Parking Fine

245

Comments

  • mrsgrumpy49mrsgrumpy49 Posts: 10,061
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    I know a 90 year old who got a penalty notice because his blue badge was the wrong way round. :o
    You can try to get it quashed but I wouldn't contest it as the fine will just go up. They were acting within the law unfortunately.
  • dearmrmandearmrman Posts: 21,434
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    The Wizard wrote: »
    There really isn't any need for your attitude to be so toxic. Have you been taking lessons from hobbit feet?

    I didn't pay because we're normally exempt. NOT because I'm trying to steal something for nothing.

    Technically you are...your trying to get out of the fine when on this occasion you were not exempt, and the fine is just.
  • The WizardThe Wizard Posts: 11,071
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    dmp wrote: »
    I was notified my blue badge was expiring a good 3 months before the due date, I posted off my £10 an form straight away so I wouldn't be out of date.
    I also parked in a different towns carpark, one where they have a 3 hour time limit and you need to put up your arrival time, was given a ticket and paid, my mistake I didn't read the terms and conditions.
    Dave

    Different councils obviously operate differently as we didn't receive any notification although on the phone they did confirm that we could have applied for a new one 4 weeks in advance (but no longer) so the woman we spoke to this morning told us wrong but as we weren't aware it had expired it makes no difference now.

    I hope they see that we were genuine and quash it. After all she's always been eligible for it throughout. It's not like she wasn't and we were trying get away without paying for parking because we don't pay normally anyway.
  • The WizardThe Wizard Posts: 11,071
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    dearmrman wrote: »
    Technically you are...your trying to get out of the fine when on this occasion you were not exempt, and the fine is just.

    We've always been exempt. We just didn't have the badge in date to prove it. My wife has had DLA indefinitely since she was younger so at no point has she not been eligible for a blue badge so it's not like we were trying to get out of not paying. For the sake of 70p an hour we wouldn't risk that seeing as I already knew that the warden was around today. Do you think I'd risk getting a fine for the sake of paying 70p? It's obvious we weren't aware that the badge had expired else we would have paid for a ticket.

    The reason we didn't was because it was a genuine oversight and hadn't realised the badge had expired and not because we were trying to get away without paying for parking.

    Is it too much to expect local councils to adopt a bit of logic and common sense here? Probably!
  • dellzinchtdellzincht Posts: 1,690
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    The Wizard wrote: »
    We've always been exempt. We just didn't have the badge in date to prove it. My wife has had DLA indefinitely since she was younger so at no point has she not been eligible for a blue badge so it's not like we were trying to get out of not paying. For the sake of 70p an hour we wouldn't risk that seeing as I already knew that the warden was around today. Do you think I'd risk getting a fine for the sake of paying 70p? It's obvious we weren't aware that the badge had expired else we would have paid for a ticket.

    The reason we didn't was because it was a genuine oversight and hadn't realised the badge had expired and not because we were trying to get away without paying for parking.

    Is it too much to expect local councils to adopt a bit of logic and common sense here? Probably!

    Why are you choosing to ignore the multiple posts pointing out that the onus is on you to renew the badge in time and the fine is just?
  • TUTV ViewerTUTV Viewer Posts: 6,236
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    The Wizard wrote: »
    it's not like I have a calendar that lasts for 3 years that I can write it on. Even if I put a reminder on my phone I'm likely to have a new phone in 3 years time.

    You've made a lot bizarre lifestyle choices.

    Refusing to check the date on the blue badge from time to time...
    Refusing to use a basic Gmail or Outlook calendar to set a reminder...
    Refusing to port data between phone calendars as you upgrade...

    Take ownership and responsibility for your actions for once.
  • eluf38eluf38 Posts: 4,874
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    dellzincht wrote: »
    Why are you choosing to ignore the multiple posts pointing out that the onus is on you to renew the badge in time and the fine is just?

    Because that would mean admitting he's wrong?
  • lemonbunlemonbun Posts: 5,371
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    I got a parking ticket for being on a yellow line outside the free parking time. People had actually pushed my broken down car from the nearby junction (where it was blocking traffic) to the nearest possible safe place waiting for my breakdown service to arrive. The traffic warden came along when I had nipped off to go to the loo (I had put a notice in the windscreen), produced a ticket but was there when I got back.

    He was great and told me to appeal the fine. I emailed the council with my breakdown notice, account of the reason and the fine was cancelled.

    My advice is to appeal the fine, but be very nice about it. Don't go in all guns blazing. Explain that you had forgotten to renew but that you also had a current disk for your child. "Very sorry, etc., etc., but could you please consider cancelling the penalty".
  • cris182cris182 Posts: 9,595
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    eluf38 wrote: »
    Because that would mean admitting he's wrong?

    You have hit the nail on the head, The OP was NOT in possession of the item needed to make them exempt but as they 'didn't realise' then they have decided they are not in the wrong

    Challenge it OP, You will end up spending a fortune because you are in the wrong on this occasion
  • fredsterfredster Posts: 31,802
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    lemonbun wrote: »
    I got a parking ticket for being on a yellow line outside the free parking time. People had actually pushed my broken down car from the nearby junction (where it was blocking traffic) to the nearest possible safe place waiting for my breakdown service to arrive. The traffic warden came along when I had nipped off to go to the loo (I had put a notice in the windscreen), produced a ticket but was there when I got back.

    He was great and told me to appeal the fine. I emailed the council with my breakdown notice, account of the reason and the fine was cancelled.

    My advice is to appeal the fine, but be very nice about it. Don't go in all guns blazing. Explain that you had forgotten to renew but that you also had a current disk for your child. "Very sorry, etc., etc., but could you please consider cancelling the penalty".

    But if the disabled child was not in the car they should be no be using the Child's disabled badge.
  • fredsterfredster Posts: 31,802
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    The Wizard wrote: »
    A woman from the blue badge team rang earlier to say she's sent an email to the parking team to ask them if they will quash the fine explaining that even though the badge was out of date, the badge number which is unique to my wife is still eligible for renewal as my wife is still in receipt of DLA and has been for all this time so even though she didn't display a valid badge she was still eligible to park there free of charge. You never know. It might help.

    I thought the whole point of fining people was to discourage them from breaking the law and doing wrong not to raise revenue. How does fining people discourage them from making an honest oversight?

    Because there are dishonest people, who use a disabled badge when the disabled badge holder is not in the car. It's people like this whose dishonesty makes the traffic wardens suspicious. They don't know that you are an honest person and forgotten to renew a blue badge. And it was your responsibility to renew the badge.
  • RorschachRorschach Posts: 10,818
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    I did get a ticket overturned once.

    The person who originally wrote the large date on my card had their pen run out half way through, this meant the second part of the date was much darker than the first. The warden therefore thought this meant I had altered the date.
  • StarpussStarpuss Posts: 12,845
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    The Wizard wrote: »
    A woman from the blue badge team rang earlier to say she's sent an email to the parking team to ask them if they will quash the fine explaining that even though the badge was out of date, the badge number which is unique to my wife is still eligible for renewal as my wife is still in receipt of DLA and has been for all this time so even though she didn't display a valid badge she was still eligible to park there free of charge. You never know. It might help.

    I thought the whole point of fining people was to discourage them from breaking the law and doing wrong not to raise revenue. How does fining people discourage them from making an honest oversight?

    The date the badge expires is very clear and plain. It's not as if it's hidden somewhere in small print.
  • tealadytealady Posts: 26,262
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    OP seems ignorant of how the blue badge scheme is abused by some. Enforcement officers ate no doubt aware of this and they are not psychic, they have no idea of the intentions of the driver.
    To claim they failed to use logic is nonsense. The OP should have made sure they renewed, that would reflect the 'common sense' they claim the council should have showed.

    The badge was not valid so you will get a ticket. Its not hard to understand.
  • lemonbunlemonbun Posts: 5,371
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    fredster wrote: »
    But if the disabled child was not in the car they should be no be using the Child's disabled badge.

    The point of my post is that I was at fault for having my car parked on a yellow line. I had reasons for doing so, but by the strict letter of the law, my parking ticket was perfectly sound.

    Appealing the ticket in a very nice way, stating how nice the traffic warden was and apologising for the incident resulted in the ticket being rescinded by the council - all done by their email appeal.

    Just by being nice and very reasonable gets you a long way, IME.
  • jojo01jojo01 Posts: 12,370
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    Hi OP, in case anyone hasn't mentioned it already, set up an account on Pepipoo forums and ask the question there. The people who are on that site have a vast amount of experience and may be able to offer you some advice (whether it be pay up, or challenge).
  • The WizardThe Wizard Posts: 11,071
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    fredster wrote: »
    But if the disabled child was not in the car they should be no be using the Child's disabled badge.

    Correct. But the stupid part about this whole thing is that if I had done that and been totally dishonest and fraudulent and used my child's badges then we'd most probably have gotten away with it because the photo isn't shown on the front of the badge and as we weren't at the car when the warden came round he'd have no idea whether my son was with us or not.

    But by 'trying' to be honest and doing what we thought was the right thing we came a cropper all because of an oversight to check the date on the badge. Who says honesty pays?
  • HypnodiscHypnodisc Posts: 22,728
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    artnada wrote: »
    You can try to contest it, but the onus is on you, the blue badge holder, and no one else, to check if it is in date.

    Much like your photo driving licence.

    Pay it now and take it as a lesson learned.

    Basically this.

    It is an unfortunate mistake, but a mistake on the part of the OP regardless. An appeal can and should of course be tried but I wouldn't bet money it'd go well.

    I am a firm believer in people taking charge of their own affairs and keeping tabs on this stuff themselves, rather than waiting for renewal letters and chasing up, whether it's things like this, expiring debit cards, benefits, rent arrears, insurance renewals - whatever - people who are mentally capable should know the dates and stay on top of it without nannying.

    I had a customer yesterday who was trying to pay with an expired debit card, hence I mention that in my example. Some people seem so 'unaware' of their own affairs and wonder why things go wrong.
  • danprodanpro Posts: 127
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    Your wife's disability is what makes her disabled not her blue badge.

    Quite shocked at how judgemental some people are being here.

    It is the legal responsibility of the car park to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people and that means ALL disabled people not just the ones who have a blue piece of card with them.

    Unfortunately this does not mean it is easy to challenge such a fine and for £25 it is probably easier to pay it but you ARE in the right here. It is against the Equality Act to choose an arbitrary reason (such as possession of a piece of card) to exclude some disabled people from a service provided for disabled people.
  • HypnodiscHypnodisc Posts: 22,728
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    danpro wrote: »
    Your wife's disability is what makes her disabled not her blue badge.

    Quite shocked at how judgemental some people are being here.

    It is the legal responsibility of the car park to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people and that means ALL disabled people not just the ones who have a blue piece of card with them.

    Unfortunately this does not mean it is easy to challenge such a fine and for £25 it is probably easier to pay it but you ARE in the right here. It is against the Equality Act to choose an arbitrary reason (such as possession of a piece of card) to exclude some disabled people from a service provided for disabled people.

    Unfortunately you would seem to be incorrect.

    A POPLA ruling based on the 2010 Equality Act found that it is perfectly reasonable for private car parks to insist on a valid Blue Badge as proof to actually protect disabled people from abuse of the spaces.

    http://www.disabledmotoring.org/news-and-features/news/post/9-blue-badge-ruling
  • The WizardThe Wizard Posts: 11,071
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    It's ridiculous to say that I should know when my expiry date is because it's written on the front in black. How many times a day do people use their debit card yet I bet if I asked you when it expired you wouldn't have a clue yet it's written in shiny numbers on the front and you look at it every day.

    Fact is it's so easy to forget when you don't get a reminder. How many people would remember to renew their car tax if they didn't get a reminder?

    It's an easy mistake to make.
  • HypnodiscHypnodisc Posts: 22,728
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    The Wizard wrote: »
    It's ridiculous to say that I should know when my expiry date is because it's written on the front in black. How many times a day do people use their debit card yet I bet if I asked you when it expired you wouldn't have a clue yet it's written in shiny numbers on the front and you look at it every day.

    Fact is it's so easy to forget when you don't get a reminder. How many people would remember to renew their car tax if they didn't get a reminder?

    It's an easy mistake to make.

    I don't disagree that it is an easy mistake to make, but one you made nevertheless.

    Personally I know when everything of mine is either expiring or needs renewing, but then again I understand not everybody has a good memory.

    In such instances people with less good memories should have the stuff written down on a calendar, whiteboard or in a planner, notebook, email reminder etc.

    I'm genuinely not trying to be funny or facetious but it really isn't that hard. In this day and age there are many electronic ways you can be reminded as well as with a good old fashioned pen and paper.
  • Raquelos.Raquelos. Posts: 7,734
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    Just pay the fine ffs. It's annoying sure, but since it's entirely your own fault I don't really see what else you can do. Live and learn, that's it.
  • stoatiestoatie Posts: 78,106
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    What would even be the point in HAVING an expiry date if everyone just said "oh, I forgot" and that worked? I mean, how else is it supposed to work?
  • cris182cris182 Posts: 9,595
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    The Wizard wrote: »
    It's ridiculous to say that I should know when my expiry date is because it's written on the front in black. How many times a day do people use their debit card yet I bet if I asked you when it expired you wouldn't have a clue yet it's written in shiny numbers on the front and you look at it every day.

    Fact is it's so easy to forget when you don't get a reminder. How many people would remember to renew their car tax if they didn't get a reminder?

    It's an easy mistake to make.

    If it's important and YOU need to renew it then you remember, I know when my passport runs out off the top of my head, I know my bank card too but that is automatic so isn't actually important

    I know when the important things run out because it is my responsibility no one elses
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