missing blue badge = penalty **SORTED**

[DianaT]

Hi all,

Today my husband and disabled daughter attended a hospital appointment and on the way back they called in at Speke Retail Park and as usual parked in a disabled bay. My husband was a bit flustered as he not only had to get my daughter out of the car but also her rather boisterous three year old daughter. The result was he forgot to display the blue badge.

The result was a ticket from Central Ticketing which amounted to £61.50 which he payed online before even telling me about it.

My question is: If he had waited (and read some of the advice on this forum) would he have had a defence against paying the penalty. Everywhere I've looked on here I see advice against paying any penalty issued in a private car park.

Another question: If he has a defence can he demand the money back? My daughter has a valid blue-badge which she renewed only on Monday.

Thanks in advance for any advice given.

Oh, and it's my birthday today so no present - it was spent on the flamin' penalty!

[blue4ever]

Hi welcome to C.A.G I`M sure someone knowledgable will be along shortly

but for NOW

[adamna]

If it was paid online, presumably with a card. Let the card company know that you are contesting it and that it was paid under duress, and ask them to refund the payment.

[DianaT]

Thank you, blue4ever What a lovely gesture.

Adamna, thank you for that piece of advice, I'll pass it on to hubby.

[pin1onu]

Originally Posted by DianaT

Thank you, blue4ever What a lovely gesture.

Adamna, thank you for that piece of advice, I'll pass it on to hubby.

You should also be aware that the blue badge holds no validity off the public highway other than preventing you from getting clamped.

As Adamna has said you should write to the company contesting their invoice. Provide evidence that you are a blue badge holder. You should also allege the amount is an illegal penalty charge. Penalty charges are illegal under existing case law.

You may have to take them to court to recover your money - but IMO you stand a very good chance of winning a case.

[DianaT]

Thank you, pin1onu. Again, I shall certainly pass on that advice. We can't really afford to lose an amount like that but hubby is so law abiding that he didn't want any problems, which is why he paid it so quickly. I've been passing on what I've learned on this forum to everybody who will listen so hopefully there will be fewer mugs handing over hard earned cash to these scammers.

Thanks to all who have responded to me or who have posted advice to others with similar problems.

[DianaT]

I thought I should let you know that we sent a fairly nice letter to Central Ticketing containing a copy of my daughter's blue badge and an explanation as to why it was not 'displayed prominently'.

Today we received a reply and they have agreed to refund the 'fine'.

Thanks to all who responded

[blue4ever]

NOW you can get your present

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY

HA HA LOL

[DianaT]

Indeed I can It's nice to have have a little bit of good news for a change

Thanks for the b'day greetings again

[blue4ever]

Hi DIANAT CHECK OUT THIS LINK IT MAY HELP YOU IF YOU USE THE M6TOLL


M6toll Mobility Exempton




Any Advice given by me is based on solely on my experiance or opnion. I have no Legal background.
If i have helped in any way please feel free to click my scales
Thank You blue

[DianaT]

Thanks, Blue We don't travel very much but it's always good to be prepared.

[pin1onu]

A good result. Nice One.

[susancole9390]

Originally Posted by DianaT

I thought I should let you know that we sent a fairly nice letter to Central Ticketing containing a copy of my daughter's blue badge and an explanation as to why it was not 'displayed prominently'.

Today we received a reply and they have agreed to refund the 'fine'.

Thanks to all who responded

Hi Dianna, I see you sent them a 'fairly' nice letter and they refunded the money can I ask if you were threatning or obstructive in any way ?
I have a reason for asking I am in a similar position (not with central ticketing but another company) and I can either send a genuine letter with the reasons I parked or be obstructive and ignore them, which I have done upto now after reading this forum that seems to suggest companies appeals procedure is pointless and once they have your money they will never return it. In your case a reasonable approach seemed to have worked.

[Barnsley Boy]

I'm very pleased that DianeT has acheived such a satisfactory result. I have to concede that the parking company has acted reasonably in giving the money back [although I certainly do not concede that it had any right to take it in the first place]

All I can say, from my own experience, and those of others who have posted to this forum, is that this incident is far from typical. There will always be the odd exception to prove the rule.

[DianaT]

Hi SusanCole,

My husband's letter wasn't confrontational. He just explained that he had parked in the bay because he had my daughter with him, she is disabled and has a badge, and our granddaughter and that whilst helping them both get out of the car and my daughter into a wheelchair, the badge must have been knocked off the dashboard. He pleaded that it was a genuine error not to have checked the badge was displayed 'prominently'. He sent a scanned copy of my daughter's blue badge and the ticket and thanked them for their attention.

My dad always told me that I should be nice to someone and if they're not nice back only then get nasty. Seems Central Ticketing must have appreciated it. So, yes, I'd advise a less confrontational approach but now
I'm wise to the legalities of this sort of thing I'll make sure we don't pay unquestioningly if it ever happens again and I'm passing the word round to everybody I know and advising them to visit this forum if they ever find themselves 'ticketed'.