Parking Ticket - Scam?

[secsee1]

Yesterday my friend who is disabled parked her car in town as she does most weeks displaying her "blue badge" she was only gone half an hour and returned to find a ticket on her windscreen saying she was illegally parked and had been fined £90.00.
The ticket was not issued by a traffic warden, local council or or by the police but by a company called "TPS total parking solutions Ltd." I have been told that these parking tickets are a scam and not to pay them, but on the ticket it states all unpaid fines will be dealt with through the courts and may involve dept collection agencies and could reduce your credit rating.
Advice please.

[hc4361]

Where did she park? Was it on the public highway or in a car park?

[secsee1]

It was on the public highway in a parking bay.

[factor-fiction]

On the public highway? Are there any signs up on the road? It can only be valid if teh council have put signs up saying they have outsourced parked control to this company

[THEMOTLEY1]

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=1866899&page=2

[hc4361]

Were there any signs saying disabled badge holders must pay?
Was she parked in a no loading/unloading area, a taxi or doctors' bay?

[hc4361]

In which town did she park?

[EDDIE51]

What she had is not a parking penalty notice which can only be issued by a council or the police, it is just an invoice for a parking fee. The only way the company can claim the fee back is to get a county court judgement which they are VERY unlikely to do. Just ignore it , they will send letters that get more and more threatening but just bin them, they will stop after a few weeks.

[hc4361]

If it is a Parking Charge Notice (an invoice) and not a Fixed Penalty Notice (a fine) then ignoring it is a gamble these days.

http://parking-prankster.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/premier-parking-win-in-court-cautionary.html

[bhg481]

Surely the logical thing to do is to contact the council and ask about parking in that particular place with a blue badge. The council must define the parking rules even if they get an outside agency to enforce them.

[Canary42]

Empty threats - report the company to Trading Standards.

[hc4361]

Trading Standards won't be interested.

[THEMOTLEY1]

Trading Standards is a good idea

[emeritus]

In the first instance appeal against the charge. I wouldnt ignore it at this stage.

If she was legally parked displaying the blue badge it should be overturned.

Link here for appealing


http://www.totalparking.co.uk/appeals/

[EDDIE51]

hc4361 That link says just ONE case has been won by a parking company and that case is going to appeal with a strong chance of winning.
Just ignore it will go away.

[sunny-dave]

The law has changed, Eddie - ignoring these tickets now is a gamble.

In this case I'd get in touch with the Local Authority and ask whether TPS should be honouring Blue Badges at the relevant parking place.

It may appear to be 'on street', but could technically be a Car Park & hence Blue Badges are only valid as per any notices at the parking place.

[ivor4781]

ignore it
but just to give you peace of mind call at your local council office or collar a traffic warden for advice on this if you were not in a loading area and your blue badge was displayed in the correct manor "on the dash the right way " youve no woreis as far as i can see

[bhg481]

I was talking to my brother-in-law recently who said that he had almost been given a ticket by a warden for parking on double-yellow lines with his blue badge. The warden pointed out that there were lines on the pavement as well as the ones on the road which mean "no loading" and blue-badge holders are not allowed to park there. Could this be the case with your friend secsee1?