blue badge

I can fully sympathise with you. My Blue Badge is also more important than a benefit award. Having an extra few quid in your pocket does not help when you have difficulty walking any distance.

I previously had Indefinite DLA (High Mobility & Middle Care) for years - since 1995.

When I was asked to move to PIP when I was 67, I just couldn't face the form filling, and the experience that everyone seems to go through with regular re-assessments every few years for the rest of my life. I allowed the DWP to close down my DLA award by not carrying out their demands for PIP.

Now I don't have any worry about these disability assessments and can get on with what I enjoy doing. Mind you my current badge runs out next year so it will have to be an assessment instead of it being automatic as it has been in the past.

That's both good news and bad. Good that you got your blue badge, but not so good that you didn't get the PIP. This still beggars belief, that people who have been receiving DLA for years, (and most will obviously be worse with ageing), are now having it stopped and cannot claim PIP.

I have two friends, both with almost the same disabilities, both on DLA. One of them will lose out by being six weeks younger than the other. From reading the horror stories on here, I will probably lose mine, too, by just a few months, which is, in my opinion, ridiculous. They should have made one ruling right across the board, or, left well alone. It is causing stress, and a lot of ill feeling amongst many people who have only missed out on their DLA by a few months. 

Going back to you being able to keep your blue badge. That also has me confused. On my form it always stated that you had to be claiming the higher rate for help with getting around to qualify for a blue badge. If they are now saying that people are no longer able to claim the higher rate of mobilty, how can they then award them with a blue badge? The whole system is screwed up now, and I can only see things getting much worse. 

You can apply for a blue badge separately from pip or dla. Just google blue badge and apply on line. My bugbear is that after I applied for my blue badge which entailed questions about how far you can walk and other questions regarding your health I was told to attend a walking assessment. I went along thinking that they would assess my walk! They watched me walk and timed me then we had to go inside and they went through all my medical conditions, medication, what adaptations I had in my home, what kind of property I lived in, pretty much the same questions the pip questionnaire asked which having gone through the Atos assessment the week before I found quite humiliating. The consolation is that I now have my blue badge for three years, so no more being quizzed by anyone...hopefully.

That is absolutely disgusting! And, completely farcical that they already had all your information and put you through that again. It's as if they try to humilatate us as much as they possibly can. This type of humiliation would not be allowed in any other circumstance. I cannot understand why there is no one in power standing up for us regarding this. But we're probably at the bottom of the pecking order and priority list. They go for the weakest in society every time. They know that most disabled people are not strong enough, (either mentally, or physically), to take them on.  This sickens me, if I was younger, and healthier, I would definitely take them on.