or will I need to know more, (based on some threads I have read but don't understand) as obviously not happy about this situation at all.

Coupon-mad

Just ignore CP Plus/Group Nexus' letters and ignore the DCB Ltd threatograms shown in the pictures of letters to laugh at, in post 4 of NEWBIES PLEASE READ THESE FAQS FIRST.

You'll never end up having to pay this rogue invoice, and no CCJ is risked as long as you don't do something daft like move house and not tell them to erase the old address. But this is all explained in the NEWBIES thread and you actually want the claim from DCB Legal!

You could even counterclaim. 🙂

But while you wait, there is more:

Why not send your evidence to the CMA and ask them to investigate Group Nexus next, as they are currently scrutinising the rogue parking industry?

This was on BBC News and on MSE itself:

MSE article: July 2026

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched a major crackdown on the UK private parking industry, issuing an open warning over unfair appeals, and advising stricter government oversight CMA takes action on private parking practices.

You could also report this service provider to the EHRC and ask for guidance on how to complain because it is clear 'indirect discrimination' to apply the same fixed free parking time to disabled persons as they apply to able bodied shoppers. A formal disability discrimination complaint and warning of a counterclaim should be winging its way to Group Nexus and to their client (whose name surely appears on the landowner agreement in their POPLA evidence…unless you didn't raise landowner authority in your appeal?)

hillcats

I have just posted the POPLA decline in the long thread… that is shocking, have a gander.

hillcats

@coupon-mad - we didn't mention about land owner authority in the appeal..

Would it be beneficial to do a GDPR request to GroupNexus and Popla in preparation of the defence…

Reason I ask is that we can't locate a copy of the very first appeal exact wording made to the parking operator, which was done on their website, although we do know that we mentioned needing more time due to blue badge holder and also sent them a copy of one / more blue badges, they still declined.

Everything was mentioned in more detail to Popla included that there were three disabled persons visiting on the day in question and each with their own badge along with detailed medical issues, of which they actually acknowledged and included in their write up, but still completely dismissed the equality act 2010 and just went on to state that 'time in car park was exceeded' - (see Popla notes in Popla section)

Coupon-mad

No need for a SAR.

In fact, you don't want it. You want to sit on your hands and silently await the poorly pleaded Claim Form, allowing you to use the Chan & Akande version of template defence.