Concessionary bus pass rumour

Francis1980

I heard something about later this year they are changing the requirements for the DLA components needed for one so that only people on the higer rates can qualify can anyone shed light on this?

dmg24

In my area you currently have to be in receipt of higher rate mobility to qualify.

CarolnMalky

As far as I was aware, you had to be on the high rate of mobility to qualify.

Barcode

I have one, and I'm on low rate mobility. Perhaps varies from area to area?

Francis1980

At the moment I live in Scotland and get a buss pass on the lower mobility rate.

Francis1980

I did a search on Google you also get it if get either middle or high care DLA.

But my question is are the requirements going to change in the near future?

simgranny

I live in the London Borough of Newham. My husband's pass is due for renewal soon but we hadn't recieved a letter. The lady in the local service centre said "let me just check if we are going to renew it". Luckily they are, but we were told that there are a lot of people that would not be getting theirs renewed because they were now only issuing them to people on the higher rate mobility DLA. They were expecting to be dealing with a lot of disgruntled people in the next week or so.

She blamed the Sir Robin Wales, the Newham mayor for this, as previously they had been allowed to use their discretion when issuing them and now could not. If the mayor was the decision maker then it may still vary according to where you live....but as the new passes will be valid nationwide, I would have thought that the criteria for getting one would be the same everywhere.

lil_me

In our area (Durham) you also have to receive higher rate mobility to receive a bus pass (or blue badge as I am aware in some areas these are also given for other DLA elements) I contacted the team in charge about a friend who receives higher rate care and lower rate mobility who just said 'if she doesn't get higher rate mobility she doesn't qualify' and hung up on me. If you could pass on the info you found on google Francis I would be interested in looking into it for this person as I think a bus pass would be great for her, thank you.

kkpolobear

you can get it for other reasons as well such as a learning disabled

Francis1980

lil_me wrote: »

In our area (Durham) you also have to receive higher rate mobility to receive a bus pass (or blue badge as I am aware in some areas these are also given for other DLA elements) I contacted the team in charge about a friend who receives higher rate care and lower rate mobility who just said 'if she doesn't get higher rate mobility she doesn't qualify' and hung up on me. If you could pass on the info you found on google Francis I would be interested in looking into it for this person as I think a bus pass would be great for her, thank you.

I found the info on this page
http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/acci/web/site/PublicTransport/CI/put_Scot_Free_Bus_Travel.asp

It's for aberdeen council but I would have thought most places would be the same.

Francis1980

In order to qualify for the scheme you must be resident in Aberdeen City and fall into one of the following categories:

• Aged 60 or over, or
• Aged 5 or over and fall into one of the following categories:
• • In receipt of the higher rate of the mobility component of the disability living allowance; or,
  • In receipt of the higher or middle rate of the care component of the disability living allowance; or,
  • In receipt of a mobility supplement under article 26A of the Naval, Military and Air Forces etc. (Disablement and Death) Service Pensions Order 1983; or,
  • Your vehicle is licensed in the ‘disabled’ taxation class; or,
  • You have a disabled person’s parking badge – commonly known as a Blue Badge; or,
  • You have been certified as blind or partially sighted; or,
  • You have been refused a driving licence, or had your licence revoked by the DVLA (other than on the grounds of persistent misuse of drugs or alcohol); or,
  • You have made an application for a first provisional driving licence; to renew an expired licence; or for a duplicate and the application has been refused by the DVLA; or,
  • You are profoundly or severely deaf; or,
  • Your ability to travel is impaired by a mental disorder which has persisted for more than a year and you are required to travel to keep health or social care appointments or participate in activities as part of a treatment, care or rehabilitation programme
  • You have been diagnosed as terminally ill or with a progressive degenerative condition in so far as such condition severely impedes their mobility and ability to carry out day to day activities; or,
  • You have lost one or both lower limbs; one lower limb and one upper limb; or both upper limbs.

There are several ways to qualify besides having the high rate mobility. IMO the person who hung up on you was being rude and unprofessional. Maybe they were having a bad day.