Disabled Freedom Pass or Older Persons Freedom Pass
Using the pass
Please note that these passes include rail travel but with some restrictions.
For information on your travel options and where and when you can use the passes please see the London Council's website section on using the pass.
Older Persons Freedom Pass
The Older Persons Freedom Pass allows free travel across London and free local bus journeys nationally.
The application, which is on the London Councils website, has details about price, eligibility and how to apply.
Apply for an Older Persons Freedom Pass on the London Councils website
Renewing your Older Persons Freedom Pass
Read about the renewal process on the London Councils website.
Disabled Persons Freedom Pass
This travel card allows free travel across London and on buses nationwide for disabled people.
We do not offer Freedom Passes to carers or travel companions.
We do not issue Freedom Passes based on financial hardship.
Apply for a Disabled Persons Freedom Pass
If you require a paper version of the application form please call 01708 434665. Please be note that doing the application by post will take longer to process.
Renewing your Disabled Persons Freedom Pass
General information about the renewal process is on the London Councils website.
Who can apply for a Disabled Persons Freedom Pass?
To be entitled to a Disabled Persons Freedom Pass:
- your sole or principal residence must be in the London Borough of Havering
- you are a parent/guardian completing the form for a person under 18, you will need to complete the application providing the person’s proof of identity and proof of your address. You can also request that Havering Children’s service can confirm the disability
- you are living in the borough as a temporary Havering resident, and your main home is in another borough where you hold a current Disabled Freedom Pass.
- you are a Ukranian Refugee living in Havering under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme
- you are a Havering resident with no fixed address. Application to include testimony from a supporting Havering Service professional that the information on the application is correct and they will accept delivery of the disabled freedom pass to their place of work on your behalf
- your disability must be permanent, have lasted at least 12 months (or be likely to last at least 12 months) and have a substantial effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities
- you must meet at least one of the seven eligibility criteria listed below
We do not offer Freedom Passes to carers or travel companions. We do not issue Freedom Passes based on financial hardship.
If you are aged 60 or over, are not yet eligible for the Older Persons Freedom Pass and do not meet any of the automatic criteria for a Disabled Persons Freedom Pass, you can apply for the London 60+Oyster Card (Mayors Pass).
You should contact Transport for London (TFL) regarding this concession, which offers the same travel benefits at the freedom pass
Disability Freedom Pass eligibility criteria
This refers to someone whose sight is so impaired they could be registered as blind or partially sighted. Registration is voluntary, so if you are not registered you will need to provide evidence to show that you could be registered.
A BD8 Certificate or Certificate of Visual Impairment (CVI) is proof that you could be registered and is given to you by your Consultant Ophthalmologist. We will need to see the original certificate.
Loss of sight in one eye does not always mean a person can be registered partially sighted. We do not accept letters from GPs or Dispensing Opticians regarding loss of sight.
This refers to someone who has a severe hearing loss if the average hearing loss reaches 70-95 dBHL and a profound hearing loss if the average hearing loss reaches 95+ dBHL.
This hearing loss must apply to both ears.
Registration is voluntary, so if you are not registered, you will need to provide evidence to show that you could be registered. You will need to provide an original copy of your Audiogram or Audiology Report for us to assess.
Someone registered as ‘hard of hearing’ will not qualify.
We do not accept letters from GPs regarding hearing loss.
This refers to someone who is unable to communicate orally in any language.
This means someone who cannot make a clear, basic oral request and/or ask questions to clarify instructions.
This does not include people who are able to speak but whose speech may be slow or difficult to understand. This does not apply to someone whose speech is limited because English is not their first language or if they have a stammer.
If you are not registered as ‘Deaf without Speech’, you will need to provide a copy of your award of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) with a score of 8 points or more for ‘Communicating Verbally’ or a report from your GP/Speech Therapist for us to assess.
This refers to someone who is unable to walk, virtually unable to walk or the exertion required to walk would constitute a danger to your life.
You will need to provide your Disability Living Allowance (DLA) Award Letter showing the Higher Rate of Mobility or Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Award Letter showing 8 points or more for the ‘Moving Around’ element of Mobility. (This does not include any points awarded for ‘Daily Living’ or ‘Planning and Following a Journey’).
Otherwise, you need to provide detailed, recent (dated within the past three months) medical evidence from your GP or Consultant stating the nature of your disability. The medical evidence must confirm and clearly state how your condition affects your mobility. We do not accept hospital appointment letters, discharge summaries or sick certificates.
This refers to those without arms, those with a deformity of both arms or those who have both arms but are unable to use them to carry out day-to-day tasks. You will need to provide a detailed, recent (dated within the past three months) medical report from your GP or Consultant for us to assess.
This refers to someone who has a learning disability (not a learning difficulty), that is, a state of ‘arrested or incomplete development of mind which includes significant impairment of intelligence and social functioning’.
This means that the person would have significantly reduced ability to understand new or complex information and to learn new skills (significantly impaired social functioning). The learning disability must have started before adulthood and have a lasting effect on development.
A learning difficulty is not the same as a learning disability.
Some examples of what is not considered to be a learning difficulty are: ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other ‘specific learning difficulties’ as defined by education, brain damage sustained after the age of 18, Asperger’s Syndrome and Global Development Delay or autistic spectrum disorder without an associated learning disability.
You will need to be registered with the Havering Community Learning Disability Team (CLDT).
If you are not currently on the register you should submit a self-referral form for an assessment.
Alternatively you will need to provide us with a doctors letter stating that you have been diagnosed with a learning disability.
This refers to someone who has a disability or condition that would prevent them from being legally considered medically fit to drive as outlined by the DVLA Medical Standards of Fitness to Drive. This must be on grounds other than persistent misuse of drugs or alcohol.
Epilepsy
A person with epilepsy can be granted a driving licence if the following criteria are met:- They have not had an epileptic attach whilst awake for a year or more
- They have had an attack whilst asleep over three years before without any attacks whilst awake in between, even though attacks whilst asleep may continue to occur
Severe mental disorder
Being diagnosed with a mental disorder does not automatically prevent someone holding a driving licence in accordance with the DVLA Medical Standards of Fitness to Drive. A Disabled Freedom Pass can only be awarded in this category if the person would be refused a driving licence because of their mental health condition and other than on the grounds of persistent misuse of drugs or alcohol.If you have not recently had your driving licence refused or revoked by the DVLA, we will accept a written report from your Psychiatrist, Community Psychiatric Nurse or similar mental health worker for us to assess whether you are:
- liable to sudden attacks of giddiness or fainting (cardiac or neurological disorder)
- unable to read a registration plate in good light at 20.5 metres (with corrective lenses if worn)
- suffer from any other condition(s) which were you to drive a vehicle would be likely to be a source of danger to the public.
Processing your Disabled Freedom Pass application
We aim to deal with your application within 10 working days of receipt of your application form. Please only contact us if you have not heard after this time.
You will receive one of the following responses from Havering Adults Services following consideration of your completed application.
- A call or email to confirm your application has been approved and your pass will be sent to you directly from London Councils.
- A call or email to advise further evidence is required, with recommending alternative documents to be provided or alternative disability category to be selected.
- A call or email to confirm your application has been denied.
We do not pay for supporting evidence you provide with your application form.
If your application is successful, you should receive your Disabled Freedom Pass within two weeks. This will be sent direct to your home address by London Councils who issue Freedom Passes.
If your application is unsuccessful, we will contact you to explain why your application does not meet the eligibility criteria. You have the right to ask us to review our decision by following these steps.
- Send your objections to the denied application in writing by email to ascbusinesssupporthub@havering.gov.uk, or post to London Borough of Havering, Town Hall, Main RD Romford, RM1 3BD. You will receive an email or call if the objections are not accepted for reconsideration of the application.
- If the objections are not accepted, you can follow the London Borough of Havering Complaints process.
- If the complaint is not upheld, you can contact the Local Government Ombudsman.
Requests for documents
We will accept copies of supporting documents that have:
- been signed by you
- the date on them
- the following text on them: I hereby confirm this document is a copy of the original document
Documents can either uploaded with the online application or emailed to disabledfreedompass@havering.gov.uk.
Need to change your name or address?
Tell London Councils you have moved
If you are moving out of the borough you must tell London Councils and re-apply through your new local authority.
What to do if your pass has been lost, stolen or damaged
Report a lost, stolen or damaged Freedom Pass on the London Councils' website
There is a replacement fee for lost passes.