Blue disabled badge renewal - is the phone assessment normal?

Good grief! I am horrified to hear all these dreadful stories of how difficult renewing a Blue Badge has become. I am in Dorset, and applied to renew mine last September. I didn't go through any of this, just simply did it online. Is everyone receiving phone calls about this now?

When dealing with assessors working from home, they do not have anyone to check their work , on a regular basis, We fell foul of a "home worker" when applying for an allowance. administered by the council I had to call him out as he wanted all bills and bank account to be in one name, In 60 years we have only had 1 joint bank account. Council tax is in OH name, Electricity, Telephone and Gas are in my name. I asked him what he wanted us to change. We did eventually get the allowance. when a supervisor intervened
When OH applied for his Blue Badge they wanted to see all his medication packets which had to be dated within 3 months. They wouldn't accept a doctor's or pharmacy printed list. The pharmacy was very helpful as they just printed new labels for the packets. Too many jobsworths around.

Sleepyhead52

Geordiegirl1

Surely she was asking him how many bus stops Hé could walk past, not how many buses?

It may be a way of assessing distance ... ?

No it would be 'how many buses' (around 50 buses) a way of measuring distance - for PIP higher mobility award it's 200 meters, if you say you can walk any further than 200 meters with an aid you don't qualify for higher rate mobility PIP. Our local authority will not issue a BB if you don't have higher rate mobility PIP.

It took my husband, with a lot of help from me (as a qualified social worker with experience of applying for many service users for PIP), three attempts to get him PIP and a blue badge! How people with no knowledge of the system manage I don't know. Always try to get help from the many support organisations ( Citizens Advice/Age Concern etc). The assessors are there to actively NOT award PIP or other benefits - not to help you get any benefits.

There are another couple of things I don’t understand.
One friend has been receiving DLA for the past 15 years, has been given a Blue Badge but when her daughter applied for Care Allowance, she was denied that.
Another friend has been granted Attendance Allowance but was told she is not entitled to a Blue badge.
Rather confusing 🤫

Allira

Instead of interrogating those who apply for renewal of Blue Badges and dismissing verification from hospital Consultants etc, perhaps some of these people should be out on the streets doing something about the people without disabilities who do not have Blue Badges but who park in the disabled spaces.

Indeed, we have just been to Tesco's and for the first time ever I saw someone checking the cars parked in the blue badge bays. He told us that he had already ticketed 3 cars that were parked there without a BB. It's really annoying when all the BB bays are full and some of them are not even displaying a badge.

I think that something like this is happening to my great aunt, who has just turned 93. She applied to renew he4 blue badge in October as it runs out this month. She originally received the badge because she has very painful knees that limit her ability to walk anything but short steps. She has been discharged from the hospital because she felt that she was too old for knee replacements.

She was contacted and asked to say what medication she takes.
She only takes paracetamol so has given up hope of renewing her badge and won’t let me intervene. I totally understand that there are people who abuse the system but I feel that they should apply some common sense. A person of 93 is unlikely to improve their mobility.

Geordiegirl1

Surely she was asking him how many bus stops Hé could walk past, not how many buses?

It may be a way of assessing distance ... ?

I was refused mine on renewal- I was told that a blue badge wasn’t given for “temporary conditions “ I appealed and assured them that my condition certainly wasn’t temporary and indeed, was getting worse. I was granted a new badge on appeal.

In my dad’s area “renewal” is a misleading term as you have to effectively “reapply” every time .

My sister once advised, when asked how you are doing, be sure to describe how you are on your worst day.

So sorry this cruel treatment is happening again. I was diagnosed with EMPD in 2000 exacerbated by a consultant from the Chelsea and Westminster who used a laser to a brutal degree. I still have nerve pain after all this time. I got called for medical examinations every year because it eas a rare condition but was seen initially by doctors, then physios and latterly by a vile woman who boasted that she had no qualifications at all. Her tone and manner was extremely hostile. Told later they were paid £2,000 to dump people. The form she completed was full of lies and misrepresentation. I intended to appeal
but had a recurrence of Pagets and my OH felt that my MH was falling apart. I still regret letting her get away with her behaviour. I was eventually told that often appeals are upheld but what a cruel way to treat people who are already struggling. It seems that once the DLA was refused then the Blue Badge went as well.
Water under the bridge now but I still feel angry at the abusive treatment.

Surely she was asking him how many bus stops Hé could walk past, not how many buses?

This is wrong. Assessments with and Occupational health therapist is only for new claims. My husband renew his online 3 months early as instructed and was later called by an old lady who asked him how many buses he could walk past!!!! When he struggled to answer she said she had to refer him for a telephone interview with an OH practitioner. He called a month later from his own home with a noisy dog barking in the background and went through the same kind of questioning. It was only when my husband said he would be lost if his blue badge wasn't renewed that the chap said referrals were only for new claims and he contacted the issuing department and the badge came a few days later. Tell them it's a renewal, not a new claim.

These assessments are worrying a lot of people, I think they have used AI for many of the questions, don’t worry, you’ll get a new one, I’m sure. If not, appeal.

Instead of interrogating those who apply for renewal of Blue Badges and dismissing verification from hospital Consultants etc, perhaps some of these people should be out on the streets doing something about the people without disabilities who do not have Blue Badges but who park in the disabled spaces.

Hello, yes the chap that called was from Dependability so the assessment has already taken place - yesterday. I don't have a good feeling about this .
Thank you, will definitely mention the point about yes no answers if it comes to appealing .

Dazy, I'm a little confused here. Are you still due an assessment by the Dependability team or was that it by this insensitive chap? If so let's hope it's someone else on the team that handles your case. Shocking that it was yes/no answers. I'd be making a point of that in an appeal - that you weren't allowed to expand and so give the chap a greater understanding of how your condition affects your ability to walk. That Yes/no answers are no way of getting across exactly what the medical condition is and how it affects your day to day mobility. I've googled it as I've not come across this in my work and it said that it can cause pain in the pelvic area. So that alone would cause difficulty walking. I'd also maybe consider asking if you can have a female assessor because you feel uncomfortable discussing your medical condition. No harm asking surely?
Redcar - I'm so sorry for you that your in effect being penalised for council being a jobsworth. To my mind, there has to be some allowances made when making the decisions on individual applications ie taking age into account along with the condition. Unfortunately, your council seem to put money over their residents quality of life. Have you appealed?

I applied to renew my blue badge, had to have an assessment with a “trained physiotherapist “ to quote the county council. (Outsourced to save money?) I was refused a blue badge because I can walk too well using a rollator. My county council follows the department of transport guidance to the letter! I certainly don’t go out as much as I did when I had a blue badge, so the shops in my local town lose quite a lot of custom.

ClicketyClick thanks that's really helpful! Great that you have experience and good to know I can appeal if refused.

I wasn't clear. I had apply to renew in December, then a letter came from the council to say I'd been referred to Occupational therapy team called Dependability for a phone assessment. I wrote to the council in panic as month had passed, no phone call. They said to wait, back log, and my application had failed to meet the criteria which really confused me.
So the chap from dependability called today and didn't seem nice at all which frightened me. I'm not expecting kindness but his time was v dismissive and he wouldn't let me clarify, just yes no answers.
I sent so much evidence. Hospital letter from my consultant, GP appointment outlining my dire condition, photos of all the meds I take. I felt it was well supported.

It's not as clear cut as a physical disability. I have BPS also known as interstitial cystitis, an agonising inflammatory autoimmune disorder that erodes the bladder lining.
I explained that prior to being awarded the badge 6 years ago I was a house-chained recluse.

Dazy, I used to be deal with blue badges. If your medical condition hasn't improved any or has deteriorated since your last application then I'm surprised you've been refused. It may be that a) you may have misheard a question on the phone and so your reply raised a flag to the chap who had to then refer you to occy health b) the chap might be inexperienced in his role and therefore may not have used some common sense when assessing your phone answers against the info on your application form . With him asking you irrelevant questions rather than tailoring his questions to your condition it is a possibility. I assume you don't qualify under the rules for DLA or the qualifying parts of P.I.P. You mentioned that you've been referred to Occupational health so have you been assessed by them yet? If not, then I'd guess that the chap on the phone has sent the refusal letter in error as the decision letter either refusing or saying the badge will be issued isn't sent until after occupational health have assessed you (usually a face to face appointment). Anyone refused a blue badge has the right to appeal the decision. It will be on your council's website how to appeal. Gather as much evidence as possible, even if you think it's irrelevant - gp/hospital letters, repeat prescriptions, proof of either DLA or P.I.P if you qualify under those. But you probably don't get either of those to auto qualify with you having completing an application form. Please do stick with it and keep us posted.

Thanks all.
"You'd think the clerks who issued these badges had to pay for them out of their salaries here."
So true!
I can only keep my fingers crossed and yes good suggestion re local councillor

I read a few months ago that apparently a lot of adjustments wre being made for Disabled Badge applications basically to tighten up on awards. Think it may have been related to all the changes to disability benefits. You shoukd saurely be entitled to an explanation of why you've been refused this time.

It is unnecessarily difficult. Most people will not have improved, many may be less mobile since their badge was issued. I tried to help DH do his online but it sent me round in circles.
DH is waiting to hear about his renewal, I quite expect it to be refused and, if so, we shall contact our helpful County Councillor.

You'd think the clerks who issued these badges had to pay for them out of their salaries here.
When I applied,the clerk wanted full access to my medical records, despite providing a letter from a Consultant! I refused but have to rely more on DH as a result.

Good luck, but do contact your Councillor if you have problems.

I had a telephone call to check how my condition affects me getting to places I want or need to get to. My badge arrived a week later. I think it’s easy to misunderstand the questions and not answer as fully as you might have if they were worded differently. I got a really helpful young lady doing my assessment, sounds like you weren’t so fortunate. I hope your OH can sort it out.