To be utterly, utterly appalled by Nimbus/Access card registration?

[JelliedFish]

Personal information about my child’s disability is sensitive. I’ve already shared documents/proof with DLA.

In order to register for an Access card, I need to share details again. Photographic copies of doctors letters etc are requested.

Surely the government DLA/Carers allowance letter is sufficient proof already?

Then we come to the +1. This is very ambiguously worded, but it seems that different venues have different criteria as to what counts as a ‘+1’. Meaning that some venues acknowledge you as a carer, and others don’t. Therefore some give you free entry as a carer, and others don’t offer this as they have specific wording to ‘wriggle out’ of acknowledging your role as a carer.

But my biggest problem is that they try and persuade you to pay £15 to register with them!

So surely, they are making a business out of people with disabilities?? Why do you need to ‘prove’ your disability again for their business?

This just seems so wrong to me!!

@JelliedFish

I see myself as a parent and a carer.

Nobody is taking that away from you. It's not personal attack.

@nothingcomestonothing

So some venues are saying yes, you are a carer.

Some are saying no you are not.

I went to another venue recently that was far less potentially stressful than the one I’m intending to visit - and I was recognised as a carer.

This venue has been chosen by another family as part of celebration.

So if I take the option not to go because I don’t want to disclose details to a company about DC’s disability, surely DC loses out?

They are not saying you are not a carer, they are saying your child needs a parent with them to go to that venue anyway. It's that simple. If your child has care needs that mean you need another parent extra person, you would get the +1

OP you're not listening.

Whether an entertainment venue calls you a carer or use a different term has no bearing on anything. How is being 'recognised as a carer' changing anything about your visit there?

There is no venue I'm currently aware of which requires you to disclose details of a disability to a company in order to go that venue. That would be illegal. Many venues require proof of disability if you want to access concessions given to people with a disability, whether that's free ticket, fast track or whatever - if they didn't ask for proof you need the concession, everyone with no morals would take it!

Is your problem that you don't want to send the proof to Nimbus specifically? Because the alternative is sending or taking proof to each individual venue, which is sharing your private info with more people. And is sharing it with private entertainment companies rather than a disability organisation.

As a full time carer to my daughter who has this card I'd say it's a good thing that venues are getting more stringent with the 'free entry for carers' because people do abuse this system. My girl loves going to theatres seeing live concerts etc and for wheelchair users tickets are VERY limited and when we do get tickets we're packed in like sardines because there are some folks with 'hidden disabilities' who cannot transfer to a seat but are standing dancing all night or others who bring grandad/ma out on her electric scooter ( which they park at bottom of ramp) while she sits in a fold up chair and carer is clearly enjoying the show while grandma sits snoozing! Because in the past they couldn't refuse disabled persons family all sitting together the whole family would be on the wheelchair ramp taking up spaces that disabled folk can't. It's a very grey area and puts staff in a very difficult position so yes I think the card is a good idea and stops those abusing a system just to get a BOGOF on tickets and admission so that the genuine carers and disabled guests have a chance to enjoy days out etc and a fair chance to access. We live near the o2 and in relation to the amount of non disabled seating the wheelchair seating is like a drop in the ocean. 😢

Surely the same could be said OP about blue badges? You have to pay an initial payment for them but the trade off is that you're able to park nearer places if you have mobility issues but no one ever questions that???? Sadly nothing in life is free but we've found the card better than having quite a number of other cards such as rail cards etc to keep applying for separately so I really don't understand the problem 🤷‍♀️ If you're eligible apply if not please don't complain and make it difficult for those who really do need it.

We have the access card for ds and find it very useful. I like not having to carry all that paperwork around and this just fits in a wallet or purse with credit card etc. They also gave ds +2 as that is what he requires. He's had +2 with Merlin prior to the access card for years.

So if I take the option not to go because I don’t want to disclose details to a company about DC’s disability, surely DC loses out?

Yes, but that is because of your choice, not because of any venue or nimbus. You can't blame them because you either don't want to send medical information, or you don't like how they refer to you.

They're not saying you aren't a carer though.

They're saying that you're a parent who would have to accompany your child, disability or not.

I wonder if that's the issue.

The discounts aren't for you because your identity is a "carer".

The discount or benefit is attached to the person with a disability and the support they need. So the person with a disability gets the card and the plus 1 is if they need someone with them.

I find it deeply upsetting that this company has been able to ingratiate itself with do many venues and now make this card obligatory.

I also am shocked this is even allowed.

I'm puzzled by this.

I've just renewed mine.

It was an incredibly easy process and the card has been useful a few times.

I'm sorry that's not your experience OP

Basically they have no fucking idea what it is like and what it involves to bring a disabled child out.

I would have gone and spent money with some of the companies who have got this one horse company to gatekeep. I would have spent a lot more than your average family too. I refuse as I’m not hanging some company all my child’s data. I think a lot less of companies who have introduced this system. I’m looking at you Knowsley Safari park.

They are asking for very personal data. My children cannot consent to provide this data to some company. That data is likely to be swimming around when they enter adulthood. That company migjt not store it correctly. This company could sell it to someone else. This company doesn’t employ people who are from a medical or specialist background. This company claim they have disabled people who work there ergo they are across all needs of disabled people. One sixth of the U.K. population has a disability. Are they all across the needs of my child?

Families with disabled children have to spend three times as much as a typical family to have a comparable standard of living and now these atttractions wish to fleece them further by making them pay £15 for some card?

Handing over my DLA letter or showing them this on the phone worked perfectly well for years.

I’ve done mandatory training at work to ensure our customers have reasonable adjustments made. We were trained not to go asking people for personal details but make the reasonable adjustments they required and take it on their word.

Good luck to all of you who are happy to hand over very personal data to some company like this. I hope your confidence does not turn out to be misplaced.

I think you can blame them if you are forced into this and therefore a vulnerable child misses out.

@NotAnotherCodeBlueAt3Am

I find it deeply upsetting that this company has been able to ingratiate itself with do many venues and now make this card obligatory.

I have only come across one venue who insisted on nimbus as the evidence for a free carer ticket. I don't even think that's unreasonable, it's up to them who they give free tickets to and if they want applications to go through a third party that's their choice. Nobody is being forced to either apply for a card or pay for the full card if they do go through with it for a specific venue.

Prior to using nimbus (at X venue) everyone with a disability was entitled to a free carer ticket when realistically only a percentage of them actually needed it, the venue are not saying those with disabled children are not carers, they are saying they are with them anyway and have not incurred any extra cost of bringing a carer.

There are a few out these selling disability cards I would agree with you on, but Nimbus isn't one of them. They are a decent company.

www.nimbusdisability.com/about/

Really? So they claim but my experience is that most people have not even heard of free carers and have no idea… particularly eligible people.

But how can you assure anyone of this? People make claims about other people’s decency all the time and those claims are often ill founded.

And if they are highly decent in any case, are you able to assure me of how robust their systems are with storing the massive amounts of personal data they want?

It’s not a bargain if it was previously free before this company made an excuse for themselves to promote a product.

Also are you speaking for everyone across the economic and financial spectrum?

She’s likely to be leaving in half an hour if things don’t go right. I’ve lost track of the number of times I have had to leave pantomimes, circuses and numerous other attractions because my child couldn’t cope on that particular day or had become overwhelmed because of noises, smells, bright lights, crowds etc.

It's not my job to assure you. Some people don't even give their data to Tesco. I don't care. The card works for me so I have one. If you don't want one, don't get one.

But you just did assure everyone they were a “decent company”!

@NotAnotherCodeBlueAt3Am

But you just did assure everyone they were a “decent company”!

I said they are a decent company, and provided a link. If you are not sure and ask for assurance, that's not on me. It's fine for my opinion to be that they are a decent company. What you think of them affects only you.

I have worked for an examination board where I had to deal with reasonable adjustments and we had to have medical proof for extra time, or needing a scribe etc. I'm glad we did, otherwise the system would be open to abuse. Extra time was also allowed for candidates who did now have English as their first language and people did not have to provide evidence for this. It was pretty obvious that a lot of people would take the piss with this. They would phone up or email us asking for extra time because English was not their first language, yet it was clear that they spoke and wrote better English than I did. It was a shame that we couldn't reject applications from people who used English as their business language, but unfortunately I was not working at a level high enough to influence the policy, I only had to enforce it. It mean that people who really struggled with writing or speaking English did not have an advantage over someone else who was really bilingual, but totally fluent in both languages.

Whether it is reasonable adjustment for exams, or reasonable adjustments for a theme park or theatre, some people will always take the piss if thy think they can get away with it. Self proclaimed assistance dogs is a prime example.