A Disabled Charity And A PPC

A question about : A Disabled Charity And A PPC

Over on the CAG forum a disabled driver (against our advice) appealed to a PPC because they had received a ticket for non-display of the their blue-badge. This is the letter they received back from the PPC:-

Thank you for your correspondence regarding the above parking notice charge.
Your vehicle was parked in a disabled bay without having a disabled badge on display. By parking your vehicle you have entered a contract to display a valid disabled badge or pay a parking charge of Ј100 (reduced to Ј60 if paid within 14 days). As you failed to display your disabled badge you were correctly issued with a parking charge which will stand.
In a joint venture with Mobilise, the leading charity for disabled motorists (drivers and passengers) UKCPS is offering disabled badge holders the chance to pay a reduced charge of Ј44. This will include free membership of Mobilise for one year - which UKCPS will pay.
Mobilise is a campaigning charity for disabled motorists and Blue Badge holders. They lobby government and businesses across the UK in order to improve parking, refuelling and access provision for disabled people, so that they can access the goods and services that they need.
The offer to join the scheme and pay the reduced charge is available for the next ten days, after this time the full charge is payable. If you wish to take up the offer please fill in your details on the enclosed form along with payment of Ј44.
UKCPS Ltd is an ethical company, we are Data Protection registered, SIA approved members of the BPA (British Parking Authority) and registered with the DVLA.
Regards
UKCPS Appeals Department

Why on earth is a organization such as Mobilise associating itself with a PPC? Especially one that does not know (or disregards) the rules on blue-badges in private car-parks and possible breaches of the DDA.

A couple of us have already emailed Mobilise to point out the true nature of PPCs and also the law on blue badges on private land. Anyone else want to email them?

Best answers:

• I will, but got no idea what to write. Can you give a copy of what you wrote ?
• I pointed out to them that the Blue-badge scheme is not valid on private land and that to limit disabled spaces to Blue-Badge holders is a breach of the DDA because it discriminates aginst disabled people who do not have a blue badge. You could also point out to them that the PPC's "charges" are probably illegal because they bear no relationship to the material loss suffered by the landowner. This post from somebody over on the CAG sums that point up nicely:-
  UKCPS say you entered into a contract to display a badge and that you agree to pay them Ј100 if you don't. This is actually a contractual penalty clause - if you don't display, you have breached the contract and they are entitled to actual losses caused. Their losses are zero.
  You could also point out that UKCPS have a very shaky knowledge of the law. Their website is full of such phrases as "illegally parked on your premises", "'enforcement notices'", and they don't seem to know the difference between "registered keeper" and "driver" when trying to cliam their charges.
• "We are an ethical company"
• Hahaaaa Ill be writing to them then as well , strange but ive not heard owt from Euro about discriminating against non blue badge folks who park in disabled spaces when other family members are technically disabled...if you get my drift on that one. I keep mailing them but they are ignoring me now to55er5
• I wrote a very long email - I am fuming that Mobilise are so naive as to get dragged into a practice that breaches the DDA!
• Mobilise could end up in very hot water over this.
  I leave it to Coupon-mad who has experience in this sector.
• The Mobilise website also has a forum. It might be worthwhile subscribing to it. This is a way of telling the ordinary members some home-truths about the sort of organizations their charity is getting involved with.
• Baywatch Is your local supermarket clamping disabled bay abusers, or are you constantly having trouble parking because of a lack of enforcement?
  -----
  When they have forums with such things in their title, you realise how much they are out of touch, surely if cars were clamped that would block up the parking space ?
• Money from any source for a charity is welcome money. Charities even accept money from Bill Gates.
  Sadly the amazing blue badge isn't the be all end all of disabled people's needs for parking. I know of some people who use and abuse a blue badge putting it in their windscreen when the holder is not present with them, which they only seem to do in order to park near to entrances, presumably through sheer arrogance and laziness. I am sure such abuse is more widespread than non-disabled people utilising a bay with a disabled marking in a car park.
  Why is it that: -
  Non-disabled person abusing a blue badge = okay
  Whereas genuine disabled person who forgot to display their badge = not okay?
  I hope the person who received this letter does not pay them!
• The big problem of this business is the stupidity of CAB advising the victims of scammers to appeal to the scumbags. Why don't the CAB actually research the law instead of taking advice from the BPA and reading Perky Law for Dummies? We all know of instances of daft advice from Consumer Direct.
• The Baywatch page on the Mobilise website is so full of errors, with all that talk about "fines" and "blue badges". They really need educating about this.
• Who wants to bet that Mobilise has never heard of the PPC and has never received a penny from them?
• They are aware of the PPC. If you look on the left-had-side of this page You will see the UKCPS Logo.
  Also look here for another page full of misinformation
  Surely they must have read this on the UK Government website:-
  The Blue Badge Scheme does not apply to off-street car parks, private roads and at most airports.