Profoundly or severely deaf
You can apply for a National Concession bus pass if you are profoundly or severely deaf:
- Hearing loss is measured in decibels across the normal hearing spectrum, as dB HL (Hearing Level). People are generally regarded as having a severe hearing loss if it reaches 70-95 dB HL and a profound loss if it reaches 95+ dB HL. The Department advises that the statutory minimum concession should be made available to people in these categories.
- There is no statutory registration system for deaf people. However, many will be registered on a voluntary basis with their local authority social services department. The register is open to people who have varying degrees of hearing loss, so in checking the register a local authority is advised to check that the applicant is profoundly or severely deaf before issuing a national concession bus pass.
- As in the case of blind and partially sighted people, local authorities may, where appropriate, require applicants to provide evidence of registration before issuing a pass, or evidence that they could register, for example, an audiological report, or a report from an aural specialist.
Based on the guidance are you profoundly or severely deaf?