Disabled Blue Badge Scheme - Print version

Apply for a blue badge [https://www.gov.uk/apply-blue-badge]

You may require an eligibility assessment following your application and all successful applications incur a £10 charge.

You will also need to provide us with any evidence needed to support your application along with a passport style photograph.  

Once your application has been approved, you can pay the £10 fee online. [/onlinepayments]

What is the Disabled Blue Badge Scheme?

The Blue Badge scheme helps those with severe mobility problems who have difficulty using public transport to park close to where they need to go.

This Department for Transport document explains the rights and responsibilities of badge holders [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-blue-badge-scheme-rights-and-responsibilities-in-england].

Who can apply for a Blue Badge?

Criteria for those with hidden disabilities

The Department for Transport announced changes to the criteria for applying for a blue badge to include those with hidden disabilities [http://www.gov.uk/government/news/people-with-hidden-disabilities-can-access-blue-badges-for-the-first-time-from-today]  on 30 August 2019.

Individuals eligible without assessment

You will automatically qualify for a Blue Badge with no assessment if you meet any of the following conditions:

• receive the Higher Rate of the Mobility Component of Disability Living Allowance (HRMCDLA)
• receive eight points or more under the 'Moving Around' descriptor of the mobility component of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
• score 10 points along with descriptor E in the 'planning and following a journey' part of the mobility component, which states 'you cannot undertake any journeys because it would cause overwhelming psychological/mental distress'.
• are registered blind (severely sight impaired)
• receive a War Pensioner’s Mobility Supplement
• have been awarded a lump sum benefit at tariff 1-8 of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme and have been certified as having a permanent and substantial disability which causes inability to walk or very considerable difficulty in walking.

Individuals eligible following assessment

Those who do not meet any of the conditions above, but meet one or more of the following, may be able to receive a Blue Badge following assessment:

• you cannot walk at all
• you cannot walk without help from someone else or using mobility aids
• you find walking very difficult due to pain, breathlessness or the time it takes
• walking is dangerous to your health and safety
• 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 3 with a medical condition that means the child always needs to be accompanied by bulky medical equipment
• you have a child under the age of 3 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 struggle severely to plan or follow a journey
• you find it difficult or impossible to control your actions and lack awareness of the impact you could have on others
• you regularly have intense and overwhelming responses to situations causing temporary loss of behavioural control
• you frequently become extremely anxious or fearful of public/open spaces

If we find that a face-to-face assessment is required, we will contact you to arrange this.

For further information on Blue Badge eligibility please visit GOV.UK [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/blue-badge-can-i-get-one/can-i-get-a-blue-badge]

Organisations

An organisation can apply for a badge if:

• The organisation cares for and transports disabled people who would themselves meet one or more of the conditions for a Blue Badge; and
• Has a clear need for an organisational badge rather than using the individual Blue Badges of people it cares for.

Issuing Organisation Blue Badges is entirely at our discretion. Any organisations that do qualify must follow the conditions of issue.

How much does it cost and how long is it valid for?

There is a £10 charge for all new, lost, stolen, replacement and renewal badges.

We will contact you to request a £10 online payment once we are ready to issue your Blue Badge. Alternatively you can provide a cheque or postal order made payable to Coventry City Council. 

Blue Badges are usually issued for three years, but yours may be issued for less than three years if your benefit award is for a limited time.

If you provide your email address and/or mobile number with your application, you will be sent either an automated email or text to remind you when it is time to re-apply for a new badge. 

How to apply for a new badge or renew an expired badge

Individuals

The quickest way to apply or renew is online. The same form is used whether you are applying for the first time or renewing your Blue Badge.

Apply for or renew a Blue Badge online [https://www.gov.uk/apply-blue-badge]

You will also need to upload or email the bluebadge@coventry.gov.uk [mailto:bluebadge@coventry.gov.uk] with a passport sized photograph and any evidence needed to support your application. These can also be posted to the Blue Badge Team at Coventry City Council, PO Box 7097, Coventry, CV6 9SL. Please do not send originals in the post as they cannot be returned.

Equalities Act 2010: should you require a reasonable adjustment or assistance to complete an application for a Blue Badge, please contact 08085 834 333.

If you are unable to apply or renew online, please consider asking a friend or relative to help you since it’s the quickest way to apply. If you are still unable to apply online call 08085 834 333 to request a paper application form to be sent to you. Please write your name on the reverse if you are sending your photo in the post.

Individuals with a "Hidden Disability"

As well as applying using the link in the section above, you may need to ask a Health or Social care professional to complete an HD02 form for you. The reason for this is that Coventry City Council want to get as much information as possible so that we can fairly assess people with a hidden disability, within the guidelines set out by the Department for Transport, who might qualify for a blue badge. As it is not possible for us to directly employ people with experience in all these areas, we rely on the expert knowledge of other health professionals to guide us when making our decision.

Once we have received and reviewed your application we will send you an HD02 form or provide you with a link to pass to your Health or Social care professional.

Payment

We will contact you to request a £10 online payment once we are ready to issue your Blue Badge. Alternatively you can send a cheque or postal order made payable to Coventry City Council, to the Blue Badge team, Coventry City Council, PO Box 7097, Coventry,CV6 9SL

Organisations

The quickest way to apply or renew is online. The same form is used whether you are applying for the first time or renewing your organisational Blue Badge.

Apply for or renew an organisation Blue Badge online [https://www.gov.uk/apply-blue-badge]

Payment

We will contact you to request a £10 online payment once we are ready to issue your Blue Badge.

If you are unable to apply by any of the above methods please contact our Customer Services team.

How long will I need to wait and will I need to be assessed?

Your application could take at least 6 to 12 weeks to be processed. This may be longer if you are invited for a mobility assessment. Please be sure to include all the correct documents with your application. Details of what we need can be found on the application form.

If you are applying for a Badge under the new "Hidden Disability" criteria you will need to provide supporting evidence from your health or social care professional or consultant (not your GP).

If you are not an individual eligible without assessment, and we feel a face-to-face mobility assessment is needed, we will contact you to invite you in. The assessment usually takes 45 minutes but may take longer. You will need to bring proof of prescriptions, photographic proof of identification and your usual walking aids.

The assessment will take place at The Opal Assessment and Demonstration Centre. 

After the assessment, your Blue Badge will be posted to you if your application has been successful. It is not possible to collect your Blue Badge in person.

If the decision is made not to issue a Blue Badge we will email or write to you and return any upfront payment you may have made.

 

Expert assessors for hidden disability applications

How your health or social care professional can help with your Blue Badge application.

Healthcare professionals as expert assessors

If you are applying under the 'non-visible (hidden) disability' criterion you can ask your healthcare professional to complete an HD form as evidence of how your disability affects you when walking. 

Expert assessors and the conditions they are involved with

The table below shows examples of assessor's and conditions, it is not intended to be an exhaustive list of applicable conditions.

Expert assessor	Conditions
Clinical psychologist	Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Asperger syndrome.
Educational psychologist	Child and adolescent mental health for children with special educational and additional complex needs, Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Asperger syndrome.
Gastroenterologist	Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel diseases
Neurologist	Paediatric neurodisability, Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), learning problems, behavioural and associated mental health, seizures, epilepsy, amnesia, neuropathic pain.
Occupational therapist	Wide range of conditions, most commonly difficulties due to mental health illness, physical or learning difficulties. Commonly facilitate independent mobility assessments on behalf of local authorities.
Physiotherapist	Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Huntington's disease, M.E. / CFS, major trauma. Transverse myelitis. Commonly facilitate independent mobility assessments on behalf of local authorities.
Psychiatrist	Older peoples’ mental health applied health research and policy. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other complex mental health disorders in children, young people, adults.
Rheumatologist	Paediatric rheumatology, pain management, lupus, general rheumatology, inflammatory arthritis.
Social worker	Wide range of conditions, most commonly difficulties due to mental health illness, physical or learning difficulties.

How to report badge misuse

Your Blue Badge can be withdrawn if you misuse it or allow others to misuse it. If someone else uses your badge, they could be fined up to £1,000.

The following advice applies to Blue Badges issued in the Coventry area only. If you are reporting Blue Badge misuse in a different area please refer to the Local Authority in that area.

If you suspect that someone is abusing or misusing a Blue Badge, for example, using a badge that doesn't belong to them, please let us know by completing our report misuse form [/reportbluebadge] or by contacting the Blue Badge Team.

An individual Blue Badge is given to a person, not a vehicle. This means the badge holder can use it whenever he/she travels as a driver or passenger – it doesn’t matter who owns the vehicle. Only the person the badge has been issued to can use it and must be in the vehicle when it is used.

The only time that someone else can use the badge, without the holder being in the vehicle, is if they are dropping off or picking up the badge holder. The badge must be removed from display as soon as the vehicle leaves the blue badge area.

It is now a criminal offence for someone other than the badge holder to use the Blue Badge. If they do, they could be fined up to £1,000. The Blue Badge can be withdrawn if the holder misuses it or allows other to misuse it.

Lost, stolen and replacement Blue Badges

Stolen Blue Badges

You should report stolen badges to the Police - Blue Badges are valuable in the wrong hands.

Replace a stolen badge [https://www.gov.uk/replace-lost-stolen-blue-badge]

Lost Blue Badges

Replace a lost badge [https://www.gov.uk/replace-lost-stolen-blue-badge]

Replacement Blue Badges

You can ask for a replacement badge if it has been lost or stolen. There will be a £10 fee payable on issue of your replacement badge. If the badge is found or recovered before the badge is replaced, you must tell Customer Services. If it found or recovered after you have been given a replacement badge, you must return it to the Blue Badge team.

Replace a lost or stolen badge [https://www.gov.uk/replace-lost-stolen-blue-badge]

What to do if there is a change of circumstances, the badge is no longer needed, or the badgeholder has passed away

Appealing a decision

If you have applied for a Blue Badge and have been unsuccessful you can submit an appeal by email or by writing to us at:

bluebadge@coventry.gov.uk [mailto:bluebage@coventry.gov.uk]

Blue Badge Team
Coventry City Council
PO Box 7097
Coventry
CV6 9SL

 An appeal must be submitted within 28 days of the date you were notified that your application was unsuccessful.

In order for your appeal to be considered it is important that you provide recent, relevant additional medical evidence that was not assessed as part of your original application.

This evidence could include details of medication that you are taking, copies of medical documents and letters received from medical professionals following recent consultation.

If you are unable to provide additional evidence a review is unlikely to change the original decision.

Reapplication after decline

Should any of your conditions deteriorate you can submit a new application 6 months after the date of your decline.

Further reading

These Department for Transport documents explain in detail who can apply for a Blue Badge [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/blue-badge-can-i-get-one], and the rights and responsibilities of badgeholders [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-blue-badge-scheme-rights-and-responsibilities-in-england].