Blue Badge Renewal

[DianneT]

Just a quick question that I need help with.

We renewed my husbands blue badge on the 14th Jan and so far it has not arrived. His old badge has now expired. Called our local office to see what is happening and I was told it was issued, she gave me the badge number, and have been told to give it another week to see if it arrives in the post. How long have others had to wait until they received their badges?
We are now in a position that if going out it will make things much more difficult for us.

[Flymo]

If you applied online, you can track the application online - the status will be "Your application was issued by your local authority on xx/xx/xxxx" when the Badge is sent for printing.

It sounds like the Badge has gone missing in the post. Mine turned up within two working days of being issued at the beginning of this month, and others have reported equally quick service from the new centralised printing service.


You will have to work with your council to resolve this. I would ask the council for the date they sent the request for the Badge to be printed if you can't get it from the online system. In your position, I would state my belief that it is unlikely the Badge will turn up if it hasn't arrived after a week, and you want a duplicate Badge sent free of charge if it hasn't arrived after a week.

If you land up having a duplicate Badge, make sure you are told what the serial number will be. In that instance, the original Badge will be marked as invalid on the database, and cannot be used for parking if it happens to turn up. If you land up with a duplicate Badge, I wonder if the duplicate nature of the Badge is reflected in the serial number is shown as I guessed when analysing the Badge number format.


I wish there was an option to have Blue Badges sent Special Delivery at extra cost. I believe this can be done at extra cost when requesting a replacement for a lost or stolen Badge, but cannot be done on an original request because the statutory cap on the application fee seems to be interpreted as precluding additional charges for delivery.

[DianneT]

If you applied online, you can track the application online - the status will be "Your application was issued by your local authority on xx/xx/xxxx" when the Badge is sent for printing.

It sounds like the Badge has gone missing in the post. Mine turned up within two working days of being issued at the beginning of this month, and others have reported equally quick service from the new centralised printing service.


You will have to work with your council to resolve this. I would ask the council for the date they sent the request for the Badge to be printed if you can't get it from the online system. In your position, I would state my belief that it is unlikely the Badge will turn up if it hasn't arrived after a week, and you want a duplicate Badge sent free of charge if it hasn't arrived after a week.

If you land up having a duplicate Badge, make sure you are told what the serial number will be. In that instance, the original Badge will be marked as invalid on the database, and cannot be used for parking if it happens to turn up. If you land up with a duplicate Badge, I wonder if the duplicate nature of the Badge is reflected in the serial number is shown as I guessed when analysing the Badge number format.


I wish there was an option to have Blue Badges sent Special Delivery at extra cost. I believe this can be done at extra cost when requesting a replacement for a lost or stolen Badge, but cannot be done on an original request because the statutory cap on the application fee seems to be interpreted as precluding additional charges for delivery.

Thanks for the reply Flymo.
Just called them again and was fed a lot of manure. First she told me that the badge had not be paid for, I told her it had been and I have receipt here. Hmmm, let me call you back she says. 3 minutes later she calls to say she had spoke to a supervisor and yes it had been paid for and that the badge was done, somehow it just had not got posted. Unbelievable!.

[Kodiak]

Thank God I live in the Highlands of Scotland as it is the Highland Council that make the Blue Badge. From Application to receiving it is usually about one week.

My Last one I posted in Application on Monday, on Thursday I received a Phone call and I was advised that the Application was approved and how would I like to pay the £20 for the Blue Badge. I got my son to give them the number on his credit card and they then posted the next day. I received my New Blue Badge on the following Monday, 1 week to the day.

[Flymo]

Northgate hold the Blue Badge Improvement Scheme contract for the whole of England, Wales and Scotland. The production of Badges is subcontracted to Payne Security. That latter link says Northgate and Payne have the contract "throughout England, Scotland and Wales".

What appears to be happening is that Highland Council are exercising the option used by some other councils to have Blue Badges sent to them to issue, rather than them being posted directly to the end user.

I appreciate that Highland is a special case in terms of getting things delivered, but very much doubt Payne have embedded a production facility within Highland Council. It would be very hard to justify the cost of the equipment for the limited number of Badges issued by Highland Council.

As others have commented on the forums, the Badge issue process is extremely efficient once the issuing council sends the request through the BBIS system. Even if it takes an extra day in the postal system compared most of the mainland, posting the Badge directly to the issuing Highland Council office from the Payne Security facility would allow Highland Council to offer a "within 3 working days" service, with Badges often being available quicker than that.