How to apply for a disabled person's bus pass

Find out what you'll need to apply for a disabled person's bus pass, including proof of identity.

Applying for a Disabled Bus Pass

Apply online when possible and contact us online in the first instance. This will help us keep within our timescales and ensure best customer service delivery. We appreciate your patience.

To apply you will need:

  • proof of your disability
  • proof of your identity
  • proof of your address
  • a photograph of you

If you're sending these documents by post please only send photocopies. Brighton & Hove City Council cannot be held responsible for documents that are lost in the post.

Proof of your disability

For a list of acceptable documents, please see the table below for the category that you intend to apply under.

Blind or partially sighted

You can use:

  • certificate of vision impairment (CVI)
  • registration with local authority

Profoundly or severely deaf

You can use:

  • your audiological report or a report from an aural specialist indicating that your hearing loss has reached 70 – 95 dBHL
  • registration with the Local Authority

Without speech

You can use:

  • your Personal Independence Payment award dated within the last 12 months showing 8-12 points in ‘Communicating’
  • a letter from a medical professional confirming your condition.
  • registration with Local Authority

Learning disability

You can use:

  • a letter from a medical professional confirming you have a learning disability (this does not include learning difficulties such as Autism Spectrum Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder unless you also have a learning disability)
  • recent IQ test results
  • registration with Local Authority

Walking difficulty

You can use:

  • your higher rate Mobility Component of Disability Living Allowance letter dated within the last 12 months
  • your Personal Independence Payment award dated within the last 12 months showing 8 to 12 points under ‘Moving Around’
  • your valid Blue Badge issued on the grounds of your mobility
  • your War Pensioners mobility supplement letter dated within the last 12 months
  • your lump sum benefit under the Armed Forces and Reserve Forces (Compensation) Scheme - this must be within tariff levels 1 to 8, inclusive

If you do not have any of the above, you will need to supply medical evidence that your walking ability is affected. You may also be required to have an eligibility assessment.

No arms or have long-term loss of the use of both arms

You can use:

  • a letter from a medical professional confirming your condition
  • your proof of registration with the Local Authority

Unable to drive

You can use:

  • a letter from the DVLA confirming the refusal/revocation of a driving licence for a minimum period of 12 months
  • a letter from a medical professional confirming that you are most likely to be refused a driving licence due to your physical or mental health condition - this does not include those excluded from holding a licence due to the persistent misuse of drugs and/or alcohol

If you currently hold a driving licence, and you do not meet the required standards for driving because of your mental or physical health condition, you must inform the DVLA. We will need proof that your licence has been surrendered, plus your supporting documentation to enable us to issue you with a bus pass.

Proof of your identity

This must show your current name.

You can use a:

  • current photo style driving licence
  • current passport
  • civil partnership/dissolution certificate
  • birth/adoption certificate – if your birth certificate does not show your current name you will need to provide a copy of another document listed
  • change of name by deed poll certificate
  • citizen card
  • residence permit

Proof of your address in Brighton & Hove 

This must be dated within the last 12 months.

This can be any letter which has been sent to you. A Council Tax bill can be used if it is dated for the current year

Photograph

You will need one recent passport style colour photograph with a plain light background. Headwear, unless for religious or medical purposes, and sunglasses are not to be worn.

A photograph may be taken on a smartphone or camera and emailed to us or sent to the below address. Please ensure your name and date of birth is written clearly on the back.

The customer service counter is closed. 

You can:

  • post your application form to; Concessionary Travel, G39, Hove Town Hall, Hove, BN3 3BQ.
  • phone 01273 291 924 - call us during our operating hours of 9:30am to 1:30pm, Monday to Friday

Apply for, renew or replace a disabled person’s bus pass