Fancy cars for disabled people

[LemaxObsessive]

Motability.

I am sick to absolute death of seeing people saying on various threads, that Motability vehicles are “given” to us disabled people “for free”.

PIP is awarded in 2 separate elements.

1. Daily Living (day to day care needs etc)
2. Mobility

Each element is paid at different rates depending on how affected by your disability you are (and yes, medical evidence is required). However, to be eligible for Motability, you need to be getting the highest rate of the Mobility element. This is currently £77.05 per week (which works out at £308.20 per 4 weeks or £333.88 per month).

When you join Motability you agree for the DWP to give Motability that £77.05 per week instead of it being paid to your bank. If you also receive the Daily Living element of PIP then you will still receive that directly.

You ALSO, in most cases, have to pay an advance payment (AP) for the vehicle. The better the vehicle, the higher the AP. You do not get the AP back.
The £77.05 per week pays for the lease of the car, insurance, roadside assistance, tyres & windshield cover. Disabled people in receipt of the highest rate of the PIP mobility element are already exempt from road tax.

With regards to the ‘fancy’ cars such as BMW, Audi & Mercedes, as you can imagine all of these have a whopping great AP in the multiple thousands of pounds; Which as I said, you don’t get back.
The taxpayer is not paying a penny towards these vehicles besides the fact that Motability don’t currently pay VAT which I believe is up for discussion.

I think a really important point to make here is that PIP is categorically not means tested (even millionaires can claim it, provided their health meets the criteria) and is not paid to replace a disabled person’s income! In other words, people do not live off PIP instead of working, it is paid to cover the added costs associated with being disabled. Costs non-disabled people likely have never even considered, such as cleaners when we can’t do it, basic gardening when we can’t do it, extra electricity for when medical equipment is used at home, ready meals when we’re bed-bound, delivery charges for every single thing we buy because click & collect isn't possible, taxis to work because the bus always already has a wheelchair user on it, along with lots of other small but mounting costs we have zero choice but to pay because the alternative isn’t an option for us. The lowest rate of PIP is just £29.20 per week so we’re not talking big money!

Millions of PIP claimants work full time but crucially, couldn’t do so without PIP and in many cases, without Motability!

As I said above, even wealthy people are eligible to claim PIP to cover the added costs associated with their disability and they can, if they receive the highest rate of the Mobility Component of PIP choose to use Motability. If they want to spend £7,999 plus £77.05 per week to lease an Audi Q4 for 3 years then they can but not many do because it’s a lot of money to have nothing to show for it after 3 years.

So no, nobody is being ‘given free BMWs, Audis or Mercedes’ regardless of what’s being said by anyone!

If your disability dictates you are entitled to high rate mobility why the fuck would you not take it?

Come on now what utter nonsense.

As I said earlier, I think this thread has achieved the very opposite of what the OP hoped for with me.
Society has a huge, and growing, number of 'most vulnerable' be they disabled people, refugees, elderly or whatever. It seems to me so much is flowing to the 'most vulnerable' and there's just nothing left for the ordinary low paid workers that are the absolute backbone of the country and are carrying everybody else. Can people really not understand why they might be resentful when they are working all hours, rewarded with only poverty, and they see neighbours, who don't work getting to swan around in a brand new car and have more money that they have?
It's been said repeatedly on this thread that non disabled people just don't understand how hard life can be for disabled people. Perhaps. But I think disabled people also don't understand how hard life can be for non disabled people. The car thing is an example of that. It's been said multiple times non disabled people don't need cars, they can just use public transport or walk or move or do something else. I live in a village, everyone I know has a car and would be completely isolated at home without it. It's frankly mad to suggest they can just walk five miles each way then take an hour long bus journey from there to the city for work. Oh, after first walking two miles each way in the opposite direction to take their kid to school. A car is a completely normal 21st century tool most people need for transport.
The family I know with a disabled child, kid gets taxi to school each day with a carer. Neither parent work, they have a mobility car, and the council is practically bankrupt. And the baby boomer care needs bubble is coming, what's the solution? Double everybody's council tax? Take even more from the workers? I don't know the solution myself but I do think we need to better look after working people, so they can keep going and keep carrying everybody else.

If someone is working carrying others in your words, so paying tax im guessing you are earning more then £700ish a month which is what high rate pip is but pip can be as low as under £30 a week. A lot of us do understand what life is like for non disabled people as many of us lived that life. As someone who has lived both you have no idea how easy your life is and how lucky you are. I guarantee if you are ever unlucky enough to end up severely disabled you will look back on your opinions likes this and realise how wrong you where.

No. I will never understand how someone can be resentful of a disabled person.

I'm not disabled and my son suddenly became disabled at the age of 8. I know full well what life is like for those who aren't disabled or don't have a disabled child because up until almost 2 years ago, that was my life.

Was it always easy? No, of course not, life never is. It was also never in a million years as hard as life is now. Not even close.

I'd give anything to have that life back.

And the utter contempt towards working people on this thread has also been eye opening.

@Kendodd
YAWN!!!

Im a working person. Pip isnt an out of work benefit.

Again a point I am making. Everyone taking waht they are entitled to, rather than taking what they actually need in real terms.
I know it's not as simple as that, because of what else is attached to the entertainment £££. But if we don't re think, we might well loose a lot of benefits which are a lifeline and safety net for everyone.

You know that disabled people also work, don't you? Especially if they're able to claim PIP to help offset the additional costs of maintaining employment when disabled? Things like, oh, I don't know, maybe to spend on leasing a vehicle to be able to get there...

Did you refuse all your child benefit then?

But I think disabled people also don't understand how hard life can be for non disabled people

What a load of crap. Honestly, read that out loud and hear how pathetic that is. Would you stand in front of a group of people with various disabilities and say that to their faces?

All the issues you describe that you think only afflict non-disabled people (they don't - disabled people can and do work in low paid jobs and not claim benefits and also struggle with all the things you mentioned) can be fixed with money.
You could give a disabled person all the money in the world and they would still be disabled, and in many ways disabled by society.

By all means quit work and claim benefits, but you have to have the disability too, or be a parent to a disabled child that is never going to have the sort of life their non-disabled peers have.

And the utter contempt towards disabled people on this thread has also been eye opening

Fixed it for you

I know it isn't. You could be on a million pound a year and still claim PIP.

I have 4 children and would only get child benefit for 2. But as my DH is classed as high erner we don't even quality for our 2 eldest.

However, we are asset rich & cash poor. I often have to remind DH that he can have either cake or bread, just not both for his breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Child benefit isn't capped at 2 children, that's the child element of universal credit.

Even if DH’s earnings are over the threshold, you can stick claim child benefit. It just means you have to re-pay some or all. If DH would have to pay back an amount equivalent to all of the child benefit, he has an adjusted net income of over £80k pa. That isn’t cash poor.

As @Kirbert2 said, child benefit isn’t limited to 2 DC either.

I think the poster is referencing her username, not her real circumstances.

This right here is the nub of the issue. The fact that people will choose to take, not because they need it but because they are 'entitled' to it. I for one cannot fathom a situation where I would spend time and energy seeking to claim money that I did not need merely because I felt entitled to it. But I have never been under the misapprehension that the government should provide me with money, services yes, but cash not so much. I remain astounded by people who will take thousands and thousands in cash and are then actively affronted by any suggestion that they should be grateful as in their view they are 'entitled' to this money.

Ah, I didn’t even look at the username.

Yup. You could.

You could be earning millions and get free education. Earn millions and have free heart surgery. Earn millions and (technically but not likely) get a council house. Earn millions and still qualify for reduced council tax (single occupancy). Earn millions and get a free TV licence (VI). Earn millions and get a free bus pass (over 65). Earn millions and get free eye tests (Family history of Glaucoma).

Personally, I'm more pissed at the earning millions and not paying tax group than the earning £30k and getting a few hundred in disability payments. 🤷‍♀️

But people can't control how PIP or DLA works.

I'll talk about DLA because I have a child and he is too young for PIP yet.

DLA has a care element and a mobility element and because my son can't walk, he automatically gets the highest mobility rate because that is simply how DLA works. I can then decide if the money from the mobility element goes towards leasing a Motability car or in my bank.

It isn't a persons fault if they apply for a benefit for their disabled child or because they are disabled themselves and the way that it works gives the option of either a car or cash in the bank if the assessment and evidence decides you are awarded the highest mobility rate.

Could always employ carers to provide the care people actually need instead of paying a token amount in PIP for people's loved ones providing it for free? That wouldn't be open to fraud. But would cost considerably more. As in tens of billions more.

@MarieAntoinetteQueenOfFrance

If it’s really that dire then sell some of your assets then! 🤷‍♀️

@Kendodd
Eh? What utter bollocks! Lots of people claiming PIP are working and many full time as well. Are you really that stupid that you can’t see how PIP can actually enable people with disabilities to stay in work? For example, entitlement to a blue badge making parking easier and reducing walking distance.

You really don’t know what’s around the corner and you could well find yourself with a disability.
5 years ago I had no issues, I was diagnosed with a health condition in 2022 which progressed rapidly meaning I had to give up my career in my 40s. I’m now earning £20k less. My condition has had a massive impact on my future earnings and pension etc. I’ll be lucky to remain working until 55. My PIP and my motability car enable me to remain in work. I have been assessed and have medical evidence to back up my difficulties. I am entitled to claim and will not be made to feel bad about claiming what I’m entitled to. If I want to use my PIP money on a motability car then that’s none of your fucking business! Neither is any of your business it if I want to choose a BMW.

Can people really not understand why they might be resentful when they are working all hours, rewarded with only poverty, and they see neighbours, who don't work getting to swan around in a brand new car and have more money that they have?

This might be the most ridiculous post on the entire thread, and that's saying something.

Funnily enough no, I can't understand why people might resent me for not working and "swanning around" in my motability car. I think if they're resenting me they need to take a good long look at their life and how lucky they actually are to not have lost their entire career at 28, be dependent on a constantly increasing amount of epilepsy medication and live scan to scan analysing every little change and wondering if their brain tumour has grown.

If any working people resent me for having benefits and a car I can't even drive myself, they're welcome to swap - but I don't think anyone will be rushing to take up that offer, do you?