Blue Badge

To qualify through assessment, you must have a permanent and substantial disability which means that:

In England:

• you can't walk at all
• you can't walk without help from someone else or using mobility aids
• you find walking very difficult due to pain, breathlessness or the time it takes
• walking is dangerous to your health and safety
• you have a terminal illness, which means you can't walk or find walking very difficult and have a DS1500 form
• you have a severe disability in both arms and drive regularly, but can't operate pay-and-display parking machines
• you are constantly a significant risk to yourself or others near vehicles, in traffic or car parks
• you struggle severely to plan or follow a journey
• you find it difficult or impossible to control your actions and lack awareness of the impact you could have on others
• you regularly have intense and overwhelming responses to situations causing temporary loss of behavioural control
• you frequently become extremely anxious or fearful of public/open spaces.

In Scotland

• have a substantial disability lasting at least 12 months that means you can't walk at all or that means you're virtually unable to walk, or
• regularly drive and can't use parking meters because of a severe disability in both arms, or
• have a mental condition that means you lack awareness about the danger of traffic when making journeys.

If you have a mental condition that means you lack awareness about the danger of traffic when making journeys, you can't apply online. You should call your local council's Blue Badge team to discuss your case.

In Wales

• be completely unable to walk, or
• have considerable difficulty walking, or
• have a substantial impairment to mobility, or
• have a severe disability in both arms, which means a driver has significant difficulty or is unable to use parking meters, or
• have a severe cognitive impairment and are unable to plan or follow any journey without the help of someone else, or
• have a terminal illness that seriously limits your mobility.

You can check to see if you're eligible for a Blue Badge and apply for, or renew your application online (except for Aberdeen City Council, where you should apply via the council's website). If you live in Northern Ireland, you can check if you're eligible for a Blue Badge here. Contact your local council for more information or if you need help with an application. 

A badge can cost £10 in England and Northern Ireland, or £20 in Scotland. There’s no charge for a Blue Badge in Wales. A badge lasts up to 3 years.

If your local authority or council refuses to issue you with a Blue Badge, you have no formal right of appeal. But as many authorities and councils have internal procedures for dealing with reviews, it's worth writing to ask for a review. You should do this within 1 month of the date on the decision letter. 

In Scotland, there is a formal review process. If a local authority decides that you don’t qualify, you can ask for a review of the decision within 28 days of receiving it. You can find more information about how to do this in the letter from your council.

There's no limit on how many times you can apply for a Blue Badge. If you're unsuccessful on your first attempt and your situation changes, you're free to try again.

With a Blue Badge on display, you can park:
 

• for free – at on-street parking meters and in pay and display bays (unless signs show a time limit for badge holders) and for as long as you need to if the local authority or council has a policy
• without time limit – in streets where you would usually only be able to wait for limited periods
• for a limited time – on single or double yellow lines for a maximum of 3 hours in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and in some local authority areas in Scotland (you should check local rules), where there aren’t restrictions on loading or unloading. If you park somewhere with a time limit, always set the parking time clock on your Blue Badge to show the 15-minute period in which you arrived. You should get a parking clock with your Blue Badge, or contact your local council to get one. 

Whenever you use a Blue Badge, you should make sure it’s displayed the right way up and is clearly visible through the windscreen. You should also check the Blue Badge hasn’t expired.

A Blue Badge doesn’t allow you to park:

• on private roads
• in off-street car parks, although some may provide spaces for disabled people. You should check the signs to see what concessions are available and whether Blue Badge holders have to pay
• in certain town centres, where access is prohibited or limited to vehicles with special permits that are issued locally
• in central London (City of London, City of Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea and parts of Camden), although some facilities are provided
• on road systems at some airports. If you need to park at an airport, you should contact the airport before you travel to check the car-parking arrangements.

Your car should not be wheel-clamped if you display a current Blue Badge, but the police can remove the vehicle if it's causing an obstruction. For example, if you're parked on a single-lane road which is stopping other traffic from passing, or close to a junction where it would be difficult for other drivers to see you. 

It's an offence to display a Blue Badge if the disabled person is not, or has not been, in the vehicle. The only exception is if the driver is on the way to collect a disabled person or has just dropped them off.

Blue Badge holders are eligible for a 100% discount on the Congestion Charge in central London if they have applied for the exemption. It can be used on any 2 vehicles. 

For an application form call 0343 222 2222 (or textphone 020 7649 9123) or you can apply online. 

There is a £10 administration fee for the exemption. Vehicles taxed in the Disabled class are automatically exempt if they are registered at DVLA, Swansea.

You can use your UK Blue Badge if you’re travelling in some European Union (EU) countries, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Since Brexit, you should check with the embassy of the country you are travelling to for the latest rules. In some cases, you’ll need to ask for further information locally.

Read the latest guidance on using your Blue Badge abroad.