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Bus Passes For The Disabled.

You can apply for a disabled person’s bus pass or rail card if you have an illness and you cannot manage to walk long distances.

People with, mental, physical, and learning disabilities are entitled to apply.

The criteria are that you have to be receiving personal independence payments or a disability living allowance.

You or someone else can apply on your behalf, such as a friend, family member, or carer.

Once approved you will be able to travel for free by bus or get 30% off your train tickets.

Most applications are through your local council as they are the ones that are in charge of public (bus) transport.

Alternatively, you can contact your local Citizens Advice which can help you with the application if you need it. 

Applying for a railcard

You need to use this link to Find out if you’re eligible and how to apply on the National Rail website. Unfortunately, if you do not qualify, you will have to pay the full price for your train tickets. If your application gets rejected you cannot appeal.

Applying for a disabled person’s bus pass 

Criteria:

• you are blind or partially sighted, deaf, or unable to speak.
• you cannot walk very far because of a disability, illness, or injuries, such as multiple sclerosis or autoimmune disorder, or a mental illness.
• you are immobilized you do not have arms or legs.
• you have a severe learning disability.
• you’ve been refused a driving license because of your health (but not because of problems with drugs or alcohol). (Although drug addiction and alcoholism is also an illness).

To know if you are entitled to a free bus pass visit the Government website on GOV.UK and see what evidence you’ll need to show if you are eligible.

If you live in London

You’ll need to apply for a ‘Disabled Person’s Freedom Pass’ instead. The eligibility criteria are the same as for the rest of England.

Follow the steps on GOV.UK to apply.

If you don’t qualify for a Disabled Person’s Freedom Pass, you can ask your council for a ‘discretionary bus pass’. Some London councils give these to people who aren’t eligible for a Freedom Pass but have problems getting around.

You might be able to use Dial-a-ride – a free door-to-door bus service run by Transport for London (TfL). You can become a member if you have a long-term disability or if you’re over 85 years old.

You can find out more about Dial-a-ride on the TfL website.

If you are refused a bus pass.

You can appeal to your council if your bus pass application was refused. Check your council’s website to find out how to appeal.

You can also visit your nearest Citizens Advice – an adviser will discuss your options.

Other help you can get.

If you are on a higher disability rate you may also be able to apply for a car, mobility scooter, or powered wheelchair.

If you’re eligible for a bus or rail pass, you might also be able to get:

• a car, scooter, or powered wheelchair from a charity called Motability
• a Blue Badge – to help you or someone who drives you around the park more conveniently and in disability parking zones at grocery stores.

It’s also worth checking you’re getting all the benefits you’re entitled to – you can use our benefits checker to easily find out.

Final Thoughts From The Editor

Remember you should get what you are entitled to and councils will not make it easy for you otherwise everyone would be doing it.

You have to stand up for your rights or have someone that can appeal on your behalf.

With this said my daughter who has multiple sclerosis and has relapsed, thus is starting her round of treatment of Lemtrada Alemtuzamab on the 4th of July 2022 and finds it hard to walk long distances is in receipt of Personal Independence Payments. Her review for PIP has been postponed and keeps being postponed every 3 months. I am my daughter’s carer and find that this is causing unnecessary stress for my daughter and I have cited that stress can cause people with multiple sclerosis to relapse.

I will come back with an update once I hear back from our local council regarding my daughter’s bus pass. I am finding organizations from Blue Chip Companies to Government Offices either are not fully trained when it comes to the consequences of their actions. A person who is relapsing does not want added stress to further make their illness any worse and God forbid become bedridden.

I have been on the Cardiff Council Travel Website: https://portal.tfw.wales/en/disabled There is no page that says for customers to appeal. I then proceeded to by phoning them and completely forgot the question I needed for this site (cognitive impairment) 🤣😂 although went on to mention my daughter and the woman I spoke to said that nothing was received from my daughter. She also said it is the council’s decision and not theirs, excuse me you are an agency part of the council.

Cardiff Council email address: travelcards@tfw.wales

Cardiff Council phone number: 03003 034 240 Monday to Friday: 09:00 – 17:00

Evidence shows that stress can be a contributing factor to causing relapses in Multiple Sclerosis patients, which can have a bidirectional relationship.

UPDATE 05/07/22

Email Content.

Hope you are well.  

I regret to inform you that unfortunately, your daughter does not qualify for the Disabled Concessionary Bus Pass. As an organization, we are only able to approve applicants that score the points specified below on one or more of the following descriptors.  

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Statement of Entitlement, which shows: Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Disability Living Allowance (DLA) award letter, which gives details of a Higher Rate Mobility Component (HRMC) award.

8 or more points under Descriptor 7 “Communicating Verbally”; or
12 points under Descriptor 11 “Planning and Following a Journey”; or
8 or more points under Descriptor 12 “Moving Around”.

Please note:  The PIP descriptors and their individual scores MUST NOT be added together. Unfortunately, as an organization, we are unable to carry out individual assessments, however, in this instance, I would recommend getting in touch with your local authority, who will be able to carry out an assessment to clarify if she is eligible for the pass.

Cardiff Council.
County Hall,
Atlantic Wharf,
Cardiff,
CF10 4UW.
Tel – 02920 872087 

Hopefully, this gives some reassurance that there are options that you are able to explore

Kind regards

Leila Rad-Andrews

My Comments.

The above email is inaccurate because the last time my daughter had an assessment was in 2018 and since then she has lapsed twice. My daughter has since done an online assessment test which states she has between 15 & 19 points.

Despite sending in multiple emails including my daughter’s PIP award they have had the audacity to decline my daughter a bus pass.

She is currently in hospital having Lemtrada Alemtuzumab treatment for her Multiple Sclerosis as she has relapsed and this is causing her unnecessary emotional distress which could lead to further relapses.

https://www.everydayhealth.com/hs/living-better-with-ms-guide/triggers-that-can-cause-ms-flares/

https://disabledentrepreneur.uk/zenas-online-journal-alemtuzumab/

“If it is found that my daughter relapses again because of the stress this is causing her, somebody should be held responsible”.

Update 07/07/22

As my daughter’s carer, I am shocked at how I have been given the runaround. Transport for Wales wrote to both my daughter and me in an email stating that she was not entitled to a bus pass because she did not have enough points.

I explained since the last assessment she has since relapsed and just come out of hospital for her treatment yesterday. So any changes will not be reflected. It is as if the arse does not know what the elbow is doing because when I phoned the number that ‘Transport For Wales’ gave me (which was the switchboard for Cardiff City Council) I was then re-directed back to ‘Transport For Wales’ who told me it was Cardiff City Council Hub-Team that I needed to speak to. I then phoned the number again and was told I had to phone 02920871071 which I did, who then told me I had to speak with the Library. I spoke with the hub/library two days ago and I was sent out an application form even though my daughter already filled one in?

We have submitted all the relevant information by email and we are simply getting the runaround. I finally got an email address advicehub@cardiff.gov.uk yet the hub two days ago said they do not have email addresses, yet today the number I phoned told me to go to the library (as if I am going to shut down my business to take time out is hilarious and beyond unbelievable 😂🤣)… and miraculously they found an email address 😂🤣.

According to ‘Transport For Wales’, my daughter is ‘NOT DISABLED ENOUGH’ to be entitled to a bus pass, even though she has ‘MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS’ and has relapsed.

My Daughters’ PIP Test States She Has 15 -19 Points: https://disabledentrepreneur.uk/zenas-pip-self-test/ contrary to her last assessment that was done a few years ago and since then she has relapsed twice and has just finished treatment. https://disabledentrepreneur.uk/zenas-online-journal-alemtuzumab/

I said in mid-flow of the conversation that this is to do with Government purse strings and the guy I spoke to had not got a clue what I was talking about (I have no words 😂🤣 ).

The criteria are as follows:

(One needs twelve points to qualify).

What the points criteria do not mention is:

(Conveniently)…

Do you experience:

• Stress
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Suicidal Thoughts
• Intrusive Thoughts
• Cognitive Impairment
• Loss of Balance
• Insomnia
• Experience Pain
• Numbness
• Experience Light Headiness
• Confusion
• Lack of Concentration
• Social Disconnection
• Forgetfulness

I will update you once again once I get a response from the Advice Hub.

“I dread to think about what the stress could potentially do to someone with progressive autoimmune disease”.

I could feel myself blowing a gasket never mind someone with multiple sclerosis who has literally come out of hospital for treatment because of a relapse.

If you have any questions or need to be steered in the right direction do drop us a line using the form below:

#disabilitybuspass #discretionerybuspass #freebuspass #buspass #mobility #transportforwales #multiplesclerosisstress #multiplesclerosis #MS #multiplesclerosisresplapse