Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Parking in disabled spaces when disabled person sitting in car

497 replies

Mokel · 05/07/2024 14:42

If the blue badge holder isn’t going to leave the car, the car shouldn’t be parked in a disabled bay.

The purpose behind disabled bays is for disabled people don’t have to walk far to entrances to shops, doctors etc. If not leaving the car, there’s no need to park up there.

If a non disabled person is going to leave the car leaving the disabled person in the car, they should be parking in a normal parking space.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
EmmaMaria · 17/02/2025 17:03

Lovelysausagedogscrumpy · 17/02/2025 16:49

I saw it as a benefit adviser - admittedly I’ve been retired a while, but it depended on how the person qualified for the BB. If it was automatic qualification via PIP, or legacy/child DLA mobility component councils would report the badge misuse to DWP, and in many cases it triggered a review in which the claimant would be interviewed under caution.

Edited
Show quote history

How long have you been retired? Because unless there is reason to believe that the disability is fraudulent there has been no point in the last 30 years when this was done, and disclosing personal information of this nature would land the council in some serious data protection shit! Whether or not you have a blue badge and whether or not you misuse it has no relevance at all to qualification for PIP or DLA, and it would therefore be an offence for the council to disclose it.

I am not sure why you are both arguing with a thread from last July, but have you considered that more than one person in the car is disabled? Happens quite a lot.

Lovelysausagedogscrumpy · 17/02/2025 17:08

phishy · 07/07/2024 13:37

Really good point. ‘You should not use the badge to allow non-disabled people to take advantage of the benefits while you sit in the car’ is not the same as ‘You should not sit in the car when the non-disabled person is out of the car.’

Show quote history

Er - yes it is. It’s perfectly clear. If the disabled person is sitting in the car and not intending to get out then they should not be parked in a disabled bay or displaying the badge. The disabled person is not getting any benefit because they are not moving from the car. I can’t believe this is such a difficult concept to grasp.

Lovelysausagedogscrumpy · 17/02/2025 17:20

EmmaMaria · 17/02/2025 17:03

How long have you been retired? Because unless there is reason to believe that the disability is fraudulent there has been no point in the last 30 years when this was done, and disclosing personal information of this nature would land the council in some serious data protection shit! Whether or not you have a blue badge and whether or not you misuse it has no relevance at all to qualification for PIP or DLA, and it would therefore be an offence for the council to disclose it.

I am not sure why you are both arguing with a thread from last July, but have you considered that more than one person in the car is disabled? Happens quite a lot.

Show quote history

There were discretionary and statutory powers enabling DWP and LA’s to share information where benefit fraud was suspected. And I came across cases where claimants were interviewed under caution because the discovery of the abuse of the BB uncovered circumstances which indicated associated benefit fraud. I retired in 2010.

And I’ve just realised that this is a zombie thread so no idea why it came up on trending. And yes, it’s very possible that more than one person in the car could be disabled but that’s not what’s being discussed here is it ? We’re specifically talking about the disabled person sitting in the car while the able bodied person takes advantage of the badge and parking space.

EmmaMaria · 17/02/2025 17:31

Lovelysausagedogscrumpy · 17/02/2025 17:20

There were discretionary and statutory powers enabling DWP and LA’s to share information where benefit fraud was suspected. And I came across cases where claimants were interviewed under caution because the discovery of the abuse of the BB uncovered circumstances which indicated associated benefit fraud. I retired in 2010.

And I’ve just realised that this is a zombie thread so no idea why it came up on trending. And yes, it’s very possible that more than one person in the car could be disabled but that’s not what’s being discussed here is it ? We’re specifically talking about the disabled person sitting in the car while the able bodied person takes advantage of the badge and parking space.

Show quote history

To be fair they were specifically assuming that the person who got out of the car was not also disabled. Unless someone knows for a fact that the person getting out is not disabled, then they are assuming that they can determine disability by looking at them. They cannot.

Sharing information where there is suspected benefit fraud is different from what you said, which was the point that I responded to. You said "it depended on how the person qualified for the BB. If it was automatic qualification via PIP, or legacy/child DLA mobility component councils would report the badge misuse to DWP, and in many cases it triggered a review in which the claimant would be interviewed under caution." Purely misusing the badge is wrong, but that cannot be reported to the DWP because it is nothing to do with them. And misusing the badge is not, in itself, benefit fraud.

Lovelysausagedogscrumpy · 17/02/2025 18:29

EmmaMaria · 17/02/2025 17:31

To be fair they were specifically assuming that the person who got out of the car was not also disabled. Unless someone knows for a fact that the person getting out is not disabled, then they are assuming that they can determine disability by looking at them. They cannot.

Sharing information where there is suspected benefit fraud is different from what you said, which was the point that I responded to. You said "it depended on how the person qualified for the BB. If it was automatic qualification via PIP, or legacy/child DLA mobility component councils would report the badge misuse to DWP, and in many cases it triggered a review in which the claimant would be interviewed under caution." Purely misusing the badge is wrong, but that cannot be reported to the DWP because it is nothing to do with them. And misusing the badge is not, in itself, benefit fraud.

Show quote history

Well no, there have been posters who have actually admitted that they are not disabled and leave the disabled person sitting in the car while they run the errand or do the shopping or whatever. Another poster is trying to justify it by saying that having parked in the disabled spot, the disabled person may not feel like getting out of the car. In neither case should they be parked in a disabled bay or displaying the badge. If the disabled person isn’t leaving the car, the space should be left for someone else who needs it.

Needmoresleep · 17/02/2025 22:57

This is all very weird.

Yes after taking mum mum to the doctors I would park outside the chemist using her badge. I would leave her there, remove the keys and lock the door and dash in, checking regularly that she was still OK.

She had Alzheimers. I would not have left her out of sight. Getting her sorted to come in with me would have taken an age. (90 with mobility problems.) OK I may have taken a space that someone else could use...but for five minutes.

If the police had spotted this huge fraud, I would have happily said it was all her idea and suggested they arrest her.

Caring for someone is tough. Part of it is not to sweat the small stuff. I was driving 100 miles to get her to an appointment, with 100 miles return journey. Picking up thr tablets at the chemist round the corner from the GP seemed obvious. If this means I am disapproved of my MN so be it.

HamptonPlace · 18/02/2025 09:43

raspberryberet7 · 05/07/2024 14:49

You are ill informed. Disabled bags are for cars that have a blue badge to make their life easier not so they don't have to walk as far.

Show quote history

Isn't that the same thing?

HamptonPlace · 18/02/2025 09:47

In my experience, and where i live (Edinburgh), and i'm all in favour of providing loads of handicapped spots.. over 20 years I have never ever seen any shop etc when there were not loads of free handicap spaces, night or day, 52 weeks of the year. And that's as it should be! Perhaps Edinburgh (and I presume other places) are different than, say, SE England, but i am somewhat perplexed, from my own experience, as described, with the volume of threads on this topic. Happy to be informed!!

Rewis · 18/02/2025 09:52

I agree in theory. But I feel like there are so much more erogenous misuse of disabled bays that I really can't be too bothered by this.

Needmoresleep · 18/02/2025 09:55

Did you mean to use the word "erogenous".

Cars bouncing in disabled bays?

buffyajp2 · 18/02/2025 09:58

Aquamarine1029 · 05/07/2024 14:46

If someone has a blue badge, they are entitled to park in a handicap space, end of, and it's nobody's business what they do from there. You have better things to concern yourself with surely.

you might want to consider your terminology yourself. Handicap has long since been regarded as offensive and should not be used.

DumpyJane · 18/02/2025 10:00

Needmoresleep · 17/02/2025 22:57

This is all very weird.

Yes after taking mum mum to the doctors I would park outside the chemist using her badge. I would leave her there, remove the keys and lock the door and dash in, checking regularly that she was still OK.

She had Alzheimers. I would not have left her out of sight. Getting her sorted to come in with me would have taken an age. (90 with mobility problems.) OK I may have taken a space that someone else could use...but for five minutes.

If the police had spotted this huge fraud, I would have happily said it was all her idea and suggested they arrest her.

Caring for someone is tough. Part of it is not to sweat the small stuff. I was driving 100 miles to get her to an appointment, with 100 miles return journey. Picking up thr tablets at the chemist round the corner from the GP seemed obvious. If this means I am disapproved of my MN so be it.

This is very similar to my own situation so I can relate. I also drive from London to Brighton to help an elderly disabled friend once a fortnight. Having said that, I did take on board the arguments (an original zombie here,@Lovelysausagedogscrumpy and @LadyKenya) and have tried to discourage my friend from assuming that her badge is to 'help me help her'. Not easy. We now have arguments each time we go out as I try to ascertain if she is likely to leave the car (we stay in DB) or just wait for me (I park elsewhere). It's complicated as I'm only there for a short time and we have a lot to get done. She's also quite hard-up and the parking fees when not using the badge would hamper her shopping trips a lot. But we battle on

Maddy70 · 18/02/2025 10:08

The are allowed to park though. So whether you think it's morally right or not doesn't matter

TallulahBetty · 18/02/2025 10:32

HamptonPlace · 18/02/2025 09:47

In my experience, and where i live (Edinburgh), and i'm all in favour of providing loads of handicapped spots.. over 20 years I have never ever seen any shop etc when there were not loads of free handicap spaces, night or day, 52 weeks of the year. And that's as it should be! Perhaps Edinburgh (and I presume other places) are different than, say, SE England, but i am somewhat perplexed, from my own experience, as described, with the volume of threads on this topic. Happy to be informed!!

Handicapped? Really?

HamptonPlace · 18/02/2025 10:34

TallulahBetty · 18/02/2025 10:32

Handicapped? Really?

Show quote history

Genuine apologies (and i've seen this term used multiple times, in this post, alone) but I would be very willing to use another term for these spots. Honestly. What should they be referred to as? Thank you.

PaterPower · 18/02/2025 10:40

Presumably OP is posing the question because he/she uses a blue badge (or has a reli that does) and has been stopped from accessing disabled spaces because of the situation they describe.

In similar circumstances (popping solo into a shop whilst my blue badge holding MIL stays in the car) I wouldn’t use the disabled bays. Precisely because I know how necessary it is for some disabled people to be closer to the shop / business and have the extra room around them to get out or into wheelchairs etc. My MIL needs all that, but I don’t.

I wouldn’t, however, choose to police other people’s behaviour in the same scenario. You can only do what you feel is morally right in the circumstances.

TallulahBetty · 18/02/2025 11:04

HamptonPlace · 18/02/2025 10:34

Genuine apologies (and i've seen this term used multiple times, in this post, alone) but I would be very willing to use another term for these spots. Honestly. What should they be referred to as? Thank you.

Show quote history

Disabled spaces or blue badge spaces.

sashh · 18/02/2025 11:45

Needmoresleep · 17/02/2025 22:57

This is all very weird.

Yes after taking mum mum to the doctors I would park outside the chemist using her badge. I would leave her there, remove the keys and lock the door and dash in, checking regularly that she was still OK.

She had Alzheimers. I would not have left her out of sight. Getting her sorted to come in with me would have taken an age. (90 with mobility problems.) OK I may have taken a space that someone else could use...but for five minutes.

If the police had spotted this huge fraud, I would have happily said it was all her idea and suggested they arrest her.

Caring for someone is tough. Part of it is not to sweat the small stuff. I was driving 100 miles to get her to an appointment, with 100 miles return journey. Picking up thr tablets at the chemist round the corner from the GP seemed obvious. If this means I am disapproved of my MN so be it.

That might have been the five mins that I had driven to the chemist, the medication I was on at the time meant I had about 2 hours where I was fit to drive, but not able to drive for those 2 hours.

I challenged the police officer trying to give me a ticket to ticket the cars in the disabled bay, not me for parking too near to corner.

They would not have arrested your mother but they could confiscate the blue badge and fine her up to £1000.

Needmoresleep · 18/02/2025 12:06

I'm not sure I understand. The shopping street is majority disabled bays. 30 or more. Usually empty.

To be honest managing the care of someone with Alzheimers, and I did for a decade - essentially the whole of DCs pre-teen and teenage years - was so challenging that if the police had done anything, I might have handed over the car keys with my mum in the car and told them to sort it all out with Social services.

Sahara123 · 18/02/2025 12:09

Aquamarine1029 · 05/07/2024 14:46

If someone has a blue badge, they are entitled to park in a handicap space, end of, and it's nobody's business what they do from there. You have better things to concern yourself with surely.

You’re actually wrong, the disabled person cannot wait in the car while a non disabled person shops. And PLEASE don’t use the word handicapped, that went out at least 39 years ago …

Sahara123 · 18/02/2025 12:10

HamptonPlace · 18/02/2025 10:34

Genuine apologies (and i've seen this term used multiple times, in this post, alone) but I would be very willing to use another term for these spots. Honestly. What should they be referred to as? Thank you.

Show quote history

Blue badge spaces

Sahara123 · 18/02/2025 12:15

Needmoresleep · 17/02/2025 22:57

This is all very weird.

Yes after taking mum mum to the doctors I would park outside the chemist using her badge. I would leave her there, remove the keys and lock the door and dash in, checking regularly that she was still OK.

She had Alzheimers. I would not have left her out of sight. Getting her sorted to come in with me would have taken an age. (90 with mobility problems.) OK I may have taken a space that someone else could use...but for five minutes.

If the police had spotted this huge fraud, I would have happily said it was all her idea and suggested they arrest her.

Caring for someone is tough. Part of it is not to sweat the small stuff. I was driving 100 miles to get her to an appointment, with 100 miles return journey. Picking up thr tablets at the chemist round the corner from the GP seemed obvious. If this means I am disapproved of my MN so be it.

Yes, caring for someone is tough. So you’re the person who was parked outside my local chemist the other day,” just for 5 minutes”, using blue badge wrongly, which meant that I couldn’t use the space for my daughter and ended up parking miles away and lugging her wheelchair out of the car. It’s tough being a carer …

Rewis · 18/02/2025 12:17

Needmoresleep · 18/02/2025 09:55

Did you mean to use the word "erogenous".

Cars bouncing in disabled bays?

Got to love autocorrect when keyboard set to another language.
I'll stand by my statement 🤣

Needmoresleep · 18/02/2025 12:19

Sahara123 · 18/02/2025 12:15

Yes, caring for someone is tough. So you’re the person who was parked outside my local chemist the other day,” just for 5 minutes”, using blue badge wrongly, which meant that I couldn’t use the space for my daughter and ended up parking miles away and lugging her wheelchair out of the car. It’s tough being a carer …

Show quote history

Hardly as I would have been looking out the whole time, so would have seen you trying to park or heard you honking your horn.

If I had got my mum into the shop and back again it would have been more like 30 minutes, so even more difficult for you. Though presumably you may have enjoyed watching me struggle.

WalkingonWheels · 18/02/2025 12:27

TallulahBetty · 18/02/2025 10:32

Handicapped? Really?

Show quote history

Christ on a bike. We've returned to the dark ages it seems. I suppose at least it wasn't, "handicapable" 🤮

My husband and I are both disabled and both have badges. I'm a wheelchair user, while he isn't. His disability is invisible.

If we parked somewhere and I didn't want to get out, he is still entitled to park there because HE is also disabled. We all know what they say about assuming.