difference in blue badges

lottyxx

im quite new to having a blue badge and sometimes its quite confusing...in a local car park to me you can only park for free if you are tax exempt which im not...i dont mind paying ,but how would the traffic warden know ?? are the blue badges different in apperance? as we do not display tax now.

Richie-from-the-Boro

lottyxx wrote: »

I'm quite new to having a blue badge and sometimes its quite confusing...in a local car park to me you can only park for free if you are tax exempt which I'm not...I don't mind paying ,but how would the traffic warden know ?? are the blue badges different in appearance? as we do not display tax now.

Blue badges are all the same ........ identical to look at.

Different local areas and differing areas of the country have different rules on paying and enforcing parking [i.e. Scotland / England] You seem to be confusing blue badge eligibility with VED exemption. A Certificate of Entitlement to Disability Living Allowance / PIP / AFIP entitles you free road tax providing the vehicle is only used for the benefit of the person with the exemption. The blue badge you display is nothing to do with road tax eligibility but it does contain all the information on the name / age / gender / address / etc of the blue badge holder.

Blue badge
Road tax exemption

you can only park for free if you are tax exempt

- never heard of this, let the group know what you mean

- millions of blue badge holders are VED [VEHICLE EXCISE DUTY] exempt with private non-motability cars
- millions of blue badge holders are VED [VEHICLE EXCISE DUTY] exempt with motability cars
- millions of blue badge holders have no VED [VEHICLE EXCISE DUTY] exemption at all but are still entitled to a blue badge

kittykat17

A lot of car parks now insist that free blue badge parking only applies if the car is tax emempt, ie, Motability. I assume the people running the car parks are able to check with DVLA for this as tax discs are no longer supplied. Also, Dartford Tunnel is free for tax emempt cars now that they have removed the tolls and people have to pay in advance for using the tunnel (& bridge). I get tax exemption as I get HRM / PIP.

pogofish

Also check what type of car parrk it is - Private (ie not operated by a legal body like a council) car parks often make it up as they go along when it comes to BB requirements.

lottyxx

the car park i am refering to is a council car park that on some days has a market on...it says clearly its only free if you are tax exempt

HB58

lottyxx wrote: »

the car park i am refering to is a council car park that on some days has a market on...it says clearly its only free if you are tax exempt

That system is very common locally to me. I left the tax disc on my car, even though it is not really necessary now, so that my tax-exempt status is easy to see. Obviously, that will not be useful once this tax has expired. I wonder if we are going to see a lot of people falsely ticketed?

Richie-from-the-Boro

South Hams District Council charges Blue Badge holders to park within their car parks. Blue Badge Holders are therefore required to purchase a pay & display ticket however an hour free is given on top of the expiry time. Vehicles exempt from road fund tax (disabled nil) are permitted to park for three hours for free.

- its always been the case that you should never assume parking is free, its in the R&R blue booklet you were issued with your badge
- see above, I'd no idea such a restriction as combined VED & blue badge even existed - I stand corrected
- for example you are entitled to a blue badge even if you are not in receipt of any of the qualifying benefits
- to get a blue badge you need only to satisfy the qualifying test [subject to further assessment] criteria
- even children under the age of three may be eligible for a badge and they can't drive

NOTE : I'm all for the check and all for prosecution and even taking peoples car off them.

lottyxx

i just think every bb holder should pay or not pay...i dont see what that tax has to do with parking..if u are a bb holder you should be treated the same as any other bb holder.

Richie-from-the-Boro

lottyxx wrote: »

i just think every bb holder should pay or not pay...i dont see what that tax has to do with parking..if u are a bb holder you should be treated the same as any other bb holder.

I ½ agree, all BB holders should be equally treated, anything less is inequality. Its a crude ham fisted approach at doing the right thing. What they appear to be doing is to stop drivers [not self-driving blue badge holders] parking in the bay. That's the right thing to do - but laws already exist - the name and quick tracing details are contained in the new blue badge security system. Hence the reason earlier I said """I'm all for the check, and prosecution, and even taking peoples car off them."""

jennilb

This is my best guess for why they're doing this is:

A blue badge can physically be displayed in any car; the tax exemption is applied to just one vehicle. If you have the tax exemption, it means you're agreeing that the car will only be driven in one of the following circumstances:
1) with the disabled person in it
2) on an errand for the disabled person

If you're Dartford Tunnel etc, the benefit of limiting the discount / free service to people who have the tax exemption are:
- it can be administered more quickly, via numberplate recognition systems and checks with DVLA website instead of someone having to inspect each badge etc.
- it might perhaps reduce fraud. As we know, a minority of people do fraudulently use disabled relative's blue badges when they aren't with them.
- there are fewer people getting the discount, so they're earning more money.

Now this is unfair on disabled people who share a car with a partner / family member. They can't have the tax exemption because they can't meet the legal requirements (above). Its also unfair on disabled people who don't own a car at all, but use the badge when they go with friends / family in the other person's car

benniebert

For the life of me I cannot understand why there is this two tier system. What difference does it make if someone gets HRM or not? It isn't means tested. So why should some people have to pay car tax and some don't? It's not as though being disabled enough to get HRM means that they can't afford the car tax.
As for car parking, the same applies, why is it assumed that those that get free car tax are entitled to free parking? Am I missing something? Do people actually believe that if you get HRM you must be poor?