I'm in the middle of my application for a new blue badge. The on-line form may have advantages but the claimed 15 minutes it takes is a wild underestimate for those like me whose application is based on walking difficulties rather than already having disability allowances etc.
Anyway there is still a need to post though as one one needs certified copies of documents despite the fact, they could check the driving licence with DVLA - they do ask for your driver number. Ok you don't have to have a licence, but for those that have, you could simplify things and increase the security of the badge system.
However, there are two lists of needed certified copies of documents, one to prove identity, and the other to prove address. Most of them, you'd be having to send in a certified copy of each but a driving licence appears in both lists. So as somebody who has yet to submit the application, will I need to send two certified copies of my licence, or do they do the intelligent thing and use one copy for both?
Photo requirement is odd too. I had to edit my scan slightly to get it the right shape, but I'm a bit perplexed at the size requirements as in pixel terms, the photo they want is small, but in memory terms the maximum is quite a bit larger. Guess it copes with non-standard compression?
Last edited by: Slidingpillar on Fri 2 Aug 13 at 09:31
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Did my mums one last month. It varies from council to council, but I sent in proof of address and identity in the form of utility bill and scan of driving license (just one of each) Photo was a passport standard one of which we had a few in the drawer.
As you have to post stuff in it makes sense to completely dump any thoughts of doing it on line, and fill in the paper application instead and post it off with the docs.
Last edited by: Zero on Fri 2 Aug 13 at 09:37
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Good point Z! A mix-n-match of on line and post would be a big "Fail" I think
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I thought the application process had now moved from the council (which had a human touch) to Crapita - found this number for you on our internal advice data-base. It looks to me reading through that that all you need is your driver number and it is a total on-line process - I'll have a read through it in detail for you now nd post the result on here.
For enquiries about whether you’re eligible for a blue badge, contact the national blue badge helpline on 0844 463 0213.
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The two apparent advantages of doing it on-line are the facts you can alter things and there is a check on provision of some data. I presume you get a reference number to tie up the bits you send in, otherwise it's still a pointless exercise.
All my utility bills are paid on-line with the minimum of paperwork - so any hard copies will come via my printer! However the query was since the driving licence is in the acceptable lists for both identity and address, surely you can just send the one copy to do both jobs? Or is officialdom daft enough to want two as they go to different people?
As I recall, the passport was in one list, so I'll take a copy of that too.
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Blue Badge query - Zero
