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!

Do they give away free porches too ?

Have you not read any of what I’ve said?! You do realise that we don’t get to keep these vehicles, don’t you? Them being VAT exempt is irrelevant to us because we’re just borrowing them for 3 years! I’ve never had a BMW or Mercedes on the scheme but I did once have an Audi Q2. I’d got a compensation cheque from the DWP from them leaving me with no income for 8 months once whilst I was bed bound for which I ended up later having to take them to court. So I paid £3,000 advance payment and 3 years later it was gone. I knew I would never get the chance to drive an Audi ever again and took the chance. Why is that so wrong?

If you’re going to try being goady at least spell check it! 😆

I just posted something similar.

There are far too many people applying for Motability for their son/daughter/grandchild etc to have sole use of the car, not the intended recipient.

The felt has all ripped on our one. Prefer tiles, but they're so expensive, hence the question.

No my current car was zero AP and they’ve now stopped the £750 new car payment. I did get it with my previous car though.

@JoeninetyThat’s not how you spell Porch either! Nice try.

Maybe the intended recipient cannot actually drive. The scheme allows for up to two other drivers to be insured to drive the car, as well.

This is a very important point : standard cars need to be just as safe for disabled people.

I never said any of those things. I simply said benefits are free money, what else can they be? I get child benefit and it’s free money, I’ve not earned it.

So would my husband although my husband has bought a car because he thinks motability isn't value for money by the time you've paid the AP which people ignore when they go on about luxury cars.

Nonsense! Named drivers are only insured to drive without the disabled person provided they are on a journey which benefits said disabled person, such as getting their prescription etc.

They may be driving around in it wrongfully but should they be pulled over, they’ll be deemed as uninsured and the car impounded and the disabled person will be booted off the scheme.

Which is exactly the reason why so many people abuse the scheme to obtain cars at a cheaper rate for their child or grandchild.

The intended recipient has no interest in benefiting from the car. It is solely for the use of someone else.

The only benefit to Motabilty is having the VAT of 20% taken off and an agreed price of 'Fleet Insurance' based on the probability of an accident across the Fleet of Cars. The price paid is based on the ability of Motability to agree a price with the Manufacturer based on a large number of Units bought, plus the removal of 20% Vat. Mercedes, Bmw and Audi only make their cars available because they cannot sell them . Also if you buy any of the three makes you will get Road Recovery Services included for at least three years.

So if someone had an advance payment of £5000 they have saved £1000 on the car if someone else had 'Leased' it without Motability . It is a good system but not the 'Gravy' train that many people think it is. Also note if you come off Motability you do not take NCB claims with you . your Insurance goes stupid and may struggle to get Car Finance to purchase/Lease another Car.

The nonsense and anti Disabled Rhetoric is Appalling !

Well said O.P x

I wouldn’t say it was “wrong”, but given that there is a finite public purse, which is under enormous pressure, I’m just not sure that the motability scheme as it stands is using the available money in the best way.

You got to drive an Audi thanks to the motability scheme. You would have paid towards it, but certainly not covered all the costs. A lot of people would say that’s exactly the kind of example of money from the public purse not being used in the most efficient way to support disabled people.

Well someone needs to tell this to all the parents driving their children’s motability cars around 😬

I highly doubt that this is true, and is going on wholesale, but lets agree to disagree.

The price is being disabled. JFC 🙄

In fairness, I believe that when people read that in 2024, 18,000 of the 39,000 news cars sold in Northern Ireland were part of the Motability scheme, they perhaps wonder if the system is not being 'gamed'. We had a Motability car for our son in 2006, who due to heart and lung issues fulfilled the criteria. With 3 children we chose an Ford Galaxy and paid £3,600 upfront for the larger vehicle. He passed away aged 13 in 2007 and the vehicle was collected by Motability a few weeks later, as expected. We needed the scheme at the time, but it does concern me that either nearly 50% of the Northern Irish population have ADHD or are unable to walk more than a few metres, or the system is in dire need of revision.

Nonsense?

It is certainly not nonsense, and I can’t believe you would be so naive as to believe this doesn’t go on up and down the country.

Of course they are wrongfully driving the cars, but if you are a sensible driver, the odds of being pulled over are minuscule.

Also, do you think anyone doing this doesn’t know to say “I’m on my way to pick up mums/grandma’s shopping/prescription etc if they are ever in the incredibly unlikely position that they are confronted about it.

There is nothing to say that the car cannot be used as a family car. Lets say the child gets dropped off at school. Is the Mother supposed to leave the car in the school car park, or on the road, go and catch a bus to get home. What if she had to do that, and the school needed her to come straight back, as there was a problem with her child. Do you see where this is going? That would not make much sense would it now?

If they do I want one, the storm on Friday was bloody fierce and my door got sopping.

I find it absolutely shocking the vitriol and resentment towards people with disabilities loud and proud on here. It is absolutely repulsive

Hate the disabled , hate the foreigners blah blah blah

Hate everyone except the billionaires who are actually fucking your lives up.

Sadly theres no cure for Stupid

Exactly. I prefer tiles.