Parking in Disabled bay
Discussion
Well, usually I'am impeccable with my parking.
I messed up the other day, I was in a shopping car park, Silverburn, (Tesco etc) in Glasgow with my family. I followed the P&C parking area and saw a space.
I reversed the car in and thought nothing of it.
When I returned there was a sticker on the windshield. The P&C parking spaces changed at my car to Disabled. I hadn't realised.
Now I've been given a notification for a fine of £45 which goes up to £90 after a period if not paid.
As awful as I feel about parking in a disabled space without a blue badge, it was an honest mistake and it gripes me to give these people my money.
I remember hearing that the fines were not enforceable, but this is Scotland and not sure if the rules have changed. Anyway, I'm going to try to appeal but am interested in other peoples thoughts before I do.
I messed up the other day, I was in a shopping car park, Silverburn, (Tesco etc) in Glasgow with my family. I followed the P&C parking area and saw a space.
I reversed the car in and thought nothing of it.
When I returned there was a sticker on the windshield. The P&C parking spaces changed at my car to Disabled. I hadn't realised.
Now I've been given a notification for a fine of £45 which goes up to £90 after a period if not paid.
As awful as I feel about parking in a disabled space without a blue badge, it was an honest mistake and it gripes me to give these people my money.
I remember hearing that the fines were not enforceable, but this is Scotland and not sure if the rules have changed. Anyway, I'm going to try to appeal but am interested in other peoples thoughts before I do.
Had that space previously been a P&C one ?
If so , was there CLEAR signage that there had been a change of designation ? A marking placed solely on the ground is not terribly conspicuous to someone correctly reversing in .
Even so , it may not be of much help , but you can try . Nothing to lose by asking . Perhaps better writing to the shopping centre management , citing yourself as a regular customer , of good conduct , who is saddened by this event .....
If so , was there CLEAR signage that there had been a change of designation ? A marking placed solely on the ground is not terribly conspicuous to someone correctly reversing in .
Even so , it may not be of much help , but you can try . Nothing to lose by asking . Perhaps better writing to the shopping centre management , citing yourself as a regular customer , of good conduct , who is saddened by this event .....
Edited by Pontoneer on Monday 3rd June 19:14
Retroman said:
If it was a parking invoice rather than a fine, isn't it still easy to avoid paying it in Scotland?
Yep, just been looking into this on other forums.It's not actually a fine, just an invoice. From what I can tell in Scotland all of these cowboy fines should be ignored as they are unenforceable north of the border.
From what has been mentioned in England and Wales it's a similar situation. I found this quite interesting.
=====
No-one here pays private parking tickets. If this was in Scotland then completely ignore it and just file it with all the stupid letters that follow.If in England/Wales ONLY, assuming that it was a fake PCN you found on your windscreen, then either IGNORE IT And all the Debt Recovery Plus/Zenith hysterical but toothless letters that will follow, or wait for the first letter - Notice to Keeper - then appeal it to the company then to the second stage, POPLA (read the sticky threads about POPLA).
Do not appeal YET even though the rubbishy ticket probably says you 'should'.
Wait for them to write to you first, maybe they won't (I had a fake PCN like that!). If they do send a Notice to Keeper, keep the envelope if it's got a different posting date on it than the letter inside, and see also if they have met the requirements for registered keeper liability at that point:
http://www.parkingcowboys.co.uk/keeper-liability/
Then look to word something as forceful as this (no mitigating circumstances here you'll notice!):
http://www.parkingcowboys.co.uk/appeal-letter/
...or like the shorter letter citing BPA Code breaches, used in this pepipoo thread (see middle pic in the first post, bear in mind your breaches you identify may not be the same as these of course). With this softer/shorter appeal version, you may wish to also point out you were a customer of Matalan and include a copy of your receipt:
http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=7854...
Then if they reject, check other stuff as I just mentioned in post #7 of this thread and include LOADS of demands and grounds of appeal in a POPLA submission (which costs the PPC money and is only binding on them, not you).
So wait for the NTK and tell us whether you've decided to be an ignorer or an appellant. DO NOT get twitchy and think you should appeal now.
oldnbold said:
Can't see what possible excuse would give you reason to appeal.
Except driving without due care and attention! Same as telling the BiB you didn't see the 30mph sign when caught doing 40 in a 30 limit.
Guilty as charged.
Driving at 40 in a 30 is illegal. Parking in a disabled bay on private land isn't. Except driving without due care and attention! Same as telling the BiB you didn't see the 30mph sign when caught doing 40 in a 30 limit.
Guilty as charged.
What might be of importance is if the disabled spaces are marked as requiring a blue badge to be displayed ,and prominantly near the spaces . locally, my Asda has erected new signs on the mother 7 toddler spaces ,and removed the sign outside the store entrance about the need for a blue badge to be displayed. I think( but I'd need to stop at the entrance and examine the entry signs ,posted too high to be read reasonably) that thete's mention of a need for a blue badge to park in a disabled spot. And it's something that's bothering me ,as in this store, I regularly find that the few disabled spots in front of the shop, convenient for trollies and ATM are hogged by Mums & kids. But ,park in the mums places -and it's open warfare. i'd suggest that some of these mums have a disability-it's called not being able to keep legs closed or say NO. mE- I'm just an OAP, with osteo of the hip, who has problems walking to the store and who has to wait a looong time for Blue badge assessment.
Steff1965 said:
Is that TCP?
I heard something strange about their renaming. After a bit of Googling I found this:Smart Parking Ltd (SC413479) changed its name to Smart Parking (UK) Ltd
Town and City Parking Ltd Version 1(SC138255) (the one with the ASDA contracts) changed its name to Smart Parking Ltd (who now have ASDA contracts but no signs, headed notepaper or bank account)
Town and City Parking Ltd Version 2 (SC438115)(the one with the vanishing signs, the bank account and a letterbox but no contracts) was formed
Meanwhile Town and City Parking (not Ltd) in Liverpool (the new name on the signs) somehow has a director and is clearly associated with this network but it's not clear how
deltashad said:
Steff1965 said:
Is that TCP?
I heard something strange about their renaming. After a bit of Googling I found this:Smart Parking Ltd (SC413479) changed its name to Smart Parking (UK) Ltd
Town and City Parking Ltd Version 1(SC138255) (the one with the ASDA contracts) changed its name to Smart Parking Ltd (who now have ASDA contracts but no signs, headed notepaper or bank account)
Town and City Parking Ltd Version 2 (SC438115)(the one with the vanishing signs, the bank account and a letterbox but no contracts) was formed
Meanwhile Town and City Parking (not Ltd) in Liverpool (the new name on the signs) somehow has a director and is clearly associated with this network but it's not clear how
They have been sending out invoices using a different company registration number. The signs on site say TCP but have the LTD rubbed out with a black marker plus the sign don't say smart parking anywhere but the invoice they send you do.
I doubt very much they would try and go to court.
Forgot to say, they have been reported for using the wrong registration number and they had been struck off the DVLA database of a short time
Edited by Steff1965 on Monday 3rd June 22:14
It isnt legally enforceable as a fine, much advice online from "experts"
Pragmatically you have 2 choices:
1) Throw it in the bin and ignore all correspondance which will be increasingly intimidating till it stops when they realise youre not paying
2) Write to Tesco, explain you made an honest mistake, and ask them to get their parking zealot to drop the fine. If they drop it carry on as normal with a little more care parking in future, if they decline pay up and then defect to Sainsbury for the rest of your life, get your family to do the same and canvass everyone on motoring websites to join in your protest
COI: I boycotted Tesco years ago for different reasons and believe me you wont notice the difference shopping at the opposition
OP, if it was issued by a private parking firm, which I'm guessing it was, ignore it. They have no authority to charge you this money. Don't even enter into correspondence with them as that only confirms who was driving. Ignore all letters, and they will stop eventually. My OH got an invoice after overstaying her welcome in the shopping centre car park in Livingston. We got 5 or 6 letters from the company, and mickey mouse debt collectors etc, it's all a scam. The letters have stopped now.
Steff1965 said:
Is that TCP?
It can't be. TCP makes things better.numtumfutunch said:
I boycotted Tesco years ago for different reasons and believe me you wont notice the difference shopping at the opposition
And they won't notice the difference either.We have two Blue Badges, and I am mightily p155ed-off by inconsiderates who park in marked Disabled bays. However, I am more p155ed-off by mothers (it's usually the female parent) who park in a Disabled bay because the parent and child bays are full. But I am most p155ed-off by retailers who position those damned parent and child bays closed to the store entrance/exit than the Disabled bays, and by those who provide more space in such bays than in Disabled bays.
And before an idiot jumps in to say "Mums spend more money than old people" (and it has been said in a similar thread), SWMBO takes three disabled people to do their (and our) family shopping each week and the total spend is around £500. Mum and bratlings pop in to buy sweeties and a pack of T4mp4x.
Streaky
For those who never fell and grazed a knee, TCP is trichlorophenylmethyliodosalicyl, a 'goto' antiseptic.
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