Parking charge Notice in an NHS Hospital Car Parl

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Tue 29 Oct 2013 16:27
Parking charge Notice in an NHS Hospital Car Parl - Armitage Shanks {p}

My daughter attended a hospital as an out-patient and parked in a disabled space and displayed the relevant Blue Disabled Permit. She was there just over an hour and she got a ticket. The notice states that she either didn't pay or overstayed what she had paid for.

The hospital web-site shows that if one wishes to use a Blue Badge it has to be registered with the Hospital but there is no signage to that effect at the car park entrance and no reference to this requirement in her out-patient appointment paperwork.

She has lodged an appeal with Parking Eye.

What does anyone think about this situation, please

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Tue 29 Oct 2013 17:10
Parking charge Notice in an NHS Hospital Car Parl - FP

What I think about this situation, or indeed the whole issue of patient-parking at hospitals, is hardly something I would commit to print. Putting it mildly - it stinks.

I think AS's daughter has probably acted correctly in making an appeal. The question then arises as to what is to be done should the appeal be unsuccessful. I would simply not respond to any further demands for money and be prepared to defend my position if the matter went to court, where the arguments would hinge on the adequacy or otherwise of the signage and whether the amount demanded by the parking company reasonably relates to any losses they suffered.

Fairly recent changes to the law, meaning that the registered keeper of the vehicle may be pursued for parking charges, has resulted in very few, if any, successful court cases for the parking companies, as I understand it.

As always, pepipoo.com may offer your daughter some moral support.

P.S. Some photos of what the signs actually do say might come in useful.

Edited by FP on 29/10/2013 at 17:16

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Tue 29 Oct 2013 17:28
Parking charge Notice in an NHS Hospital Car Parl - 72 dudes

I agree with FP - the whole issue of patient parking is getting ridiculous. AS's daughter should continue with her appeal.

The local hospital here is due to bring in similar rules over the next few months, and as my wife is also a blue badge holder, I will follow this post with interest

All we have to go on is a vague statement in the local paper about the impending changes a few weeks ago, certainly no communication at the actual hospital.

Sounds like a good wheeze for the parking company to increase profits in the short term at the expense of unsuspecting blue badge holders.

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Tue 29 Oct 2013 18:07
Parking charge Notice in an NHS Hospital Car Parl - Armitage Shanks {p}

It happens that I am the registered keeper, not that this is relevant, I just get the correspondence! Thank for the comments so far; I will be sure to post updates. I am going to go down the ignoring correspondence route if the appeal, which she is making, is unsuccesful,

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Tue 29 Oct 2013 21:44
Parking charge Notice in an NHS Hospital Car Parl - daveyjp
Do not ignore Parking Eye, they will send Court papers.

Far better to start preparing now for the inevitable rejectiona nd use POPLA. Pepipoo, Parking Prankster and Moneysavingexpert are all good resources.

An appeal through POPLA is easy to prepare, it costs Parking Eye money.

As a hospital provides a service which is free how can they show the hospital has lost money by someone parking where they deem they shouldn't? This is a central plank of them demanding money.

Plenty of POPLA success stories here which give a gist of how you win.

forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4488...2

Edited by daveyjp on 29/10/2013 at 21:48

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Wed 30 Oct 2013 06:58
Parking charge Notice in an NHS Hospital Car Parl - Armitage Shanks {p}

Thank you Davey. I will do some research. As the Parking, as opposed to Penalty, notices are unenforceable in law what is a court case going to relate to, broadly speaking?

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Wed 30 Oct 2013 09:34
Parking charge Notice in an NHS Hospital Car Parl - bathtub tom

An interesting situation's cropped up locally.

Motorist ignored all correspondence to do with a parking charge notice. They've now received notice from a county court bulk centre (or something similar). It appears the parking company can put dozens of cases this way and if the recipient continues to do nothing then judgement can be awarded by default!

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Wed 30 Oct 2013 10:59
Parking charge Notice in an NHS Hospital Car Parl - FP

"As the Parking, as opposed to Penalty, notices are unenforceable in law what is a court case going to relate to, broadly speaking?"

As I said in my earlier post, any court case in which the parking company makes a claim agaonst a driver/registered keeper hinges on the alleged breach of a contract that is deemed to exist between the driver and the company based on signage displayed at the site setting out the terms of the contract. Supposedly, if the driver parks their car, they must have read the contract and, by parking, agreed to it.

Based on this, the parking company claims money from the driver, but this may only be awarded by the court if the company can show it has suffered a loss from the alleged breach of contract.

So the parking company must (a) prove the signage was adequate and (b) that an actual loss has resulted.

Considering these companies routinely attempt to get substantial amounts from people it looks unlikely that these amounts would be seen by a court as representing a reasonable reimbursement for their losses - assuming they could even prove they had sustained any loss at all.

As for the signage, things like the wording, the legibility and visibility, the number of signs and their location could all be scrutinised by a court.

Edited by FP on 30/10/2013 at 10:59

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Wed 30 Oct 2013 11:25
Parking charge Notice in an NHS Hospital Car Parl - FP

Two footnotes to the above: I found the following on a well-known website. AS might like to ponder.

"I was accussed of trespassing. I would say ignore all letters, but if they come from a court then never ignore! Getting a ccj ruins your credit rating. My court case was all fairly easy- the courts arranged it so I didn't have to take a day's unpaid leave, and the settlement was the same price as the original 'charge'. I think they wanted to make an example of me because I posted about it on a well known website. Their barrister had print outs of my forum conversations." (This very subjective account omits any detail about what evidence was submitted by the defendant and whether the parking company was challenged on signage and/or losses sustained.)

Secondly, there have been legal discussions about whether a parking company is even legally able to claim money from alleged parking offenders, or whether any contract that exists is in fact with the landowner, not the parking company. (If you were in court it seems to me that area would be best left to a lawyer.) See tinyurl.com/nbo5bsu for a recent interesting case involving B & Q and Parking Eye.

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Wed 30 Oct 2013 14:57
Parking charge Notice in an NHS Hospital Car Parl - concrete

My daughter attended a hospital as an out-patient and parked in a disabled space and displayed the relevant Blue Disabled Permit. She was there just over an hour and she got a ticket. The notice states that she either didn't pay or overstayed what she had paid for.

The hospital web-site shows that if one wishes to use a Blue Badge it has to be registered with the Hospital but there is no signage to that effect at the car park entrance and no reference to this requirement in her out-patient appointment paperwork.

She has lodged an appeal with Parking Eye.

What does anyone think about this situation, please

Hello AS, what is the world coming to? I always though that special consideration was given to blue badge holders. It is bad enough being disabled or immobile without the likes of Parking Eye making life more difficult. I hope you go to court and make them sorry they bothered you. No self respecting Judge would give them the time of day and would be sympathetic to you. They cannot possibly prove any loss or damages because of tour DiL's actions, so go for it. Best of luck. Concrete

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Thu 31 Oct 2013 07:15
Parking charge Notice in an NHS Hospital Car Parl - Dwight Van Driver

Muses without full research As......

There is , as you know, statutory authority, to use a BB to negate prosecution in relation to certain parking infringments on roads, which does not seem to have been carried forward as such under the Protection of Freendom Act although through the provision of BB bays the private sector seem to have carried this through.

As stated above you may well have an argument in relation to lack of signing of the requirement to book in with hospital reception so careful note of just whjat is stated and where?

There are parts of this civil case in relation to loss of revenue you may have an interest in?

forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4800...0

Rgds

Dvd

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Mon 4 Nov 2013 16:47
Parking charge Notice in an NHS Hospital Car Parl - Armitage Shanks {p}

Thanks for that DVD - I have been off the net for a long weekend. Apparently daughter stated she had parked in a marked disabled bay and displayed a Blue Badge so WTF? The penalty charge has been dropped and I, as the keeper, have had a letter to that effect. Why it was issued in the first place is a matter of conjecture

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Mon 4 Nov 2013 18:34
Parking charge Notice in an NHS Hospital Car Parl - FP

"The penalty charge has been dropped..." That is very good news, AS. Common sense prevails - in this case at least.

"Why it was issued in the first place is a matter of conjecture" - well, you did say higher up that "The hospital web-site shows that if one wishes to use a Blue Badge it has to be registered with the Hospital." Your daughter's blue badge was not so registered, as she did not know she had to. Presumably that is why the notice was issued. It is, of course, a pretty daft requirement.

Edited by FP on 04/11/2013 at 18:35

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Tue 5 Nov 2013 21:49
Parking charge Notice in an NHS Hospital Car Parl - martint123

There are car parks round here both private and council owned where parking in bays marked for disabled drivers is not free. Wide bays with room to fully open doors and near the exits - but a requirement to buy a parking ticket.

tinyurl.com/mfdcuqe

Why do you charge for disabled parking?

Some other councils also charge for disabled parking, it is for each council to decide its own policy. This council considers that disability is not necessarily related to the ability to pay and the issue is one of convenient access to nearby facilities, for which dedicated bays are provided.

Edited by martint123 on 05/11/2013 at 22:01

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