Blue Badge – 19 reasons you may qualify for the disabled parking permit

To be eligible for a Blue Badge, you must fit into one of two categories highlighted on the Government’s website

Blue Badges help people with serious mobility issues park closer to their destinations. They allow the holder and their drivers to use disabled parking spots and occasionally park on certain double yellow lines.

To be eligible for a Blue Badge, you must fit into one of two categories highlighted on the Government’s website. The first of these concerns people who ‘automatically’ qualify for the permit, while the other concerns cases evaluated on an individual basis.

If your Blue Badge application is successful, you will be required to pay up to £10 in England or up to £20 in Scotland for the permit. In Wales, the permit is entirely free. Local councils oversee the application process, determine eligibility, and set the pricing.

Blue Badges typically stay valid for up to three years, then a new application is required. For more detailed eligibility information, see below where the Mirror details 19 reasons you might qualify.

Who automatically qualifies for a Blue Badge?

Anyone aged three or older automatically qualifies if at least one of the following six points applies:

1. 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
2. You receive the higher rate of the mobility component of the Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
3. You receive a War Pensioners’ Mobility Supplement
4. 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
5. You are registered blind (severely sight-impaired)
6. 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?

Meanwhile, an additional 13 cases might also meet the criteria for a Blue Badge. These include anyone who experiences the following:

1. Walking is dangerous to your health and safety
2. You struggle severely to plan or follow a journey
3. You find walking very difficult due to pain, breathlessness or the time it takes
4. You regularly have intense and overwhelming responses to situations causing temporary loss of behavioural control
5. 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
6. You cannot walk without help from someone else or using mobility aids
7. You cannot walk at all
8. You have a life-limiting illness, which means you cannot walk or find walking very difficult and have a SR1 form
9. You have a severe disability in both arms and drive regularly, but cannot operate pay-and-display parking machines
10. 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
11. You are constantly a significant risk to yourself or others near vehicles, in traffic or car parks
12. You frequently become extremely anxious or fearful of public/open spaces
13. 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, if you’re in Northern Ireland, the process differs. Click this link for more information.

Your local council will assess your eligibility for a badge once they receive all the necessary evidence. Processing your application could take 12 weeks or more.

If authorities determine you don’t qualify and you believe some facts were overlooked, you have the right to request a review. For additional information on the process, you can also read more here.