Blue Badge

Lenny55

I had a parking ticket for not displaying my daughters blue badge.
We parked in Asda in Cardiff,we got out of the van and I completely forgot to display the badge
We went into Costa's and just as we sat down we noticed a guy taking photo's of the van
I went out and he said that I wasn't displaying a badge.
I showed him the badge plus my wife brought our daughter out who is in a wheelchair to prove that she was with us.
He said once he sent the pictures off that was that but if could appeal.
I appealed sent photo's off of her badge plus the tax disc says disabled and they turned down the appeal.
As we were parked on private land do I have to pay the fine , or just pay it .
I feel very a grieved as we see people abusing these spaces all the time.

arran77

Sounds very unfortunate to me, like you say plenty take the pi$$ when it comes to parking in these spaces when they shouldn't, I would just ignore the fine, from what I understand as it's private land it's not enforceable, I bet if you Google it there'll be loads of advice.

GiantMike

There is some good advice here: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclai ... ng-tickets

BillyMansell

Also have a look at the Pepipoo website

http://www.pepipoo.com/

zx6man

Unfortunate but you weren't displaying it?

secretsam

Sounds unlucky

I trust you didn't have a go at the meter guy who ticketed you? Never, ever do that!

A very apologetic phone call backed up with a letter from someone at your daughter's school might work wonders - you could try contacting Asda/Costa as well, they won't want to upset anyone, say in any correspondence / phone call that you really value the disabled spaces and that the guy was within his rights, etc etc. Humble pie + sucking up = no ticket

Source: used same tactics myself on a couple of occasions

monkimark

If all else fails, go on their twitter/facebook page (i assume they have both) and explain the situation - their PR team will be falling over themselves to apologise and cancel the fine to avoid the negative publicity.

schlepcycling

Unless it's a council run car park just ignore it as it's not a parking fine it's an invoice which is completely uneforceable.

the playing mantis

Don't pay. Fully and clearly explain the situation and that you proved to the warden that u had simply forgotten and had it to hand. If they keep hassling threaten to report them to the police. They won't take you to caught over it. It's similar to when people forget to get a shop to stamp there ticket when using a store car park. It's private land. I'm bot site of the ins and outs but the expert who writes in the q&a of the Saturday telegraph motoring section always says don't pay or similar in such situations. Given the circumstances of your case, that u actually showed the person the badge at the time and even your daughter, the authorities would be sympathetic if these shysters tried anything on you. Google, honest john telegraph, it should lead you to the online version and myriad old letters and responses about similar stiff, and maybe if you looked on there well enough there might be a case that fits exactly with yours. I m confident the above is applicable to the blue badge scenario.

kajjal

They would be mad to try to enforce it due to the appalling publicity they would get. If the land is owned by Asda contact them and see what they say.

Lenny55

I phoned Asda and they said to get in touch with the people who issued the ticket.
I know I didn't display the badge but me showing the guy and my daughter you would think
that they would be more sympathetic.
They said I have right to appeal but I'm really pissed that they can't see this as a genuine mistake.

Wirral_paul

Lenny55 wrote:

I phoned Asda and they said to get in touch with the people who issued the ticket.
I know I didn't display the badge but me showing the guy and my daughter you would think
that they would be more sympathetic.
They said I have right to appeal but I'm really pissed that they can't see this as a genuine mistake.

I'd be inclined to put it in writing to their Head Office myself, and cc in your local MP (showing this on the bottom of the letter).
So was it a private firm that have issued the ticket??

scottishgeek

23 years ago I arrived back to my car in a 30 minute limited wait area to find a ticket on my car as I'd been there for almost 45 minutes. Despite me appealing and submitting witness evidence that my wife (who was 8 months pregnant at the time) had a 'bad turn' whilst doing last minute shopping in Mothercare, causing me to be late picking up my car, the local council turned my appeal down flat stating that, as other were tending for my wife I should have left her in their care and moved my car.

Hopefully in 2013 you should find them more ameniable, as they should be, and if not sit tight as mentioned above due to the ''invoice' being non-enforceable.

the playing mantis

as menioned by someone above, if its on private land which it sounds like it does, they can do nothing to enforce it i think

redvee

the playing mantis wrote:

as menioned by someone above, if its on private land which it sounds like it does, they can do nothing to enforce it i think

Private parking companies will send you an invoice that looks like a parking ticket and can be safely ignored. Only the local council can actually issue parking fines which must be paid though you can appeal them as my Dad did successfully recently.

pinno

As a Dad of two, what pi$$es me off is when people park in Parent/Child bays when they do not have any children with them. Now when you have two squirming toddlers, you know how hard it can be.
I approached the manager of the local Morrissons and he suggested approaching them! I asked him why he didn't enforce the rules and he said he didn't have any legal authority to do so. He told me he would ask the car park/trolley attendants to be more 'vigilant'.
So back to the OP, the manager of Morrissons response underlined their lack of legal power. Write them a polite letter telling them to go f*ck themselves.

Wirral_paul

I'd be wary of all of the advice saying that these tickets are not legally enforcable - the following suggests this is NOT the case.....

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/consumer_e/consumer_cars_and_other_vehicles_e/consumer_driving_and_parking_e/consumer_parking_tickets_e/consumer_parking_tickets_on_private_land_e/youve_got_a_parking_ticket_from_a_bpa_parking_company_what_can_you_do.htm

I would always go with the Citizens Advice Bureau over t'internet myself.

shortcuts

And if the company go the court route that will quite likely affect your 'credit rating' which will cause ongoing problems.

secretsam

What a mess.

Suggest letter to Asda Chief Executive. Say how you value their store, etc etc but don't want to resort to more drastic measures eg local rag, etc etc.

Trust me, this will work.

If it doesn't, contact the local rag and radio stations. They love stories like this, and Asda will get a bad attack of PR horror (remember the Halloween outfit PR disaster?)

Lenny55

It was a private company who issued the ticket
On private land ie Asda car park.

diamonddog

schlepcycling wrote:

Unless it's a council run car park just ignore it as it's not a parking fine it's an invoice which is completely uneforceable.

^^This one, I had a ticket for 'altering the displayed permit' from a private company 5 years ago I am still waiting for them to take me to court.

schlepcycling

shortcuts wrote:

And if the company go the court route that will quite likely affect your 'credit rating' which will cause ongoing problems.

It will only affect your credit rating if they take you to court and win and then you fail to pay and then they would have to secure a CCJ against you for non payment.

Maybe the blue badge thing is different from the invoice made to look like a parking ticket scam that private parking firms use but I suspect not. I think someone else posted it earlier in the thread but this website http://www.pepipoo.com/ has masses of information about 'tickets' issued on private land.

Or you could try here http://www.popla.org.uk/

Crankbrother

Or you could just accept your own fault rather than trotting your daughter out as proof of how in the right you think you are ... You were in the wrong ...

Lenny55

I did not as you imply trot my daughter out as proof, my wife wheeled her out in her wheelchair as I said in a earlier post she has profound cerebral Palsy and is totally reliant on me and my wife.
I know I made a mistake by not displaying the badge I was asking for advice.
If you don't want to give any helpful advice don't post anything.

pinno

I cannot being to comprehend how difficult life can be for you L55, caring for your daughter 24/7. When you go out on your bike, you wonder if you are going to get run over and leave those dependents vulnerable (I am a Dad and anyone in that position must think that way), only to get a friggin parking ticket from some tw4t with a hat to add insult to injury.
You have 2 options:
Option 1. Ignore it, the consensus of opinion is that it is un-enforceable anyway.
Option 2: Go the PR route and it will have them spewing PR crap and contrived condolences.

I would go for option 1 and get on with your life.

Lenny55

Thanks to all who have given advice I have decided to ignore it and just see what happens.
Once again Thankyou.

the playing mantis

Crankbrother wrote:

Or you could just accept your own fault rather than trotting your daughter out as proof of how in the right you think you are ... You were in the wrong ...

Tw at.

the playing mantis

schlepcycling wrote:

shortcuts wrote:

And if the company go the court route that will quite likely affect your 'credit rating' which will cause ongoing problems.

It will only affect credit rating if they take you to court and win and then you fail to pay and then they would have to secure a CCJ against you for non payment.

Maybe the blue badge thing is different from the invoice made to look like a parking ticket scam that private parking firms use but I suspect not. I think someone else posted it earlier in the thread but this website http://www.pepipoo.com/ has masses of information about 'tickets' issued on private land.

Or you could try here http://www.popla.org.uk/

They won't take u to court fir not paying, not in a million years. They would lose and even if they had a chance if winning they wouldnt go through all that time and effort for a parking fine.as mentioned check out honest john

andy9964

I got one in our local asda car park this time last year. As I had better things to spend money on, other than a request for some, I ignored it. Haven't heard a thing since.
As mentioned previously, Pepipoo is full of advice on what to expect, and what to do

Aggieboy

Lenny55 wrote:

I had a parking ticket for not displaying my daughters blue badge.
We parked in Asda in Cardiff,we got out of the van and I completely forgot to display the badge
We went into Costa's and just as we sat down we noticed a guy taking photo's of the van
I went out and he said that I wasn't displaying a badge.
I showed him the badge plus my wife brought our daughter out who is in a wheelchair to prove that she was with us.
He said once he sent the pictures off that was that but if could appeal.
I appealed sent photo's off of her badge plus the tax disc says disabled and they turned down the appeal.
As we were parked on private land do I have to pay the fine , or just pay it .
I feel very a grieved as we see people abusing these spaces all the time.

I advise you not to ignore this issue. That was sound advice a year or so ago, but these scamming companies are becoming more litigious (especially Parking Eye, if it was them).

Some quick advice/pointers -

*The Blue Badge scheme does not apply on private land and you are covered under the Equality Act 2010. Should the 'parking company' continue to pursue you/a genuine disabled customer once they are made aware of the fact, it would be harassment, discrimination and a breach of said act.
What the signs say is irrelevant, because the LAW says that any disabled person can use that bay, if they fit the lawful definition of disability. A person has the lawful right to park there if they/their passenger has a long-term disability and need the bay (for shopping etc) The law does not say you need to display a Blue Badge on private land.

*Complain to the managers of anywhere you used ie Asda, Costa etc. Show receipts if you have them. They have sway over the parking companies. Lots of managers of these shops/hotels etc can cancel these. Be sure to mention your daughters disability

*Write a strong letter of complaint, explaining the situation, to the head offices of these companies.

*Write to the landowners (these shops usually rent the land). They can stop this immediately as the 'parking firms' are under contract to them. The landowner will be the ones liable to any Equality Act offences

*You need to get a 'popla' code number from the 'parking firm' in order to lodge an appeal and, no doubt, win your case. They should have supplied you with one when they turned down your complaint/appeal. Usually they don't as it costs them money , Get back to them and ask for one, it'll be needed for your online appeal.

These are the immediate things to do. There is no doubt you will win an appeal at popla but, unfortunately, you need to go through the system unless it's cancelled by one of the above.

Please 'pm' me if you need more advice as I don't tend post on here any more.

Aggie.

pinno

WARNING: OFF TOPIC
Yay Aggieboy.

Escaped from the munters who kidnapped you and tied you up in your very own Dungeon? Have you sean Cleat since getting out?