Eligibility criteria

Terminal Illness

If you have been given a terminal medical prognosis or have a DS1500/SR1, please make a fast track application

Disability Living Allowance Mobility Component

You automatically qualify if you are:

In receipt of the Higher Rate Mobility Component – this will be confirmed in the letter from the DWP.

You do not qualify if you are in receipt of:

Low or Middle Rate Mobility Component
The Care Component at any rate (unless you are also in receipt of the Higher Rate Mobility Component)
Attendance Allowance at any rate
Pension Credit.
You may still qualify if you apply under another criterion.

Personal Independence Payment

You automatically qualify if your PIP decision letter matches at least one of the benefits below. When you apply, you must provide a photo or scanned image of your decision letter showing the matching benefit.

You qualify if you receive either of these two benefits:

Mobility - Moving around - 8 points (or more)
Mobility - Planning and following journeys - exactly 10 points with descriptor E - You cannot undertake any journey because it would cause overwhelming psychological distress.

Please note that you do not automatically qualify if you receive either of the following:

'Planning and following journeys' with 10 points and descriptor D - you cannot follow the route of an unfamiliar journey without another person, an assistance dog or an orientation aid.
12 points and descriptor F - you cannot follow the route of a familiar journey without another person, an assistance dog or an orientation aid.You also do not automatically qualify if you are in receipt of:

You also do not automatically qualify if you are in receipt of:

a score of 7 or less under the ‘moving around’ activity of the Mobility Component of Personal Independence Payment
the Daily Living Component of Personal Independence Payment (unless you are also in receipt of a score of 8 points or more of the Mobility Component).

You may still qualify if you apply under another criterion.

Lump sum at tariff 1-8 from the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme

You automatically qualify if you:

have been awarded a lump sum benefit at tariffs 1-8 of the Armed Forces and Reserve Forces (Compensation) Scheme and certification of having a permanent and substantial difficulty which causes inability to walk or very considerable difficulty in walking.

You do not automatically qualify if you:

have been awarded a lump sum benefit at tariff 9 – 15 of the Armed Forces and Reserve Forces (Compensation) Scheme
are in receipt of a lump sum benefit at tariffs 1-8 of the Armed Forces and Reserve Forces (Compensation) Scheme without certification of having a permanent and substantial difficulty which causes inability to walk or very considerable difficulty in walking.

You may still qualify if you apply under another criterion.

War pensioners mobility supplement

You automatically qualify if you are:

in receipt of the War Pensioners Mobility Supplement. This is confirmed on the award letter from Veterans UK.

You do not automatically qualify if you are:

in receipt of a War Disablement Pension without a mobility component.

You may still qualify if you apply under another criterion.

You automatically qualify if you are either:

registered blind/severely sight impaired with your local authority
have a Certificate of Visual Impairment (CVI – previously known as the BD8 form) signed by a consultant ophthalmologist.

You do not automatically qualify if you are partially sighted. You may still qualify if you apply under another criterion.

Unable to walk or find walking difficult

This is not an automatically qualifying criterion. You'll need to answer some questions about your condition and provide evidence to support your application. The outcome may include attending a face-to-face mobility assessment.

Unable to walk

being unable to walk means that they cannot take a single step
the applicant needs to show that, because of their enduring and substantial disability, they cannot walk during the course of a journey
walking involves always having one foot on the ground. If the applicant’s only way of getting about is to swing through two elbow crutches, then they will be considered unable to walk (provided it is due to an enduring and substantial disability and not due to a temporary impairment, such as their legs being in plaster).

Enduring and substantial disability

You may qualify if you have an enduring and substantial disability that:

is likely to last for the next three years
has been an ongoing issue
means you are unable to walk or causes you to experience very considerable difficulty whilst walking.

No single factor determines eligibility, but these factors are considered together.

Very considerable difficulty whilst walking is likely to manifest through one or more of the following:

the level of pain experienced by an individual when they are walking, or as a consequence of walking
the degree of breathlessness they incur when, or as a result of, walking
the distance over which an individual is able to walk
the speed at which an individual is able to walk
the length of time that an individual is able to walk for
the manner in which the applicant walks
an applicant’s use of walking aids
the applicant’s outdoor walking ability
whether the effort of walking presents a danger to the applicant’s life or would be likely to lead to a serious deterioration in their health

You do not qualify if:

you have a temporary disability or intermittent mobility issues that do not affect your ability to make a journey on a more often than not basis.
you are frail due to old age, unless you are also unable to walk or have very considerable difficulty whilst walking, which may include very considerable psychological distress
you are under two years old
you require a wide parking bay to open the car door, unless you are also unable to walk, or you also have very considerable difficulty whilst walking, which may include very considerable psychological distress in addition to your condition
you struggle to get in or out of a vehicle, unless you are also unable to walk or have very considerable difficulty whilst walking, which may include very considerable psychological distress in addition to your condition
you need access to facilities to manage bowel or bladder incontinence, unless you are also unable to walk or have very considerable difficulty whilst walking, which may include very considerable psychological distress in addition to your condition.
you struggle to carry shopping, unless you are also unable to walk or have very considerable difficulty whilst walking, which may include very considerable psychological distress in addition to your condition.

Non-visible (hidden disability)

This is not an automatically qualifying criterion, you'll need to answer some questions about your condition and provide evidence to support your application.

Enduring and substantial disability

You may qualify if you have an enduring and substantial disability or condition that:

is likely to last for the next three years
has been an ongoing issue
means you are unable to walk or causes you to experience very considerable difficulty whilst walking.

This could include one or more of the following when walking.

You experience very considerable psychological distress
You are at risk of serious harm
You pose a risk of serious harm to another person

Driver with a disability in both arms

This is not an automatically qualifying criterion. You'll need to answer some questions about your condition and provide evidence to support your application. The outcome may include attending a face-to-face assessment.

You may qualify if you meet all the following:

Regularly drives an adapted or non-adapted vehicle

Have a severe disability in both arms

Are unable to operate, or has considerable difficulty operating, all or some types of parking meter

You do not qualify if you have:

a permanent and severe disability in both arms but don't drive a vehicle regularly
a permanent and severe disability in only one arm
a severe disability in both arms which is not permanent
Child under 3 who needs to be kept near to a vehicle

Child under 3 who needs to be kept near to a vehicle

This is not an automatically qualifying criterion. You'll need to answer some questions about your child's condition and provide evidence to support their application.

A child may qualify if they have a condition which means that they must always be kept near a motor vehicle so that, if necessary, treatment for that condition can be given in the vehicle or the child can be taken quickly in the vehicle to a place where such treatment can be given.

Examples include:

Children with tracheostomies
Children with severe epilepsy/fitting
Children with highly unstable diabetes
Terminally ill children who can only access brief moments of outside life and need a quick route home

Child under 3 who needs bulky medical equipment

This is not an automatically qualifying criterion, you'll need to answer some questions about your child's condition and provide evidence to support their application.

A child may qualify if they have a medical condition which means that they must always be accompanied by bulky medical equipment which cannot be carried around without great difficulty.

Examples of equipment include:

Ventilators
Suction machines
Feed pumps
Parenteral equipment
Syringe drivers
Oxygen administration equipment
Continuous oxygen saturation monitoring equipment
Cast and associated medical equipment for the correction of hip dysplasia

How to apply for a Blue Badge

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