TENS of thousands of dead people’s Blue Badges have been cancelled after a probe found they were being flogged for hundreds of pounds.
A government investigation discovered many permits were still being used after their holders had died, with some families trying to exploit the system.
More than 22,000 permits were scrapped between April 2024 and May 2025[/caption]
Cabinet Office Minister Josh Simons said Blue Badges were meant to be a sign of “old-fashioned courtesy and consideration” but admitted he was “shocked” to discover an illegal black market.
He added: “We have now identified and cancelled 22,000, after we found many were still in use after their holders had died.”
The Cabinet Office says each permit can be worth up to £800, because of the cost of dodged parking fees and congestion charges.
In one case, Camden Council said relatives of a deceased badge holder applied for replacements, claiming the permit had been damaged” and lost.
Both bids were denied, and the badge was later cancelled following checks by the National Fraud Initiative.
The Cabinet Office confirmed it does not hold data on how many of the voided badges were actively misused, as this sits with individual local authorities.
Officials said safeguards vary by council but regular data-matching is helping clamp down on abuse.
The badge blitz is part of Britain’s biggest ever anti-fraud drive, which clawed back £480 million in the past year – £100 million more than the year before.
More than a third of that, £186 million, came from chasing down Covid loan fraud, including bogus Bounce Back Loans.
The Cabinet Office said the record haul was made possible by new data-matching and an AI tool that spots weaknesses before scammers can exploit them.
Mr Simons added: “Half a billion pounds back in the system.
“That’s nurses on hospital wards, teachers in classrooms and police officers on the beat.”
Blue Badges are sign of ‘old-fashioned courtesy’
By Cabinet Office Minister, Josh Simons
In supermarket car parks and high streets, the blue badge is a symbol we respect.
A sign of old-fashioned courtesy and consideration, the heart of our nation, that extends to everyone, no matter what disability they have.
I was shocked when I learned there is an illegal black market of blue badges, which makes a mockery of that system. We have now identified and cancelled 22,000, after we found many were still in use after their holders had died.
Our fraud crack down found other abuses too. There are thousands more errors that no one has bothered to fix for years. Pension payments that carry on after a funeral.
Social housing lists with names that shouldn’t be there. Council tax discounts claimed where they shouldn’t be.
These might sound small but they add up. While hardworking, decent people pay their fair share, a small number of people scam the system and cost the rest of us millions of pounds of taxpayer money.
Over the last year we’ve stopped £480 million being lost.
That’s the most any government has ever saved and £100 million more than the previous year. I am proud of that record.
Half a billion pounds back in the system. That’s nurses on hospital wards, teachers in classrooms and police officers on the beat.
Taxpayers expect their money to be spent funding these services, not lining the pockets of fraudsters.
We will keep using cutting edge technology to find abuses of the system and punish those responsible. We will always be tough on fraud.
