To want to scream that Motability cars are NOT FREE!!!!!

[Mamaz0n]

Ihave just seen a programme on the BBC where they have yet again claimed someone recieved a "free car"

No they fucking didnt!

They have been given a lease hire vehicle under the motability scheme. It is not their car, they DO PAY for it and it is only for a certain period of time.

It pisses me off that people assume that being disabled is a sweet life with loads of freebies.
It isn't. far from it.

you would expect the BBC at least to get it right.

i wish there was a like button on MN

I know. The media is widespread peddling that people with disabilities are scroungers and being propped up by the poor hard done by taxpayer.

I'm convinced it's some kind of government agenda being parroted by the twats of the media.

YANBU!!!!!!

out of interest, how exactly does it work then? I had never really thought about it before.

I think I thought they were free

How does it work then?

Name that programme Mamaz0n and I'll fire off a complaint.

The Motability scheme is a good one but we also have to cough up a fairly big whack of cash for each new car for the modifications (wheelchair lift, Transit-sized vehicle) - and of course DH sacrifices his monthly DLA payment.

Good times.

If you are unfortunate to be disabled enough to be awarded higher rate dla with mobility allowance, you can use this allowance to pay fora motorbility car rather than have the cash

Or something like that

Rabbitfood/Grockle - eligible disabled people get what used to be called Mobility Allowance, now DLA Mobility Component. They can use that in whatever way helps them to be mobile - the advantage to the gvernment/taxpayer being that the disabled person can live slightly more independently because of it.

Some people trade in 3 or 4 years worth of the allowance towards a lease hire car or (more rarely) a hire purchase car. They still have to pay a deposit to cover the additiona lcost of anythign above a small basic model, plus pay for any adaptations they need.

Is it just the mobility element of the DLA payment that is sacrificed? or the whole thing?

oh thanks for clarifying.

Bloody Dominic Littleton, I hate that man.

You can get a car just for your DLA higher rate mobility allowance so in essence it is paid for. However this is the smallest car in the world.

We paid a downpayment of £6k to get a car large enough to get DH's scooter in it. They also get the mobility allowance which is about £200 a month. And after 3 years we have to give the car back and start all over again.

However under the scheme we can get a guranteed-working car which we wouldn't normally be able to afford (even if we got a huge whacking loan) and means DH is mobile. That is priceless otherwise he wouldn't leave the house. I would give up our 'free' car for a pain-free DH anyday...

I know.. it annoys me too :(

It's like people seriously think Drs fall over themselves to diagnose us with some 'problem', then the NHS and the DWP keep rushing forwards to offer us mobility scooters/crutches/cars/home adaptions/benefits/plasma TVs/carribean cruises...

Some people I know expressed surprise that you have to APPLY for DLA... they seriously thought it just got given to people on the point of diagnosis.

Sometimes words literally do fail me. If the above were true I'd be on DLA. As it stands, I am not.

But how does anyone afford the upkeep - servicing, repairs, road tax and so on? That adds up to a lot of cash which so many on DLA must find very hard to come up with.

Thank you for clarifying.

That is the main benefit of bothering to fork out thousands to have a movability car.

All those expenses come out of the allowance, as does insurance

And some people need to understand that once the owner of a motability car many disabled people then use it as only way they can get to WORK, where they earn a good wage and also PAY TAXES!

yup, Dominic Littlejohn.
On a show (how ironic) about benefit spongers. scroungers and saints i think it was called.

Yes as others have said, if you qualify for higher rate mobility allowance (you have been assesed as being unable/unsafe to walk more than a specified distance-can't remember what that is right now) then you can pay a whacking great deposit and use your monthly mobility allowance to pay for a hire lease vehicle.

It is a great scheme for those who need a vehicle. it is like having a company car, serviced, taxed, insured etc. someting that for many would be impossible.

But it isn't free. not by a long stretch.

Servicing,insurance and repairs (if they come under the warranty ) are included in the mobility component of dla. Vehicles registered to people in receipt of higher rate dla are tax exempt, so with a motability car the disc is included, but you can also be tax exempt without using motability. Insurance is also included in return for the mobility component.

Some cars in the scheme have no advance payment but most do. I paid £500 but only because it was a special promotion reduced from about £1600.

Servicing, repairs and insurance are also included in the lease hire scheme. Road tax is often free for disabled people, though the car has to be solely for their use which can be tricky for many people, as they can't affor to run a "family" car as well.

Blu - Just out of interest, if someone can work and earn a good wage, why should they money to help them buy a car.

YAsoNBU.

It's not a free car, it's a car leased with money deducted from the disabled person's benefit.

Some people need more than a regular car to drive, and have specific adaptions like hoists, controls on the steering wheel for acceleration and braking etc. They can be expensive.

I think that, unless you use the Motability scheme, most people won't know how it works. Why would they? I agree, it is not helpful for the BBC to suggest that the car is free when it is not but I didn't see the programme.

I know lots of people I work with have cars through motobility but I never really considered how it worked.

Londonone - just because they work doesnt' mean they earn a decent wage. Usually not one that would allow them to run a car or pay for the adaptations required.

YANBU