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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think this is a good deal and we should take the money

191 replies

TastingTheRainbow · 23/08/2015 18:04

Been struggling to decide this all day so hoping you can help.

My son has special needs and will be starting at a special needs high school in September that's 35 miles away (40 minutes in no traffic).

He is entitled to travel assistance as this is the closest school that could accommodate him and we have not sent him so far away by choice, plus we are a low income family. We thought this would be via a taxi but have had a letter saying if we transport him ourselves the LA will pay us £6800 a year.

That seems an unbelievable amount of money! My quick sums have calculated that with that money we could buy a car (we would need a second car as I take the only one to work), insure it and keep it on the road, cover the petrol cost required for the journey and still have money left over. Plus we then have the convieneve of two cars full time which we really need just can't afford.

If we say no to the money they will organise a taxi. This will be more inflexible however and will pick up at a set time, only waiting for 2 minutes, and can't be changed if he has after school clubs etc. We would then need to collect anyway.

AIBU to think that while it will may be a PITA to do the school run that far every day the money they are offering makes it the better option?

In the interest of fairness I should say it would be my partner not me doing the school run as I work full time and she dosnt. I have said it is her choice to decide however, she just thinks I may be missing the 'catch' somehow.

OP posts:
Gymbunny1204 · 23/08/2015 18:34

The only willing to wait for two minutes would make the taxi a no go for me.

Original poster
TastingTheRainbow · 23/08/2015 18:34

Letter does not mention mileage claim etc. It gives us dates of 4 payments throughout the year. It even says we can pay our own taxi / club together with other parents etc. if we want. Although we can't in our situation. They explained it as they don't care how we then get him there or how much it costs etc. but this money makes it no longer their responsibility. Although it does say his attendance can't drop below 80% which it won't.

OP posts:
CwtchesAndCuddles1 · 23/08/2015 18:34

Just seen your post.

So 500 miles per week makes it 35p per mile.

dontrunwithscissors · 23/08/2015 18:36

I hate spending money on buying expensive cars, but £1k for a banger that's going to be doing a lot of miles/long journey sounds like it will crash and burn/cost a fortune to maintain. No way would I rely on a £1k car to be making that length of journey twice a day.

Also, you say you'll have the benefit of a second car, but I'm not convinced it makes up for a massive inconvenience of spending 4 hours a day driving.

LadyTmalia · 23/08/2015 18:37

You dont need a more expensive car, but you will need a good one.
My 306 cost £1650. It costs £30 a year to tax and does 500+ miles to the 50 litres.
You need to research what car suits you, better mpg, tax and insurance etc :)

Good Luck

Desertedislander · 23/08/2015 18:41

I wouldn't do it personally, but if the second car is worth it then yes! Fab!

Have you looked into lease hiring a car? You could get a brand new opening price point (like a Toyota Aygo) for around £99 a month.

Pico2 · 23/08/2015 18:46

You would be taking a massive risk. If the car only lasted a couple of months before something expensive needed doing or it was only fit for scrap, you'd be in trouble. If it went well then you'd be fine.

Original poster
TastingTheRainbow · 23/08/2015 18:48

That's a good point Pico, if the car was unrepairable within the year we couldn't afford to replace it

OP posts:
SomedayMyPrinceWillCome · 23/08/2015 18:50

Could the LA change the offer in future years? If they did, what would happen then?

Spartans · 23/08/2015 18:56

You have had a good experience with a cheap car. That is by no means typical. Your partner and child will be travelling in this car for 100 miles a day. What happens if it breaks down on the way their. I obviously don't know much about your son, but how would he cope being at the side of the road for a few hours? Or waiting for a tow?

My concern is that if you take the money and the car fails, then you have no way of getting him to school.

We have 2 cars, we need them for work. 1 decent car that whoever is transporting the kids uses and a second cheap car. Which ever of us has not got the kids, takes the cheaper one.

We have been stranded before with the kids and its no fun and quite stressful.

Spartans · 23/08/2015 18:58

Sorry re read that I don't mean its by no means typical

I meant it's by no means guaranteed....serves me right for posting with ds moaning.

Original poster
TastingTheRainbow · 23/08/2015 18:59

They told me they will re offer each year, and that it won't go down as it's based on a percentage of their allowance which rises each year. Although regardless even if it went down we could always switch back to the taxi option. By which point we already have the second car. I'm now thinking though about the risk of it breaking down as being a write off, we couldn't afford to replace it unless it was an accident and insurance paid out, and that would leave us very stuck.

OP posts:
Auntpetunia2015 · 23/08/2015 19:00

I don't think you need to spend more that £1k on a car, our family car died last year and we had to buy a car quickly we got a 1999 T reg with 49k mileage for £300, my DH does 60+ miles a day on the M62 the car has just sailed through its MOT so will be kept going for another year at least.

DansonslaCapucine · 23/08/2015 19:00

I'd take the taxi. Four hours driving per day is a huge commitment.

JeffsanArsehole · 23/08/2015 19:04

It's very cheap for 4 hours of your partners time a day.

I think the bottom line is she will be working for 4 hours a day to have the luxury of a second car.

That's 840 hours work a year at £8.09 an hour.

Florriesma · 23/08/2015 19:05

I think the question is time more than money. Assuming your dc starts school at 9and finishes around 3 then your dw is only going to be back in the house between 10 and 2. Which doesn't give a lot of time to get things done or to attend appointments. It would depend on how much work needs to be done during the day for the household as to whether it was worth it.

If you're fine with looking after and maintaining cars than a £1000 car is fine. It's if you can't repair them yourself that the cost becomes prohibitive I find. Fwiw we have a now 10yr old citron which if we sold it would only be worth around 500. It's just managed to get us to France and back but we have had to spend out easily £1000 to keep it on the road in the last year.

Original poster
TastingTheRainbow · 23/08/2015 19:06

That seems worth it to me. We had discussed her getting a part time job now that he is in secondary school. In a way this could be it.

OP posts:
ThatsNotMyHouseItIsTooClean · 23/08/2015 19:08

I know it sounds like a massive amount if money but it isn't as you will immediately be spending it on something. As PP have said, what happens if it dies or breaks down? If you already had a second car in vgc and this money would just be spent on petrol etc then it would be a different decision.
What does your DP usually do or what was she expecting to do whilst your DS was at school? Will she be able to do that if she is driving between 8am and 10am and again between 2pm & 4pm? If you need the money, is it an option for her to get a job for a few hours a day (I know they are like hen's teeth but if she earned £7 an hour for four hours a day term time only then she would earn £5k).

MaryFlynn · 23/08/2015 19:08

I can't give any details, but I know of a child who was taxied to a special school less than 4 miles from home. It cost the LEA £70 per day for the taxi, driver, chaperone and insurance. At 195 days per year, this cost a total of £13650.
I don't know if this is a good deal for you as a family - it may well be. However it is a great deal for the LEA and, therefore very sensible of them to offer it.

Clutterbugsmum · 23/08/2015 19:09

It is cheaper then the LA hiring a taxi as they would have to have a chaperone as well as the driver.

Original poster
TastingTheRainbow · 23/08/2015 19:09

I think I've been really lucky with my car then, it's my first car. Cost me £1000 2 years ago. Has 153k miles on the clock, I do 80 miles a day in it and it's passed 2 MOTs first time. I've only spent £200 on repairs in the 2 years, plus it's had 2 new tyres. I was using these figures when calculating costs of running a second car but that's looking unrealistic now.

OP posts:
dontrunwithscissors · 23/08/2015 19:11

It's pot luck with old cars. Both myself and DH had VW Polos from new. We took good care of them both. Mine died after ten years and 70k miles. His is still going strong at 15 years and 100k miles.

I don't know how old your DS is--does he have any preference?

NewLife4Me · 23/08/2015 19:11

Take the money but don't buy such a cheap car.

SpongeBobJudgeyPants · 23/08/2015 19:15

I would go for it.

ClarissaAllbright · 23/08/2015 19:15

A car for 1K is just not worth the hassle of having in the majority of cases. Yes you might get lucky but you're talking old banger territory and this will more than likely end up costing you £££ in the long run. If you were spending 6K on something half decent then yes, I'd say go for it. But you're planning to get the cheapest car you possibly can. And that comes with a high risk