Blue Badges provide assistance to people with severe mobility problems by allowing them to park closer to their destinations. These badges permit the holder and their drivers to utilise disabled parking spaces and occasionally park on certain double yellow lines.
Upon successful application for a Blue Badge, a fee of up to £10 in England or up to £20 in Scotland is required for the permit. However, in Wales, the permit is completely free. Local councils are responsible for managing the application process, determining eligibility, and setting the fees.
Blue Badges generally remain valid for up to three years, after which a new application is necessary. For more comprehensive eligibility information, refer to the detailed list of 19 potential qualifying reasons below.
Who automatically qualifies for a Blue Badge?
People aged three or older automatically qualify if at least one of the following six criteria applies:
- You receive the mobility component of PIP and have obtained 10 points specifically for descriptor E under the ‘planning and following journeys’ activity, on the grounds that you are unable to undertake any journey because it would cause you overwhelming psychological distress
- You receive the higher rate of the mobility component of the Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
- You receive a War Pensioners’ Mobility Supplement
- You have received a lump sum benefit within tariff levels one to eight of the Armed Forces and Reserve Forces (Compensation) Scheme and have been certified as having a permanent and substantial disability that causes inability to walk or very considerable difficulty in walking
- You are registered blind (severely sight-impaired)
- You receive a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) because you can’t walk more than 50 metres (a score of eight points or more under the ‘moving around’ activity of the mobility component)
Advice on GOV.UK adds: « If you have any score other than 10 points under descriptor E, in the ‘planning and following journeys’ activity of PIP you may still be eligible for a Blue Badge, but you do not automatically qualify.
« This includes if you have a higher score of 12. You will have to provide evidence to demonstrate your eligibility which will be assessed as part of your application. »
Who else might qualify?
Additionally, 13 other issues may make you eligible for a Blue Badge. These include the following:
- Walking is dangerous to your health and safety
- You struggle severely to plan or follow a journey
- You find walking very difficult due to pain, breathlessness or the time it takes
- You regularly have intense and overwhelming responses to situations causing temporary loss of behavioural control
- You have a child under the age of three with a medical condition that means the child always needs to be accompanied by bulky medical equipment
- You cannot walk without help from someone else or using mobility aids
- You cannot walk at all
- You have a life-limiting illness, which means you cannot walk or find walking very difficult and have a SR1 form
- You have a severe disability in both arms and drive regularly, but cannot operate pay-and-display parking machines
- You have a child under the age of three with a medical condition that means the child must always be kept near a vehicle in case they need emergency medical treatment
- You are constantly a significant risk to yourself or others near vehicles, in traffic or car parks
- You frequently become extremely anxious or fearful of public/open spaces
- You find it difficult or impossible to control your actions and lack awareness of the impact you could have on others
In England, Scotland, and Wales, you can apply for a Blue Badge via GOV.UK. However, the process is different in Northern Ireland. For more information, please follow this link.
Your local authority will evaluate whether you meet the criteria for a badge after receiving all required documentation. It may take up to 12 weeks or longer to process your application.
Should they conclude you’re ineligible and you feel certain information wasn’t properly considered, you’re entitled to ask for a reassessment. Further details about the procedure are available here.
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