AIBU to feel horrified at the number of Motability vehicles being provided?

Cant even begin to understand the amount of contradiction in this post. Itd exactly what the OP is talking about

Exactly this. The amount of motability cars for 'mental health' illnesses is shocking same as blue badges

The bar for the mobility element of PIP for MH is really high.
Do you think someone tells their GP that they are a bit sad, and get a car?

Does it actually take anything away from you when people with severe MH issues get a car or a Blue Badge?
If both were taken away, how would your life improve?

In order to be eligible for a motabiltiy vehicle you need enhanced mobility component of PIP. There are 2 mobility activities. One for planning and following a journey and one for moving around. It would be the first that is relevant to someone receiving PIP because of how a MH condition affects them. It order to get 12 points on the planning and following a journey criteria you need to be unable follow the route of a familiar journey without another person, assistance dog or orientation aid. In England, that doesn’t automatically entitle someone to a blue badge. They would need to apply and be assessed.

In England, in order to be automatically entitled to a blue badge because of points scored on the planning and following a journey activity, you need 10 points exactly under descriptor E. That is cannot undertake any journey because it would cause overwhelming psychological distress. The bar for that is high. Someone with 10 points wouldn’t be eligible for the motability scheme unless they also score on the moving around criteria.

How do people seriously think Motability could work if it supplied second hand cars, or 'basic' models - bearing in mind these cars need to meet a wide range of accessibility needs.

My mate has a 'nearly new' WAV from Motability - this is the only way to get a second hand vehicle from them, and these are vehicles that were ordered and adapted and then for some reason the customer pulled out, usually because their disability changed so much the car no longer met their needs or of course, they died.

What seemed like a fantastic idea has been no end of problems, the car is a fucking liability, it traps her in it (she drives from her chair), by not releasing the docking station under the chair via the button, she cannot reach to manually unlock it. By not lowering the ramp, by not letting the door open, by needing a new fucking engine, wiring wrong, fault after fault after fault. In the time she has had it, it has spent more months off the road than on it, she's terrified to use it unaccompanied now, which pretty much defeats the point of it, and yet they will not let her end the lease early and get a new, more reliable vehicle because.. she has ended a previous lease early (Because her disability changed and her needs changed). And the rules say you can only do that once.

I have a 'fancy new 30K car' well it is five years old now. I have had to adapt it myself as it no longer met my needs, but Motability refused to do that work because they didn't think the change in needs was significant so instead of returning it at the end of the lease I have had to extend the lease, and then find the money to do the extra adaptation myself via one of their approved people (at three times the cost of my own pet mechanic).

I seriously doubt the Motability scheme will exist in 2 years time, possibly just for WAVS and wheelchairs, possibly not at all. That will leave people like me unable to leave our home towns, unable to get to hospitals etc. There are no reliable accessible bus routes from where I live, there is no company with a WAV taxi that takes either of my chairs, and patient transport does not take such chairs either. I literally do not know what I will do.

It is really galling that this will be not because the scheme was bad, not because of fraud, but purely and only because of petty jealousy, by those who cannot STAND the idea that someone is getting something they're not getting.

It would not, one jot. But while the public are fed a diet of lies about disabled people, in the media, and the press, this is what many people think. Cut benefits, paid to disabled people, and they, the fed up public, will somehow, magically have more money in their pockets. @MistressoftheDarkSide is spot on.

I agree. Everyone seems so jealous. Yet i doubt anyone would really want my non verbal illiterate son or your wheelchair.

Ironically I doubt they would want to be trapped in their house if they had a car crash or stroke either. Yet we are the lucky ones it seems.

You might get a bus pass but you do not get a car because you cannot drive.

YABU to be reading the Telegraph.

Mercedes are no longer available on the scheme. Even when they were, they required a large, non-refundable upfront payment.

You don't walk into a car showroom and take any car to you fancy. Only certain cars are available.

Let me ask you a question. If an able-bodied parent chooses to use their child benefit payments to lease a car, is that acceptable?

Yes. They will still be unhappy with their lives and will need to find something else to be spiteful and jealous about.

For DS1&3, if the motabiltiy scheme is stopped, it will cost the state more in the long run. I will be forced to pursue hospital transport. And at the moment, the LA just pays mileage and staffing for transport as part DS1’s EOTAS provision. If DS1’s motabilty vehicle was removed, the LA would be forced to provide the vehicle too. This would be much more expensive for them.

I don't think the scheme will be stopped. It is good for the motor industry and the wider economy. We shall see.

I am intrigued by your theory that disability and living a happy life are two incompatible concepts. I was born without eyes and with multiple joint deformities, have lived and continue to have a pretty happy life though! My enjoyment of life, however, sadly has not caused my eyeballs to suddenly sprout so I still need a considerable amount of daily living support, which you seem to think I wouldn't need due to contentment apparently being some kind of panacea!
Seriously though, I think it is quite sad that you suffer from such a lack of imagination that you cannot conceive that someone who is severely disabled could also have a rich and fulfilling life and so, in your narrow mind, anyone who isn't constantly house-bound and miserable must not really be disabled.

Yep.

If I didn't have a motability car for my son then I wouldn't be able to get him to his appointments and I would absolutely pursue hospital transport. My son has regular appointments, none of which are local and it wouldn't be cheap.

Exactly, it’s remarkable the lengths they will go to in order to find things to be jealous about people who are disabled.

There are no mercedes available on motability, you can only select from certain makes and models so not from any showroom. The number of cars suitable for drivers under 25 is limited.

Are you aware a 17-year-old would only get a motability car if they are severely disabled?

Yes disabled people being HAPPY?? whatever next!

Less than 25% of motability customers have mental health conditions, and the majority of those are for people who also live with other disabilities. In order to qualify for motability you have to be in receipt of higher rate mobility component, to get that on mental health conditions alone you would have to prove that you cannot manage journeys alone and that is pretty rare.

My motability vehicle required a 20k down payment. and was the only one suitable for my disability. it’s not a fancy make or model. Anxiety and depression are listed as conditions on my PIP so technically I am on the list of people you deem unworthy. If you’d like the misdiagnosed cancer and subsequent loss of my leg from the hip that contribute to those mental health issues, plus 3 autistic adult children to care for, you’d be very welcome to the fucking car, i’d much rather not tbh.

Contradiction? How?

I am exactly the demographic being slated all over this site for having the audacity to be mentally ill, yes. I can agree with that.

And how many is that then?

Why no lashing out against the people who get company cars that genuinely are 'luxury' cars.

I know someone who leases a state of the art EV through her company. She mainly works from home & doesn't 'need' it but it's a perk. If she didn't have it she would get her own new car but a cheaper model. It wouldn't restrict her mobility or opportunities.

State sector so paid for by tax payer.

Why is no one outraged but people are frothing over someone who has 2 disabled children & using a car that they would otherwise not be able to have & so having opportunities that they would otherwise not have. I can't imagine you get very far trying to get 2 autistic/ADHD kids onto a journey involving public transport connections

I don’t think it is “jealousy”. That is far too basic an explanation. No one in their right mind is “jealous” of someone with disabilities.
But, times are tough, for everyone. The jobs market is hideous, cost of living keeps going up and up, and people who are deemed to have “the broadest shoulders” are being expected to pay more and more. It is knackering. Slogging away to earn enough to support yourself and your family, fully aware that if you loose your job it would be difficult to get another one, car potentially on its last legs and if you can’t get to work, you are in trouble, and no help is available for you. So tough shit, crack on.
So no. I don’t think it is jealousy, I think people are exhausted, worried about making ends meet today and also about the future.

Mercedes is no longer on the list.
MG is which has a 1 * crash rating which my son discovered when I was chosing my car. Perhaps the idea was to shove us in unsafe cars to get the numbers down?
Mercedes transporters are available for paralysed people and the recipient needs to pay £15k up front. It isn't refundable even if this hugely disabled person dies.

I noticed an advertisement for a little single seater 'noddy car' last night on the television. If that was in an accident the driver would not survive. Ask me how I know? My mum was a copper.

You are jealous of my son who is severely autistic and requires 3 carers at all times being able to have access to a car that gets him to appointments and out into the community? A car which has a down payment of £3 k and has to be big enough to fit all his carers and wheelchair in. You don't think we would rather he was able to live the life of an average teenager?