Proof of MS / Disability via some sort of card

Hello everyone,

Firstly, Happy New Year to you all!

I’m writing to find out people’s experience in ‘proving their disability’ for obtaining disabled discounts / ability to jump queues etc. As there appears to be no official National Disabled Card scheme, at least not anymore, how do we prove that we fall under the disabled criteria? I’ve always been confused by the word ‘registered’ in the term ‘are you registerd disabled?’. How and where do we register?

I’ve read other forums that say we shouldn’t have to prove anything, but obviously a business has to protect their interests, and someone just saying they’re disabled is not really going to cut it!

I have a Freedom Pass (although it doesn’t specify as disabled) and also a Disabled Person’s Railcard, so could either of these be used as proof?

Many thanks
Jon

Hi Jon. Happy New Year!
I think what people generally think of when it comes to being ‘registered disabled’, is when they get disability benefits eg PIP.

The letter informing you of PIP can be used as proof.

To get a free carer place at the cinema, I have a CEA card.

Boudsxx

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A quick internet trawl turned this up

Disabled ID Card, but they do charge!

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Blue Badge, PIP certificate of entitlement, possibly ESA letter? All are varying forms of Government recognition of impairment (subtly different to disabled).

What do you need? Though not exclusive to Crohns & Colitis but driven by them, there has been an effective campaign for Not Every Disability Is Visible. I believe Autism have done something similar?

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@PBMS Thank you! I don’t get PIP at the moment, but will be submitting an application shortly. I didn’t know about the CEA card, so have written to them.

@Willowtree Thank you! I saw the DID card, but was unsure how widely this is accepted. I’ll do some more research and maybe give it a shot.

@GCCK Thank you. I don’t have PIP (yet!), and don’t drive so have no Blue Badge. I’m not sure what I need in each particular case, but I see lots of places offering either discounts or, more importantly, no need for queueing for disabled people, and I needed some one-stop-shop way to prove that I’m classed as disabled. I’ll check out the campaign that you mentioned.

MS Society offer a plastic card (credit card sized) that may be useful if you need help. It is free but has no official status.

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@crd Thanks so much, I’ve just ordered one :slight_smile:

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Thanks CRD.

the MS Society do a card. well they did.

I just had a look at the DID card. Trouble is that they charge £15 (£20 if not fully on line application) for 2 years and require evidence of a disability benefit, disabled parking badge or a ‘medical evidence letter’. I assume such a medical evidence letter would have to directly state you have MS (or another recognised condition).

Not everyone is going to have those documents. Plus, if you’re on benefits and money is tight, £15 seems quite a lot for something not necessarily universally recognised.

Then I did a search for ‘national disability card’ and found this: https://www.disabilityid.co.uk/about Would you believe it, a different organisation offering the same thing, requiring almost the same evidence (only including things like disabled bus pass / rail card as well). This one costs £18 (plus £1.95 P&P) for two years.

It seems to me that some private companies, neither is a registered charity - for all I know there are other companies also (some could suggest) taking advantage of disabled people.

I’d stick with the free I have MS card from the MS society. @crd said ‘it has no official status’. Hmm, neither do either of the others!

Sue

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Years back i used it when i was in B&Q as desperate for a pee, they could see i was disabled and let me use the staff toilet. I think a lot of these cards are just rip offs.

Is it any different to the I AM EXEMPT FROM WEARING A FACE MASK lanyards and cards. You can download and print free etc.

I have my MS society card and have used it and like you said do the others actually have official status HARDLY. xx

Very true… it’s shameful the way some companies exploit those who can probably least afford to pay these charges. Legally they likely aren’t doing anything wrong, but morally and ethically…that’s another matter.

The other thing I just thought of is that these private companies are actually asking for quite a lot of personal information from an applicant for one of their cards. Giving them your full personal details: name, address, phone, email, DOB, NI number, benefits received, diagnosis. Plus pay online with your bank card ……

I’m not at all sure I’d want a private company to have all that.

Sue

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