Blue badges

To apply, you will need a copy of your letter of entitlement. The letter must:

• be dated within the last 12 months
• show your mobility rating
• show your full name
• show your current address
• show the start and end date of your benefit

Contact the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on 0800 121 4600 to request this if you don’t have one.

To apply you will need a copy of the award entitlement letter. The letter must:

• be dated within the last 12 months
• show that you have 8 or more points in the moving around category
• show your full name
• show your current address
• show the start and end date of your benefit

Contact the PIP team on 0800 121 4433 to request this if you don’t have one.

You can qualify automatically if you get a PIP with a mobility component of ten points in the planning and following a journey category, specifically for descriptor E.

This means you are unable to make journeys because it makes you so distressed that you can’t do anything.

To apply, you will need a copy of the award entitlement letter. The award letter must:

• show the mobility component and 10 points for descriptor E under the ‘planning and following journeys’ activity
• be dated within the last 12 months
  show your full name
• show your current address
• show the start and end date of your benefit

Contact the PIP team on 0800 121 4433 to request this if you don’t have one.

If you scored 4, 8 or 12 under descriptor E under the ‘planning and following journeys’ activity, you can still apply but will not automatically qualify.

We might request more medical proof or ask to see you for an assessment.

To apply, you will need a copy of your War Pensioners’ Mobility Scheme letter from Veterans UK.

Please contact them if you don’t have this.

To apply, you will need a copy of your Armed Forces Compensation Scheme letter from Veterans UK.

Please contact them if you don’t have this.

If you’re registered blind or severely sight impaired, you can get a blue badge to use when you are a passenger in a car.

To apply, you will need a copy of your certificate of vision impairment.

To apply, you will need a copy of a letter that confirms your illness.

This could be a DS1500 form or a letter from a doctor or specialist, such as a Macmillan nurse.

You might qualify if you have a severe long term disability or condition that means you can’t walk or find walking very difficult.

This could be because:

• you can’t walk without help from someone else or using walking aids
  you find walking very difficult due to pain, breathlessness or the time it takes
• the effort of walking would be a danger to your life or cause a serious decline in your health
• you find it difficult or impossible to control your actions and lack awareness of the impact they could have on others
• you regularly have intense and overwhelming responses to situations causing temporary loss of behavioural control
• you can become extremely anxious or fearful of public/open spaces
  you’re a constant safety risk to yourself or others near vehicles, in traffic or car parks

You might qualify if you have a severe long term disability or condition that means you’re a constant safety risk to yourself or others near vehicles, in traffic or car parks.

This could be because:

• you can’t walk without help from someone else or using walking aids
  you find walking very difficult due to pain, breathlessness or the time it takes
• the effort of walking would be a danger to your life or cause a serious decline in your health
• you find it difficult or impossible to control your actions and lack awareness of the impact they could have on others
• you regularly have intense and overwhelming responses to situations causing temporary loss of behavioural control
• you can become extremely anxious or fearful of public/open spaces

You can apply for a blue badge if you have a severe disability in both arms and drive regularly, but can’t work parking machines.

You can apply if your child has a specific medical condition which means they:

• must always be accompanied by bulky medical equipment that can’t be carried around without great difficulty
• need to be kept near a vehicle at all times so that they can, if needed, be treated for their condition in the vehicle or taken quickly to a place where they can be treated

You might qualify if you have a severe, long term, non-visible (hidden) disability that means you meet any of the qualifying reasons on this page.

For example, if you have difficulty walking, which can be due to psychological distress.

Non-visible (hidden) disabilities can include:

• autism
• dementia
• mental illness
• learning disabilities
• cognitive impairments

Having a diagnosis does not mean you’ll automatically qualify.

This could include:

• letters from specialists – for example, gastroenterologists, psychiatrists, paediatricians, social workers and special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs)
• diagnosis letters
• medical reports – for example, behavioural reports
• information about ongoing treatments
• copies of prescriptions
• an Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP), if you’re applying for a child

The only way to apply is by using the gov.uk blue badge form.

If you need help with the form, you can:

• call us on 020 8356 6262
• email us at mobilityteam@hackney.gov.uk

We can arrange for someone to call you and go through the form questions with you.

The form will tell you which documents we need from you. It’s best to make a note of them as you go through the application.

As you go through the form, it will ask you to upload a recent passport-style photo and some documents.

If you can’t upload when you apply, you can scan or take photos of your documents using a digital camera, smartphone or tablet.

You can then email them to mobilityteam@hackney.gov.uk.

We’ll need to know the:

• name of the applicant
• address of the applicant
• blue badge number (if you have one)

Your documents will be checked faster if you email them instead of posting paper copies to us.

If you can’t scan or take photos of your documents, you can post paper copies to:

Mobility Team
Hackney Service Centre
1 Hillman Street
London
E8 1DY

Make sure you send copies of your documents. We can’t return originals.

It usually takes 8 weeks to process your application if you automatically qualify.

If not, it can take longer and we might contact you for more medical evidence or to arrange an assessment.

It can take much longer if we do not get all the information we need, such as supporting documents or details of doctors we may need to contact.

Please ensure that all the supporting evidence and documentation is provided with the application.

Once we have all the information, then the processing time can take up to 12 weeks and may be less if you qualify automatically.

If you do not qualify automatically then we may ask you to attend a mobility assessment at Hackney Service Centre.

If you are refused a blue badge and want to challenge the decision, you must appeal under the same criteria that you applied under to have your application reviewed.

To appeal you should complete the appeal form that was sent to you with the refusal letter.

Please collate and submit all your supporting evidence and documentation with the appeal form at the same time.

Additional documentation sent after submission of the appeal will not be accepted.

You can send your appeal by emailing
mobilityteam@hackney.gov.uk.