To just pay this NCP parking charge or challenge it?

[SK1973]

DS18’s girlfriend is registered disabled and carries a blue badge.

A few weeks ago they went for a meal and parked at a NCP car park.

They parked in a disabled bay, displayed the blue badge and had their meal.

Ds has had just had a parking charge notice through stating he didn’t pay for parking.

Looking on the NCP website it states you need to register a disabled blue badge with NCP either previous to the visit or up to 24 hours later, something ds or his girlfriend failed to realised was part of NCPs policy (many other car parks do not have this policy so was a bit of a shock).

If this was a situation you were in would you pay or appeal? Charge is £60 within 2 weeks or £100 thereafter.

Are any of you able to visit the car park to check on the signage? I.e is it clear at the car park that the car needs to be registered?

Depends if there are signs up in the carpark saying this. It shouldn't be assumed that disabled badge means free parking (it's for more convenient easier access not free) , so I would expect the blue badge policy to be displayed near the pay stations.

If it’s the terms of the car park and there were signs up and they just didn’t read them then o I wouldn’t appeal as I’m not sure what you’d be appealing really, they got it wrong.

I agree with pp, if there are clear signs in the car park explaining the system then there's no point appealing.

Is it one of the automatic NCP car parks? A lot of them charge by registration and you have to pay within 24 hours. They wouldn’t know you’re a blue badge holder (assuming this means free?) unless you have added one to your reg before hand.

I’d be inclined to try and pay without prejudice but then appeal anyway, as you have no grounds for appeal your just be asking for someone to show some goodwill, so I wouldn’t risk having to pay the higher price.

I would try and appeal to their better nature (if they have one). It’s worth a try. Just state, you are truly sorry this happened and clearly an error on your part but please would they consider cancelling on this occasion

I think they may just have to pay, I’m a bit concerned if they appeal and it’s overturned then it will go past the 14 days, which up till then is £60. Over that it’s goes up to £100.

I assume there must be notices around but it’s not something I’ve come across myself. I am a PA for a disabled person and we regularly park in disabled bays with the blue badge and have never had any issues but saying that we’ve never parked in a NCP car park. The one ds parked in is 30 miles away so we can’t go back and check, not sure if they all have the same blanket policy or it differs from town to town?

Lesson learnt I suppose and I’ll definitely make a note if I ever park in a NCP with my employer.

Not a NCP car park but a well known private car parking firm we got caught out too. Basically their response was their land = their rules regardless of blue badge....

And yes it has made us wary of parking with them again

Round here it is only council run carparks that are free so I always check

I think usually the 14 day thing gets paused/reset if you appeal. It does depend on the signage imo

It's tricky if you can't pop in and check whether it should have been obvious.

Worth a look through their T&Cs? https://www.ncp.co.uk/help-centre/website-terms-and-conditions/?gl=11a1ephqhqupMQ...gaaMTU1MDU3NTkyMi4xNzE4NTY1MTM5M5ga_M17GKYHPJHMTcxODU2NTEzOC4xLjAuMTcxODU2NTEzOC4wLjAuMjkyMDQ1MDkw

Sorry about the messy link!

You need to pay in most car parks- it’s unusual to get free parking with a BB.

I’ve never had to pay in the 5 years I’ve been driving as a PA for a blue badge holder and I’ve never had to pay for my mum who is also entitled to a blue badge but maybe we’ve just been fortunate where we have parked so far?

I think many private car parks are tightening up on there policies so I’ll definitely be keeping my eyes open and reading every sign when we park in future.

Ds has paid the fine but will most definitely be looking at the rules with each car park they visit in future. Once bitten, twice shy and all that.

Weird. My mum and I both have blue badges (my mum has had one for over 20 years, I’ve had one for about 4 years) and we always presume we need to pay in car parks… it’s a rare surprise when we find we don’t have to.

Maybe it varies by region.