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Hi all hope someone can help,

2 days before xmas I parked in disabled bay to go in and see if B***s the chemist had prescription for ds as 5 other pharmacies never stocked it as wanted it before xmas.

Anyway was 10 minutes and they never had it. So ds and I went home.

12th January I had parking ticket for parking in disabled space. Now ds has a blue badge as disabled and I put it on top of glove compartment (where I always put it). You can't see the badge from standing 5 foot away but if you walk up to car you can see it as the shelf is flat. The reason I put it their is because I don't have long enough arms to reach it when it slides down the front of the dash board (ended up under black plastic dashboard and had to pay £10 for man to get it out at garage in past). So I explained this to company and sent photocopy of ds blue badge.

The fine was £65 in first 7 days. I appealed, they sent letter back saying £75 fine to be paid in 14 days as it should be on dashboard.

I sent an email to them the day I received this letter with photo showing blue badge and where it is postioned and asked them to reconsider. I have 5 days left and they have not replied from 8 days ago (the email) and it says on letter if I don't pay the £75 fine the fine doubles to £150 and if I don't pay £150 they take me to court.

I don't have the money! I can't pay the fine and neither do I think it is fair. What do I do? What can I do when I do not have the money? What will happen?

Is it from council or private company. There is a similar thread going on this afternoon as well that might be worth a read to you.

Oh just saw it!
Private company...I saw savingmoney thread too. But scared single parent, no money full time carer in debt with ds therapies. So not case of wont pay, CAN'T pay as no money at all to pay it
Should I go to my MP? Or will the company @me

If you were parked on private land (e.g. a supermarket car park ) and this came from a private company you do not have to pay. They do not have the power to fine you. What they are actually doing, although they won't make this clear, is threatening to sue you for trespass but offering to settle for £75. If you refuse to pay they could take to you to court but there is no guarantee they would win. Even if they do win, the court may decide that £75 is too much and set a lower payment.

I would just ignore it Pipinjo. These private companies rely on people being scared to make money.

might eb worth you getting oe of these holders for future?
www.asksara.org.uk/product.php?product_id=0107224&groupid=3546

Thanks for the info everyone. I will see as I have never had any trouble before and frightened as can't afford to lose my home or go to prison as ds only has me.

It that is true about making people scared it is digusting and they should be fined! I wouldn't mind but the normal spaces are free...so not even a fee paying car park...they ensure no one parks there for over 3 hours and fine if disabled space abused...which I didn't and sent them ds blue badge (photocoy).

cest thanks for that, but I went and paid £18 I have not got last week for a wallet that will stop the blue badge going below black plastic dashboard...don't know if it will slide down though as avoided disabled spaces since

try asking on the honestjohn.co.uk site - it's a bit like moneysavingexpert.com but for all things related to cars, parking, driving, garages etc

it's a car info site really - the guy that runs it also writes a q&a column (that now spreads over about 3 pages) in the telegraph motoring section on saturdays, so I reckon that he is pretty legit.

He's been campaigning against bad parking fines so might be of help as lots of people have written to him when they have had unfair treatment in all sorts of different ways.

No no don't pay. Let them take you to court (they won't bother)
Even if they did, you would win.

I currently have demands for a ticket from a private company, I am ignoring it. Council tickets are different. Moneysavingexpert has very good advice on this.

Does anyone know if she will mysteriously get a bad credit rating if OP doesn't pay? Good advice prh47 by the way, I didn't know all that.

OP, the company are definitely taking the piss.

Take prh47's advice.
Send the pic of the badge, the pic of the badge in your car, tell them that it was in the car at the time and then forget it.

If they pursue you some more, ask for more advice.

You will NOT end up going to prison!

You could buy a roll of non slip rubber stuff from the pound shop and put a piece on the dashboard to lay the badge on. This is what I use for anything that has to go on the dashboard, including MIL's blue badge. I have had the same problem of things slipping down the front. I lost a parking permit that way - never managed to retrieve it.

There is no requirement in law for the BB to be on the dashboard rather than the glove box, as long as it is clearly visible AFAIK.

I would refuse to pay and hold out. It would cost more for them to take you to court I imagine.

Print the photo and put it in writing rather than an email.

Something similar happened to me in October. I was staying in my deceased Aunt's house where there were no cooking facilities and went to well known hamburger chain for porridge and lots of coffee, and to answer my emails. Apparently I had parked longer than I should according to big notices. Thing is I have a mobility problem and was concentrating on the ground because it was damp, and crutches and wet patches don't mix so I didn't see the notices.

Anyway I was somewhat peeved because I don't see how I could be intruding on the property (trespassing) when I was a customer sat on the premises drinking umpteen cups of coffee the whole time. Threatening letters through a private company are hardly good for customer relationships, I won't be going to that chain again and I'll be ignoring all letters from the private company until I hear from court. See advice from specialist lawyer on Watchdog.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAIcdi9niHA

It's an invoice not a parking ticket.

Unfortunate that you 'appealed' (it never was a fine) and then compounded your miskate by subsequently emailing them because now they have a measure of proof that it was you who was the driver however my advice is...

Ignore it.

If you receive a Claim i.e. notice of action in the civil court (remember this is nothing to do with criminal law or parking regulations) then maybe, because of your correspondence with these people, an action for damages just may be successful but until then...

Ignore it.

I can't offer advice about the fine, but could you blu-tac the badge to the dashboard so it doesn't slip?

oh dear I shouldn't have replied should I To blardy hoest never done anything wrong in my life etc

I think I will pay can't cope with stress of it more to add to buldging overdraft that is getting bigger and bigger.

Thank you all for your advice though IF their was a next time I will not reply...but they got me over a barrel.

Please don't let them bully your hard-earned, much-needed cash out of you.

My dad had a proper parking fine - ie from the council, not private - over a very similar matter. He appealed, saying that the blue badge had been in the car (it had) and properly visible (also true), and that the onus was on them to prove that it had not. They couldn't. The appeal was therefore successful, and the fine was quietly dropped.

If people who are authorised to collect parking fines accepted this, then people who are not authorised to collect parking fines surely have not got a leg to stand on.

You may have weakened your position by replying but they certainly have not got you over a barrel.

They cannot force you to pay unless they go to court. They are very unlikely to do that.

If they did sue, there is a reasonable chance the court would decide that the parking company is not entitled to anything at all. Even if the court ruled in the company's favour, the court is unlikely to award anything like as much as the fine they are currently claiming. Any award by the court will be limited to whatever loss the parking company can show they have suffered due to you parking in a disabled space for 10 minutes. Any amount beyond this is a penalty which cannot be enforced. So, for example, if it would have cost you £1 to park if you hadn't used a disabled space, that is all you will have to pay. You would not have to pay the company's legal costs or their costs in sending you the "parking ticket" (it is actually an invoice), so they would almost certainly end up out of pocket if they sue. They know that which is why they are very unlikely to take you to court.

You should write to them saying that you will not pay unless the courts rule in their favour and telling them that you will report them to the police if they send any further threatening letters as this is a criminal offence. If they send round debt collectors (which does sometimes happen) do not let them in. Tell them they are trespassing and demanding money with menaces and that you will report them to the police unless they leave immediately.

The law is on your side. Please don't give in to these bullies.

I would refuse and threaten to go to the local press with a 'single mum with disables child bullied by parking giant'.

Don't do anything. Just ignore them. Forever.

No way should you pay.
>threaten to go to the local press with a 'single mum with disables child bullied by parking giant'.
that's a good tactic. Also your idea of writing to your MP may be worth while (MPs can be suprisingly effective for some things.)

Find out who owns the company and write to them directly. CC your MP and local council leader.

Oh - name and shame. I am sure lots of lovely MNttrs will join in a letter campaign.

if going to court makes you nervous, another possibility would be to write to Boots and let them know the details. The parking company is only there, on private property, because they have a contract with the shops.