Disabled Railcard

gray1404 said:

Have you tried applying and having the application sent back or rejected or have you merely asked the question as a customer service query.

What are you going to do then? Unless you are pro active here nothing is going to change. Have you tried actually applying using any of the items others here have reported have been accepted? Also my suggestion above about getting the form stamped by social services by either sending them a copy asking then to stam and return or call and ask to speak to the Duty Social Worker.

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I applied at the end of last year. I sent them everything I have. They rejected it and wanted the battery book.
I applied again last week, same thing.
When I applied last time I did contact social services and I'm still waiting to hear back

There is also the issue that there are rechargeable hearing aids these days, so where would a battery book requirement fit into that?

(I note that the criteria for a railcard on deafness grounds refers to 'A copy of the front page of your NHS battery book or a copy of your dispensing prescription from a private hearing aid supplier'. Does the dispensing prescription refer to the original provision of the hearing aid? If so, is there an equivalent provided when NHS hearing aids are supplied, and which could be used as evidence?)

Foxcover said:

That worked for us too but it was basically the hearing aid receipt and audiology scan that we sent in. The criteria they ask for - eg NHS battery book - just don’t exist any more.

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Battery issue card in my previous post is new, so they still issue them.

Deafdoggie said:

I applied at the end of last year. I sent them everything I have. They rejected it and wanted the battery book.
I applied again last week, same thing.
When I applied last time I did contact social services and I'm still waiting to hear back

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I would be temped to make a formal complaint to Railcards. Your end of last year application is still recent enough to complain about. Ask for a review by a Manager of needed. It sounds as if they are being inconsistent in applications in terms of what evidence they are accepting.

A failed complaint can then be taken up with someone like the Guardian Consumer Champions or similar and also your MP.

Can you list what you sent in terms of evidence exactly? We need to see if others have had the same evidence accepted.

When you applied was it online or by post?

Also have you tried renewing your old online or over the phone to see if this is possible.

If you have been waiting over a month to hear back from social services I would definitely call during office hours and ask to speak to the Duty Worker. The duty worker out of hours is for emergency situations only. Should this be to no avail a complaint to the local Authority about their lack of response may kick them into action.

I know I am asking you a lot of questions. I am honestly trying to help you find a workaround. I hold a disabled persons Railcard myself and am very passionate about disabled persons rights. This seems very unfair and too narrow a criteria. Thankfully during the lockdowns I still had to travel so kept my Railcard in date.

Unbelievably they have accepted the generic Google image I posted upthread as proof!
Such is their desire to see a battery book, even a generic image will do!
I should stress I made no claim it was mine, nor it was valid and that it was an image I had found!

One can only suppose they use AI to validate eligibility.

njr001 said:

One can only suppose they use AI to validate eligibility.

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I'd really like to think such technology is used but...

I would say more likely the desk jockey equally not knowing battery books are not issued anymore conversely wouldn't know what a battery book looks like if it slapped them in the face.

They just saw "battery book" and passed it.

According to ORR there are now 283,148 cards in use, an increase of 20% on last year, which according to the graph appears to be highest for at least 12 years (and possibly highest ever )

Snow1964 said:

According to ORR there are now 283,148 cards in use, an increase of 20% on last year, which according to the graph appears to be highest for at least 12 years (and possibly highest ever )

https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/rxtlbpmu/dprc-factsheet-2023-24-rail-periods-8-10.pdf

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Probably an increase in disabled prople and being more aware of their right to a disabled railcard.

Do you get Personal Independence Payments?
A: Yes. If you receive Personal Independence Payments at any level for either the Mobility or Daily Living components, you are eligibile for a Disabled Persons Railcard. Applicants will need to provide a copy of their current award letter.

Vespa said:

Probably an increase in disabled prople and being more aware of their right to a disabled railcard.

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I do get annoyed with someone I know who's got a 16-25 Railcard but also definitely enough evidence to get a Disabled Railcard if they wanted one...

...then they moan about the minimum fare to me!

40875704 said:

Do you get Personal Independence Payments?
A: Yes. If you receive Personal Independence Payments at any level for either the Mobility or Daily Living components, you are eligibile for a Disabled Persons Railcard. Applicants will need to provide a copy of their current award letter.

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Many, many people are eligible for a Disabled Railcard who aren't eligible for PIP or have never claimed it because it's so onerous and depressing to do so. It took me over 10 years to manage to complete a form in the time allocated (not to mention the year waiting to be assessed, being offered assessments 100 miles from home - I live in London - and having to get my MP involved to get it sorted out and get an appropriate assessment)..

The largest group of people eligible will be those with hearing aids, so it's worrying that OP has had such trouble, and also that they accepted a generic image!