Blue Badges help people with disabilities or health conditions park closer to their destination.

They also mean people can park free of charge at on-street parking meters and in Pay and Display bays or on single or double yellow lines for up to three hours, except where there's a ban on loading or unloading, explains GOV.UK.

You can apply for a badge for yourself, on behalf of somebody else or an organisation that transports people who need a Blue Badge.

But do you know who automatically qualifies for one and who could be eligible?

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Who is eligible for a Blue Badge in the UK?

GOV.UK says you can automatically qualify for a Blue Badge if you are aged three or over and at least one of the following applies:

  • you receive the higher rate of the mobility component of the Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
  • you receive a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) because you can’t walk more than 50 metres (a score of 8 points or more under the ‘moving around’ activity of the mobility component)
  • you are registered blind (severely sight impaired)
  • you receive a War Pensioners’ Mobility Supplement
  • you have received a lump sum benefit within tariff levels 1 to 8 of the Armed Forces and Reserve Forces (Compensation) Scheme and have been certified as having a permanent and substantial disability that causes inability to walk or very considerable difficulty in walking
  • you receive the mobility component of PIP and have obtained 10 points specifically for descriptor E under the ‘planning and following journeys’ activity, on the grounds that you are unable to undertake any journey because it would cause you overwhelming psychological distress

What can fail an MOT test?

However, you may also be eligible for a badge if one or more of the following applies:

  • you cannot walk at all
  • you cannot walk without help from someone else or using mobility aids
  • you find walking very difficult due to pain, breathlessness or the time it takes
  • walking is dangerous to your health and safety
  • you have a life-limiting illness, which means you cannot walk or find walking very difficult and have a SR1 form
  • you have a severe disability in both arms and drive regularly, but cannot operate pay-and-display parking machines
  • you have a child under the age of 3 with a medical condition that means the child always needs to be accompanied by bulky medical equipment
  • you have a child under the age of 3 with a medical condition that means the child must always be kept near a vehicle in case they need emergency medical treatment

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  • you are constantly a significant risk to yourself or others near vehicles, in traffic or car parks
  • you struggle severely to plan or follow a journey
  • you find it difficult or impossible to control your actions and lack awareness of the impact you could have on others
  • you regularly have intense and overwhelming responses to situations causing temporary loss of behavioural control
  • you frequently become extremely anxious or fearful of public/open spaces

It is your local council who decides if you are eligible for a Blue Badge and applications can take up to 12 weeks. Find out how to apply on the GOV.UK website.