1 in 20 people have a blue badge?

[Oodlesofnoodlez]

So I’ve just had to battle to get a family member a blue badge, they receive high rate of everything and immobile but still a complete battle.

so I’m thinking ‘ok it must be very very difficult to get therefore hardly any must be issued’…. Nope figures from 22-23 show almost 5% that’s 2.6 million people have a blue badge.

surely these figures cannot be correct?

will it be completely impossible to find disabled spaces now we’ve got the badge?

we are in the SE

It varies wildly between councils. When I was first diagnosed with ME, I didn't really think about a blue badge. Then I had to try and get one for work ( even though it's a private car park. HR idiots). I was turned down because I didn't have enough evidence because GP diagnosis wasn't good enough. So had to wait two years to get a half hour appointment with a consultant which I was lucky to get bit he supported my application. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have got one.

I do use it but not in every car park.

The pandemic has created thousands of people with ME and/or long COVID. People do not like to admit it, bit it's been an utter public health disaster with many more people now being disabled.

It's really easy in my area to get a BB.

I'm a wheelchair user and my ex husband decided he was going to get a BB because he missed using mine (when I was present, obviously). He told his GP he was suffering with his back, applied for a badge, GP signed it off. No medical evidence, no medication, no PIP, nothing.

Autism and dementia aren't mental health conditions

Sorry that was in reply to a PP

I am so sorry so many people are having such a hard time getting a BB! I have one and it was very simple for me; I scored enough points in the right part of my PIP. I ticked a box on my local authority form and sent my PIP report off and my badge came back a few weeks later.

Sorry to hear that but I just cannot believe that to be true

Not ours - took two years and three applications before DH finally got one last November. He has COPD and a heart condition with an Ejection Fraction of 32. He can only walk a few steps before needing to sit down, and will probably be on oxygen in the next couple of months.

I enclosed his prescription list - it runs to 2 pages - plus lists of his consultants and hospital stays so have no idea why we were turned down. Our local bus doesn't go to the hospital, it takes 2 buses with a walk to the first and also to the second and a walk at the end so it's not possible to use public transport and taxis are expensive.

So no, we didn't just get handed one! And yes, we do have to pay for disabled parking at the hospital but at least we can usually find a spot whereas the regular bays are always full.

If you read the whole thread you’ll see my experience was almost the same :) I think you’ve taken my comment out of context,
sorry it took you so long too.

We have a similar issue. I applied for a disabled space in 2014 when my husband had a stroke and became immobile. Fast forward to 2018, I asked to have it removed when he passed away. There are seven other disabled parking spaces on my half of our road. All of them were requested mostly for older neighbours who have all passed away. The surviving spouses of three of the users have also asked for them to be removed, but the council won't remove any of them. I can see three of them from my living room window (I work from home) and they are never used. The council has now added two electric charging bays, rather than convert two of the disabled bays.

Only read the first few posts. Enhanced PIP in the mobility section of PIP doesn't qualify you here. It has to be enhanced specifically in the moving around section of mobility.

My mum has one. She's not disabled. Just old age issues. Mid 70s at time of application. I did it with her on computer. By the time I'd put all her elderly mobility issues down, she supplied Dr's letters and prescriptions, she got one from Wyre Council really quickly.

She's too old to claim PIP as over 75yrs old. 100% deserves the badge as she's in pain from bone related issues, needs a walker, has a bursa in hip causing pain, had a new shoulder after a fall, arthritis in ankles, it's a long list ☹️

No problems parking. Her husband is the driver.

I think that sounds about right, especially when you factor in elderly people who have age related mobility issues who also qualify.

I've applied for blue badges for 3 family members without any issues. 2 of them were before any PIP or anything like that was applied for. I later applied for PIP / Attendance Allowance for them both, again without any issues.

Yes, that is true some people are ambulatory wheelchair users.

I’m currently waiting for a BB for my mum who’s 89 and housebound with mobility issues . It’s still under assessment as I can track it on the councils website. A lovely lady from AgeUK came to my mums flat and helped us apply for the BB and attendance allowance, which we’ve got .

Double quoting but as a BB holder with physical disability I wonder this too. If I can't get a BB space with its extra width then I can't get out of the car. Often when I'm in a shop with its own car park, and all the BB spaces are full, I never see anyone in the shop who seems to have mobility issues. I know it's not that straightforward but yes makes me wonder.

There's 69 million people in the UK, and 2 million have a blue badge.. that doesn't seem particularly high tbh.

We've never had a problem with finding a disabled spot.

I’m surprised you had issues and had to fight to get one, I have only my experience to go by which was very straightforward, just completed the online form and got an email to say it was accepted, I didn’t have to provide anything else despite my illness being one with degrees of disability.
I don’t usually have an issue to find a space, just occasionally when it’s a busy time at the supermarket might need to circle a bit until someone moves. Most places we’ve visited have plenty of spaces.
just to add it’s not obvious I have any mobility issues, I just get out of breath quickly due to medications and so can’t walk far without dizziness and have to have a rest, but I’ll usually just stand still for a bit until I feel ok again.

They could be the person who is sitting down by the till, trying to catch their breath before they even begin shopping, or the person leaning heavily on their shopping trolley looking at an item on the shelf. It is not necessarily obvious is what I am saying. Either way it makes no difference, if the BB spaces are full, they are full!

@LadyKenya Sorry I can't do quotes on the app. DH and his DSis and DB have all offered but she is adamant she doesn't need one and is within her rights to park there.

That is a shame, because from what you have described, she could very well be able to get one from her Local Authority. She also runs the risk of being fined if she were to park in a BB space, on a public road, and a traffic warden was checking.

@LadyKenya I'm going to get DH to tell her this, thanks.

Government figures say 24% of the population has a disability so 1 in 20 is low in comparison.

You cannot park in loading bays with a blue badge

She could be fined. She needs a bb to park legally in bb spaces. I say that as a dil to a mil without a BB who drives the family mad as she needs one (walks with two sticks and cNt walk very far due to a deformed back and other issues) but refuses as it might put be her insurance up (incorrect but she refuses to listen to us). We have to get the trolley so she lean on it to get to the shop....