Parking in a disabled bay.....the badge slipped from the dash

[m26city]

On the 5/8/2013 my wife and i parked at a shopping centre in Birmingham in the disabled bay. My wife's blue badge was placed on the dash board. We returned to the car later and found a parking ticket issued by Defence Systems Ltd with a fine of £60. The badge had slipped from the dash board. I looked for a attendant to explain, to no avail. So i took a photo of the badge and the disabled tax disc and sent an email to them explaining the problem, After a day or so with no reply i resent the email, this time asking them to confirm they had received it. Still nothing. I was told that if they were going to proceed with the fine i would hear something. Now today 9/7/2014 i have received a letter from Debt Recovery Plus Ltd saying that there client Defence Systems Ltd has recently written to me about the unpaid parking charge now £149 and i have been advised to pay in full by 21/7/2014 or they will recommend there client to a solicitor and court action to recover the debt. I have received nothing from them neither letter or email.
Can anybody give me any advise please.

[mystery1]

Re: Parking in a disabled bay.....the badge slipped from the dash

Who are they chasing ? The driver or the registered keeper ?

Do you still have all correspondence ?

M1

[m26city]

Re: Parking in a disabled bay.....the badge slipped from the dash

All i have is the 2 emails i sent dated 9/8/2013 and 11/8/2013. I have not received anything from them at all till today . It doesn't say who they are after. But my name is on the header so i suppose its me . Just parking in a disabled bay without clearly displaying a valid badge

[mystery1]

Re: Parking in a disabled bay.....the badge slipped from the dash

Have you ever said or indicated who was driving?

I, assume, from your reply that you are the registered keeper ?

This leaves 2 scenarios.

1. Your Wife was driving and you should name her to them so she gets here own notice and can appeal and if rejected go to popla.

2. You are being chased as the registered keeper and, by the sounds of it, they have not complied with the protection of freedoms act and thus cannot, in a legal sense, chase the registered keeper. In this case i'd either send a reply stating they have not met PoFA requirements to chase the keeper sop1ss off or ignore everything bar court papees http://www.parkingcowboys.co.uk/keeper-liability/

M1

[Johnboy007]

Re: Parking in a disabled bay.....the badge slipped from the dash

Unfortunately, legislation has passed onus of guilt onto the owner of the vehicle, not the driver.
However, all is not lost.
Just appeal to popla.
There is such a word as discretion, and the parking company should have used this when notified of the Blue Badge.
I too have a Blue-Badge and it is easy to forget to put it into the window.
That doesn't mean to say that you are not disabled, merely that you forgot to put the badge in the window.
I also had one incident where on closing the door, the badge did fall to the floor.
I got a ticket, appealed it and asked them to use their discretion, as allowed for in parking reg's.
I would be very, very surprised if the parking ticket was not cancelled.
Asking for £149.00 is robbery.
Point out that the Office Of Fair Trading has stated that the charge must reflect the actual loss to the company.
Ask for a breakdown of their losses....
But I think this will only go as far as POPLA..