Blue Badge parking permit
The Blue Badge scheme provides a national arrangement of parking concessions for people with severe walking difficulties who travel either as drivers or passengers.
The scheme also applies to registered blind people and people with very severe upper limb disabilities who regularly drive a vehicle but cannot turn a steering wheel by hand.
It allows badge holders to park close to their destination but the national concession applies only to on-street parking.
Visit the GOV.UK website for Blue Badge scheme members' rights and responsibilities in England
View council-managed car parks in Telford and Wrekin and their locations
Lost or stolen badges
If your Blue Badge has been lost or stolen, you can apply for a replacement badge to be sent to you. A replacement badge will cost £10.
If your badge was stolen, you will need to provide a crime reference number.
You can apply for a replacement badge online via the GOV.UK website; you will need your National Insurance number to use this service:
Visit the GOV.UK website to report a lost or stolen Blue Badge
Organisational Blue Badges
A Blue Badge can be issued to organisations that transport disabled people who, if they applied for a Blue Badge as individuals, would qualify in their own right. A senior representative may apply on behalf of their organisation.
Organisations will need to prove that they:
- transport a sufficient number of people (minimum of six)
- transport their disabled customers on a regular basis
- have a contract with their disabled customers for a minimum of three years.
Organisations will need to provide either:
- a logo on letter headed paper
- an official stamp.
Taxi firms are not normally granted an organisational badge as they rarely meet the above criteria. In this instance, we would recommend that their clients apply for individual badges.
Last updated : 6 August 2024
Non-visible (hidden) conditions
Due to the nature of non-visible (hidden) conditions we’ll assess your application by looking at your needs. Having a certain condition or disability does not mean you will automatically get a Blue Badge.
Eligibility types
Automatic eligibility:
You will be automatically eligible if, within your PIP mobility assessment, you scored 10 points in “Planning and following a journey” and specifically the 10 points which say “cannot undertake any journey because it would cause overwhelming psychological distress to the claimant.”
If you did not score this amount, you can still apply but will need to be assessed.
Assessed eligibility:
We will need to assess your application if you apply due to a non-visible (hidden) condition that causes you to severely struggle with journeys between a vehicle and your destination, and either:
- is a constant significant risk to yourself or others near vehicles, in traffic or in car parks
- causes you to severely struggle to plan or follow a journey
- means you find it difficult or impossible to control your actions and lack awareness of the impact this could have on others
- means you regularly have intense and overwhelming responses to situations, causing a temporary loss of behavioural control
- means you frequently become extremely anxious or fearful of public or open spaces.
If one or more of these statements are relevant to you, will need to provide evidence before you apply, as follows:
Evidence of eligibility
Automatic eligibility:
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP) original statement of entitlement letter.
Assessed eligibility:
- a letter of diagnosis, as up-to-date as possible (preferably within the last 12 months)
- evidence of the progression of the condition over time
- confirmation of ongoing treatments/clinic attendances, or referral for such
- evidence of prescribed medication relevant to your condition
- evidence of specialist consultations, or referral for such
- your patient summary or summary care records
- Education Health and Care Plans (EHCP)
- care plans from social care teams
- social housing letters/assessment reports from a local authority
- letters from other professionals involved in your care
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP) decision letters
- evidence of other benefits received.
People who may be issued with a Blue Badge without further assessment are those who are more than two years of age who:
- receive the higher rate mobility component of Disability Living Allowance
- receive a war pensioner's mobility supplement
- are registered blind under the National Assistance Act 1948
- have been awarded a benefit (giving rise to a lump sum at tariffs 1-8 inclusive) under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) and have also been certified by the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency as having a permanent and substantial disability that causes an inability to walk or very considerable difficulty in walking
- receives 8 points or more under the moving around activity of the mobility component of the Personal Independence Payment.
You can still apply for a Blue Badge if you do not meet the above criteria, so long you are more than two years old and fall within one of the following categories:
- you have a severe disability in both upper limbs and regularly drive a motor vehicle but have difficulty operating parking meters
- you have a permanent and substantial disability that means you are unable to walk or have very considerable difficulty in walking (please note: you may have to attend a mobility assessment to see if you qualify for a badge)
- you have a child or children under 3 years of age who, because of a specific medical condition, need to travel with bulky medical equipment or need to be close to a vehicle for emergency medical treatment.
Visit the GOV.UK website for the Blue Badge scheme rights and responsibilities in England
Last updated : 18 July 2024
Please note: Some websites offer to assist with Blue Badge applications and charge a fee of around £50. You should only complete the "official application", available via the link below, at a cost of £10.
Use our online form to report suspected Blue Badge-related fraud to us.
Visit the GOV.UK website to apply for or renew a Blue Badge
Your Blue Badge
Once you have completed your online application, you will be given a tracking reference number. Please email your tracking reference number, name and address to BlueBadge@telford.gov.uk, along with with the following documents:
- view our eligibility page for proof of eligibility
- proof of your identity
- proof of address
- a recent passport-style photograph (if you haven't already uploaded one via the online form).
What happens next?
We will contact you, usually within 10 working days of submitting your application, to:
- tell you whether your application has been successful
- ask you to attend a mobility assessment
- ask you to provide further documentation
- if your application has been unsuccessful, we will explain the reasons why it has not been approved.
If your application is successful we will then request your new badge, and this should be issued within 5 to 7 days.
Cost
- A Blue Badge is valid for up to 3 years and costs £10.
- You can't currently pay for your Blue Badge when you apply online. So once your application has been approved we will contact you be email or phone.
- To request payment, which you can do by calling 01952 383838 and selecting option 5, where your payment will be taken.
Renewals
Visit the GOV.UK website to renew your badge online up to 10 weeks before your old one expires. However, we will also send you a reminder letter. Please remember to inform us if you change address.
Proof accepted
Once you have completed your online application, remember to email your tracking reference number, name and address to BlueBadge@telford.gov.uk, along with the relevant proof.
Proof of eligibility
Qualifying categories:
- a letter dated within the last 12 months that shows entitlement to either the High Rate Component of Disability Living Allowance - Mobility, or
- a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) letter that shows 8 points or more of the "moving around" mobility component of PIP (please provide all pages of your award letter - which shows the number of points you have been awarded for the "moving around" mobility component of PIP), or
- proof of being registered blind (i.e. a registration card), or
- War Pensioners Mobility Supplement, or
- proof of lump sum benefit from an Armed Forces Compensation payment (within tariff levels 1-8).
Proof of identity:
- an original birth or adoption certificate, marriage or divorce certificate, or
- a valid photo card, driving licence or passport.
Proof of address:
- a council tax or utility bill, or
- a benefit award letter, or
- a letter from a hospital addressed to you at your home and dated within the last 12 months.
Photographs:
A digital photograph of the full head of the badge holder, facing forwards, looking straight at the camera (without anyone else visible) is required and must be:
- in colour
- in a JPG or GIF document format
- a maximum image size of 200 KB
- taken within the last 12 months
- undamaged
- free from red-eye, shadows, reflections or glare from spectacles
- in sharp focus and clear.
If you are unable to complete an application form online, please request help from a relative or family friend. If this is not possible, please call our Contact Centre on 01952 383838 and select option 5 for further help and advice.
Last updated : 1 October 2024
Report suspected Blue Badge fraud if you suspect fraudulent Blue Badge activity
If you are unable to complete an application form online, please request help from a relative or family friend. If this is not possible, please call our Contact Centre on 01952 383838 and select option 5 for further help and advice.
Last updated : 18 September 2024