My son has just had his blue badge taken from him

paulinedixon

Hi everyone.  My son has just had his Blue badge taken from him after having it for 30 years because he has changed over from Disability living Allowance to PIP.  He received the high rate of Benefit for the Mobility  section. But when he went over to the PIP The points for Moving he received 0. But planning 12. But still has the highest rate in Benefit he no longer is entitled to Blue Badge on the grounds of the points system in PIP.  Has anyone else had this problem.  What have you done if anything can be done.  Would be very grateful for any info. 

Thank you 

janer1967

Hi and welcome 

Each council has it's own criteria for blue badge and some grant them even if they di not get PIP mobility element 

I suggest you contact the council and see if he would be eligible sometimes this involves an assessment or some other medical evidence 

paulinedixon

Thankyou for your reply. It seems our council have dug there feet firmly on this. 

With our sons Brain injury he does have a lot of hidden disabilities , ie partial sight,Balance problems, Depth Deception. Spacial awareness, frequent falls.  But they won’t consider this. 

The only thing we have been told is to try and over turn the PIP decision to get points for my moving around.  That is the only way.  We have a battle on our hands .
once again thankyou.

janer1967

I would get some expert advice here as to appeal his PIP decision  would be pointless as he has got enhanced already . 

I understand the points are not in tight place for blue badge but you will put his whole award at risk by doing this 

Speak to CAB or welfare rights 

I would also contact your local MP regarding the blue badge 

Ross_Scope

Hi @paulinedixon

Welcome to the community, glad you've joined us  

I'm sorry to hear that your son has lost his blue badge, that must have been hard news to discover.

As advised above, you could speak with your council to ensure that everything is clear regarding the eligibility criteria, as this varies from council to council. 

If your son definitely isn't entitled right now due to the PIP award, you should seek advice from organisations like Advice Local or CAB before approaching the subject of contesting it.

[Deleted User]

What Political Party are your local Council affilliated to? If they're Tory you got no chance, it's well known they hate the disabled.

woodbine

@MrAllen1976 I don't think political comments are relevant on this issue, councils have rules be they labour tory or lib dem. It should also be noted that over the years tory govts. haven't always been bad for the disabled, they were the party that introduced DLA and IB.

@paulinedixon unfortunately as your son is getting the enhanced rate for mobility there would be no point in appealing, the best you can hope for is that on review the points are awarded in a different way.

cupcake88

Did you say it got 12 for mobility my local council says 10 plus and you automatically get one .,

cupcake88

I meant to say did he get 12 points ? 

lisathomas50

@cupcake88 he got 12 points for  planning but got 0 points for moveing around 

cupcake88

oh right each council must be different 

lisathomas50

@cupcake88 my council  you don't have to be claiming pip to get a blue badge which is good the same with a bus pas 

BrettW

The council where I live will grant a Blue Badge only if you are awarded 8 points or more in the 'moving around' descriptor in the mobility section. 

I believe different councils ask for different requirements 

chiarieds

From Gov.UK : People who automatically get a Blue Badge (with relevance to your son @paulinedixon )

• you receive the mobility component of PIP and have obtained 10 points specifically for descriptor E under the ‘planning and following journeys’ activity, on the grounds that you are unable to undertake any journey because it would cause you overwhelming psychological distress

If you have any score other than 10 points under descriptor E, in the ‘planning and following journeys’ activity of PIP you may still be eligible for a Blue Badge, but you do not automatically qualify. This includes if you have a higher score of 12. You will have to provide evidence to demonstrate your eligibility which will be assessed as part of your application.

Please see: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/blue-badge-can-i-get-one/can-i-get-a-blue-badge

paulinedixon

This is very confusing for me and many others.  Even the Newcastle Citizen advice told me the council has made a mistake.   So I feel I have little hope to over come this situation for him.  His condition hasn’t changed only the paper work.  Where can I get the right advice. And help to over turn this decision. 

paulinedixon

Thank you to everyone who has commented on my son,s circumstance. I will have to continue to try and sort this situation out.  I will come back and tell you how we get on.

Seanchai

hi Pauline,  you should get in touch with your councillor..and MP . They all know that things have changed and I think it should have been a centralised agreement . I could drive ten miles to a shopping centre but if I use my blue card I would still need to buy a parking ticket ....different councils different rules 🤔😟

paulinedixon

Thank you everyone.  Our son is still without the Blue Badge. But we have sent our MP a letter.  Just waiting for a reply.  COVID seems to be a common response to the delays in replying.
I Have another question for the group. What do you think of the National Disability card and Carers card.  Do many people use these and are recognised by most venues.  Thank you  

calcotti

BrettW said:

The council where I live will grant a Blue Badge only if you are awarded 8 points or more in the 'moving around' descriptor in the mobility section. 

That cannot be correct. Your council must automatically grant Blue Badges to other people too under national rules. 
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/blue-badge-can-i-get-one/can-i-get-a-blue-badge

Pauline, although your son is not automatically entitled to a Blue Badge that does not mean he is not entitled. Not clear from your post whether or not you have completely a full application form with details of the difficulties he has. If not, that is the first step. If you have and he has been turned down, you have then asked them to look again but still been refused, then involving your MP or councillor may be worth a go.

paulinedixon

Thank you Calcotti.    Yes we have informed our MP. Waiting for a reply but with Covid they say it will take awhile for them to contact us.  But we r also trying to go down another route as our son also has sight problems  so having him  reassest   But again. Delays with Covid.  I will post if we have any updates about our sons predicament,  but thankyou for your reply.

littleacorn

Can the north east law centre help? It might be worth speaking to them.

Nigel19

Hi Pauline, I found this link which might help. I don't know how you stand with raising the appeal about the PIP qualifying points but I think you should take it up with the local council only for now. The link from CAB seems very helpful. Be polite in any correspondence, try to give as much information as you can. You can get help from CAB in writing your response and if the appeal is unsuccessful contact your Local Government Ombudsman. Good Luck.  https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/help-for-disabled-travellers1/blue-badge-scheme/if-youve-been-refused-a-blue-badge/

calcotti

Nigel19 said: I don't know how you stand with raising the appeal about the PIP qualifying points 

There is nothing to raise, if they meet the 12 point descriptor then that is the correct descriptor to apply.

Steph81

Hi Pauline, I also had an issue when renewing my Blue Badge, due to not having enough points with PIP on the moving around section.
If your son has input from any consultants, you could ask them to support your son’s blue badge application, with a letter. This was how I won my appeal, and got the decision overturned for Hidden Disabilities. 

paulinedixon

Thank-you for your reply.  With our Son accident happening 30 years ago he is no longer under any Consultants for anything.  He has lots of hidden problems but needs no medical intervention as they can do nothing to improve his problems.  The Blue Badge do not except any info from GP .   We are still trying.  But thank you. 

Steph81

Hi, that’s a shame about the consultants, but councils also should accept evidence from a Social worker, Physiotherapist or Occupational Therapist. If your Son also has no input from one of these professionals, then your MP may be able to help to get this sorted out. Let’s us know how you get on. 

paulinedixon

Yes I will post when we have some news. But thank you very much for your info.

paulinedixon

Hi all.  I would like you all to know we have had our son’s Blue Badge back.   It took some time but finally we managed.   We went down the route of our son’s vision impairment.
30 year ago after our sons Head injury we were told he had severe sight impairment(Blind) and he was put on the sight impairment register.  When we needed the Certificate for him they couldn’t find him on there so we had His vision reassessed at RVI.  He has now got his Certificate and he is automatically entitled to a Blue Badge.
thank you all for the help given.
Having this group was a great help.
  Keep fighting on everyone,  I know it gets so disheartening when you get one problem solved there’s another one  just round the corner.  If having a disability isn’t hard enough to get through a day.
There’s  always someone out there who’s gone through it themselves or can offer help.
so thank you.

MarkN88

I’m pleased the RVI were able to help. 

I go there with my mum. Great eye centre! 

paulinedixon

Yes they were great with my son. Thank goodness we have good Hospitals here in Newcastle.

chiarieds

I trained as a physio at the RVI, so have fond memories about it.

Tori_Scope

Thanks for updating us @paulinedixon I'm glad you managed to get it sorted.