Charity highlights abuse of disabled parking bays
Disabled Motoring UK, based near Carleton Rode in Norfolk, is asking people to give feedback about accessible parking spaces in supermarket car parks, including if vehicles are displaying a blue badge.
The group's chief executive, Graham Footer, claimed one in 10 people admitted to parking in a disabled bay without a permit.
He said: "Accessible bays are not a 'nice to have' - they are absolutely essential for disabled motorist blue badge holders."
The campaign, named Baywatch, is urging people to feedback on the use of accessible parking spaces six major retailers including Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons.
It hopes to keep supermarkets accountable while highlighting some of the challenges faced by disabled people.
He said: "The pressure is already there to find accessible parking without the added pressure of abuse of accessible bays on top of that.
"It's such a shame when the scheme and bays are abused."
However, the charity asks that people just observe and do not take matters into their own hands by confronting motorists.
"You really don't know who you are challenging," Mr Footer added.
The information will be published for people to see how each supermarket compares.
He said: "It's only when we highlight the issue that anything is done but Baywatch keeps this matter on the agenda... it focuses attention for a short period of time which makes the supermarkets get up and listen."
Natalie Portman, a blue badge holder who also works at Equal Lives, a disability rights organisation in Norfolk and Suffolk, described how she felt there was "scrutiny" and judgement when disabled people parked.
She said smaller shops and parking areas with less spaces could increase tensions.
"I think the assumption to have a blue badge, you have to have some mobility appliance, actually that's not a thing for so many blue badge users.
"That sense of suspicion you get when you use a parking bay until someone decides you're entitled to be there.
"From a disability perspective, and as an individual, that sense of judgement and scrutiny is quite overwhelming when you have that all the time."
Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
'I feel judged when I use my Blue Badge'
Related internet links
Disabled Motoring UK
Equal Lives
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
King and Queen feed polo mints to champion racehorse on visit to Newmarket
The King and Queen each fed a polo mint to the champion racehorse Stradivarius on a visit to the National Stud in Newmarket, Suffolk. Charles, 76, held out the treat on his right palm for the stallion to take, then stroked the horse on the head. Camilla, 78, also gave the horse a mint then petted it as the animal loudly crunched on it. The King said afterwards: 'At least he didn't bite.' His consort said 'keep away from their teeth', adding: 'Now he's looking for more polos.' Charles and Camilla were shown four resident stallions on their visit to the National Stud, with each individually paraded before them. The last of the four was Stradivarius, who has career earnings in excess of £3.4 million and 18 Group wins – more than any other European horse. The King and Queen, who arrived by helicopter, also spoke to people involved in the horseracing industry during Tuesday's visit. Charles shovelled soil into holes beside two already-planted field maple trees and Camilla then watered them from a watering can, before a round of applause, and they left the National Stud in a dark blue BMW car.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Four steps to get ready for the Commission Compensation ruling
The impending Supreme Court decision and the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) redress scheme are set to reshape the motor finance landscape. The effective management of commission compensation will hinge on exceptional customer service and the streamlined efficiency that only a high degree of automation can provide. Here are four critical steps to help motor finance providers ensure their organisations are ready: 1. Master data ingestion and normalisation The first, and arguably most crucial, step is to gain complete control over historical data. Finance companies face significant hurdles with data completeness and accessibility from years past. Advanced analytics and risk assessment capabilities will, therefore, be critical to help make sense of deep historical data sets. This involves ingesting and normalising vast amounts of historical lending data, including loan agreements, commission records (discretionary/non-discretionary, commission applied/not) and past customer interactions. The goal should be to accurately verify the legitimacy of claims and determine customer eligibility. This includes confirming whether a commission payment was made to the retailer, understanding the loan details, and specifically, the type and amount of commission paid. Not every finance agreement included a commission, and commission rates varied (e.g., lower on new cars than used). By centralising and normalising this data, lenders can more accurately assess potential liabilities and identify specific customer segments most likely to file complaints based on their historical finance agreements and commission structures. This foundational step is paramount to calculating accurate compensation allocations. 2. Automate assignment of correct payout to each claim With a clear understanding of the data, the second step will be to automate the assignment of payouts. The evolving regulatory guidance from the FCA and the eventual Supreme Court decision mean that the precise calculations for redress are currently still fluid. This dynamic environment demands extreme flexibility in operational processes. A powerful business rules management system could play a key part in managing this process. It should empower business teams to implement and rapidly adjust business rules to reflect new regulatory guidelines without heavy reliance on IT or external professional services to make changes to rules and decision strategies. This user-controlled autonomy means that once the FCA clarifies the redress methodology (e.g., whether the payout is the commission paid to the retailer compounded over time), lenders can quickly configure their systems to automate these complex calculations. This automation is vital to efficiently handle the surge in claims that many motor finance providers are already experiencing; and which are likely to increase significantly once the Supreme Court decision is delivered. It should prevent the need for manual, case-by-case reviews and enable accurate allocation of hundreds of millions of pounds in potential payouts. 3. Personalise consumer communications The expected surge in complaints post-ruling will also put immense pressure on customer service teams and inevitably impact customer experience, brand loyalty and potentially increase churn across the whole business, not just those who believe they have a claim. Effective, individualised consumer communication will be key to managing this challenge. Proven customer communication and engagement solutions already developed for the financial services space should be able to facilitate clear, consistent and compliant communication with affected customers across various channels, including voice, SMS, mobile applications, email, social media and other channels. Leveraging strong data analytics, lenders should be able to identify the right channel and the right message for each customer. This is crucial for managing expectations, providing timely updates on redress schemes, and proactively reaching out to eligible customers. If, as expected, the ruling leads to a 404 redress scheme, the onus will be on finance companies to proactively contact affected customers, making automated, two-way communication capabilities essential. By automating mass communications, valuable FTE resources can be re-deployed to focus on more complex cases, rather than being overwhelmed by volume. This focus on a seamless digital experience is paramount to maintaining customer experience and reducing churn. 4. Bolster fraud protection Finally – and perhaps most important – in the context of this issue, is the likelihood of increased fraud risk. The activity around commission compensation will inevitably lead to a rise in fraudulent claims and lenders will need to be equipped to validate legitimate claims and identify suspicious ones effectively. Robust fraud protection capabilities need to be factored into the planning and preparation process. For example, through network and link analysis, connections between seemingly disparate claims could be uncovered, helping to identify organised fraud rings or individuals attempting to submit multiple claims through different channels or identities. This will also help to flag "speculative claims" – those submitted without real basis, perhaps encouraged by Claims Management Companies, differentiating them from genuine grievances. By integrating third-party identity verification services, claimant identities can be verified as legitimate and that they are indeed the individuals who entered into the original finance agreements, preventing claims from stolen or synthetic identities. The motor finance sector is, unquestionably, facing one of the most challenging periods in its history. Yet, as a key component of the UK economy, it is vital that it can continue to support clients and deliver services to keep motorists on the road. Preparing for the volume of claims that many providers have already provisioned for will be critical to achieve this. Andrew Williams is Senior Director, Non-Banking Industries for FICO "Four steps to get ready for the Commission Compensation ruling" was originally created and published by Motor Finance Online, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
I replaced my Tesla Model 3 with a BYD Seal. I want nothing to do with Elon Musk anymore.
Kevin Bond bought a Tesla Model 3 with money from his pension after he retired. 5 years later, he replaced it with a BYD Seal after becoming uncomfortable with Elon Musk's actions. Bond said the Seal is quicker and better built than the Model 3, with a nicer interior. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Kevin Bond, a retired director of mental health services from Devon, UK, about swapping his Tesla Model 3 for a BYD Seal. It has been edited for length and clarity. I've lived in Devon for three years. I'm retired now, but I was a director of mental health services and the chief executive of a not-for-profit health and social care company. I bought the Tesla Model 3 in 2020 when I retired, with the lump sum you get with your occupational pension, for my wife. We sold it around three months ago. It just felt really uncomfortable that a single penny of our money would go anywhere near Elon Musk. I've always been a bit uncomfortable with Musk, but as time went on, my wife and I became increasingly uneasy. I think that there's a point where it's beyond just unpleasant, and you believe this guy is actively creating hate and division between people. When the [Southport] riots happened, it felt like he was fanning the flames. I'm not at all comfortable with that, and I don't want to be associated with it. I think he stepped over a line. His support for far-right parties in Germany and his spreading of misinformation is just disgraceful. Model 3 woes If I'm honest, I never really liked the Model 3 that much. There was no denying that when you first got in, it was exciting. You put your foot down, and it goes very fast. But for me, it was not very comfortable. The seats weren't well made, and the interior was cheap and nasty. Many of the important settings were adjusted via the display screen, so your eyes were off the road when they should have been on the road. The doors weren't fitted that well, so you got quite a bit of cabin noise, and after a couple of years, the suspension started squeaking heavily. It just felt cheap. Personally, I didn't think it was very well put together. Initially, the service was OK, but after a few years, the response was awful. It's probably the worst service I've ever had from any car dealer. When we sold the Tesla, it had the worst depreciation of any car I've ever owned. We sold it for just over £10,000 [$13,500] after buying it for nearly £50,000. [Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.] Buying a BYD When we started looking for a new car, I thought that we would have to compromise. What we found was that there are quite a lot of cars that have caught up and overtaken Tesla, both in terms of quality, but also on range and price. We got the BYD Seal around the same time we sold the Tesla. We bought an ex-demonstrator vehicle that was a year old. It's quicker than the Tesla — it accelerates from 0 to 100km/h in 3.8 seconds — and it has a longer range. You can also charge it to 100% without damaging the battery. It's just a beautifully built car, and very comfortable. If you shut the doors, they go thunk, as they should, and there's no wind noise in the cabin. It's got ambient lighting, vented seats, and head-up displays, all the things that you might expect in a car that you pay a lot of money for. It's hard to find things to fault with it. The media system is a bit clunky and glitchy, and it's a tiny bit slower to charge. However, we do most of our charging at home, and with the Seal having more range, the slower charge time isn't really an issue. It drives beautifully on the road. You would put it through a corner in a way that I wouldn't drive in the Tesla. It feels safe and it feels solid. If I could give scores, I'd give the BYD nine out of ten and probably one out of ten for the Tesla. Have you swapped your Tesla for a BYD or bought a Chinese EV? Contact this reporter at tcarter@ Read the original article on Business Insider
