help with mobility car and multiple disabled children

@Goslingsforlife
Yes you are right as his appointee you can manage all benefits and therefore motability.

That makes no sense, otherwise you'd have to have 2 cars or no car and the disabled recipient would be disadvantaged. My friend contacted Motability to ask a similar question and they said it was fine to use it for general family circumstances.

It's fairly easy to get appointeeship my son is severely autistic and currently gets HRC and HRM under SMI rules he's 14 and we have a mobility car I can't imagine the rates changing when he transfers to PIP in view of his complex needs ,
He has no understanding of money and this won't change when he's 16 or 18 ,also he will never have the cognitive ability to drive a car himself so my dh will always be the named driver .

Also the thing about not being able to use one car to benefit another doesn't apply in the case of what would be considered the 'family' car. Your friend is bloody stupid to be wasting so much money on cars that do nothing. They must be loaded to be able to throw hundreds of pounds away every month.

You do not have to do this to be an appointee. You are correct that the benefits are for OP DC but with severe learning disabilities I think it's safe to assume he will require support into adulthood and there is absolutely nothing wrong with OP choosing to get a car to do so. In fact a lot of families manage things in this way, OP will absolutely be spending more money supporting her DC than he will get in benefits.

The issue with this is that you are making a decision that affects the eldest's benefits. If they are 16 or 17 then it doesn't apply but if over 18 you do need to go to the court of protection to gain permission to manage their finances - you could be accused of using their benefits to help your other children, though it is pretty silly

It sounds crazy but at my friend with disabilities house there are 3 almost brand new cars that none can drive themselves sitting on the drive/road a lot because the carers can't drive one young persons car to benefit another.

I can't believe anyone would be policing this.

I know families with motability cars and they use them for general family use.

You can look it up, I just typed out a long reply but it got lost when I went to check something.

Essentially you need 8 or more points on 'moving around' or 10 points in England/12 in Scotland under 'panning and following journeys'

A combination of the 2 does not give an automatic entitlement to a BB

jesuus my neigbour gives theirs to their friend to borrow overnight noone been stopped yet-i atually dont know why they have one they dont use it

you canttake anoter child to appts in it what batshittery is that

I really don't understand why you don't get a blue badge? I thought there are only two parts and scoring 10 or more points in each means you qualify for a blue badge? What's this part F you talk about?!

Ah ok I really was unsure.

There's only leasing on the Motability scheme now. HP stopped years ago.

But many people have confirmed that the information you have is incorrect - I even quoted Motability’s own website in my previous post. It is absolutely ok to use the car as a family car - shopping, errands, visiting family etc.

Just to add, DH gets standard rate and has an automatic entitlement.

@AgnesX

I've never had an issue with a blue badge ( live in Scotland).

I also live in Scotland, neither PIP nor ADP gives an automatic entitlement to a BB, even at the enhanced rate.

Quite honestly, being able to get fast to the child the cars awarded for, from wherever you are if needed, would cover using it to take the other child to appointments.

As everyone's already said, the rules are about preventing someone else in the family treating it as a free car for them, not preventing the main carer from using it as the family car. Whoever's told you this at Motability is also a black and white thinker and interpreting abnormally rigidly.

But, I understand how fear of someone else deciding you're doing something wrong can wear people down, so just wanted to say I'm entitled to a motability scheme WAV, but decided I was better off with a loan for a cheaper vehicle and kitting it out myself, and paying off the loan with the PIP.

Find the right vehicle and it's absolutely the way to go for a more worry free life.

Also when my neighbors spout off about disabled people being "handed a free car" there's a small level of pleasure in being able to tell them they're barking up the wrong tree.

Whatever.

I've never had an issue with a blue badge ( live in Scotland).

It's 'enhanced' rate, not 'high level'

It's also not true that enhanced PiP gives an automatic entitlement to a BB. You have to score the correct number of points in the right place, I get enhanced rate and have a motability car but don't have an automatic entitlement to a BB.

Of course you can use a motability car this way!

Might you need to collect your child from school in an emergency? Thats a reasonable thing to assume, and therefore you need to be using the motability car, not leaving that at home and using your other, second car..

If you stop at the shops on the way home from wherever with the other kiddo, and that benefits the child the car is for... thats a reasonable use.

I think whoever you talked to at Motability is a bit of an idiot tbh.

There's a lot of po-faced twattery being punted here. As long as you're not using it for commercial use you'll be ok.

If you are in receipt of higher level PIP you'll get a blue badge. Good luck with spaces though, it's all down to getting out the door in good time as they're like gold dust sometimes.

I did and was a bit taken aback. Hence my post but it looks like the man I spoke to was right and I indeed cannot use it for my younger disabled child.

That's not true at all. You can use a child's motability car as the family car you are not expected to buy another car to use for siblings.

Are you sure it was the actual Motability charity you spoke to as that doesn’t sound right at all. I’ve had a car for my daughter for over 30 years, it’s always been used as the family car . Now that my husband and I are both retired it is our only car , we aren’t expected to buy another car just for when she’s not in it, that would be silly .

A social worker wouldn't have any idea about how mobility works ,
It's fine we have a mobility car we use as the family car Mobility EXPECT you ti use it as the family car.

Honestly you are really overthinking this. It's totally reasonable to use the car as you described. The rules are there to ensure people don't effectively give the car to someone else, most people with motability cars have them as their only car, and use it for normal family usage, as well as to meet the needs of the person they care for.