To get a motability car ( and also what’s allowed ?! )

[Justnavigating]

Hi

My 18 year old is in receipt of enhanced mobility PIP. We can get a motability car with it.

I never considered it before as I already have a car. My husband did too , until recently . Now he needs my car ( he earns more and works longer hours , not possible with public transport ) . I take my child everywhere - social groups , days out , meeting friends etc . This has been impacted slightly but not massively with me not having the car all the time .

However , my husband has a new job . 6 days per week and longer hours. This means that the things I take my child to that they rely on are not going to be possible . Nor will the days out ( related to a specific hobby that means a lot to them ) . She also hates being in the house and when I had the car was always with me everywhere - shopping , drives out etc . Now that we can’t do that it is really having an affect and will be worse with the new job . Adding up what I spend on taxis for work, alongside the taxis now for social groups and any days out , I feel that getting a car through motability might be a good option.

However - I will be using it for work too . Is this allowed ? Obviously my work benefits my child and I only work when they are at college ( I do work less in the holidays and I guess would be happy to still get a taxi there if I wasn’t allowed to use the car as it’s not when she is in college ) but realistically me working and using it would be benefitting her due to income and it’s not like she would be getting the bus to places because I have the car and she can’t use it - she can’t drive !!

Am I allowed to use it for work ? It’s not a job that I need my car for ( as in I’m not using the car for a business like deliveries etc ) it’s just going to and from work .

What about if I have a day off for example - am I allowed to use it to take my other children to school ( I don’t do school runs as I work but just if I did happen to have a day off / I may be moving jobs to one where I work from home sometimes so if I was able to do school runs could I ? ) or if I was off and I wanted to get the shopping done or go to see someone could I if my child wasn’t with me ? ) - this really is hypothetical as at the moment I work every day my child is in college .

aside from work there is no other time I would really use it Without her - she’s with me all the time and if , for eg , me and my husband went away or went out for a date night we would have the other car so use that .

I just don’t want to get it and then be worrying and assessing every time I get in it as to whether this particular journey benefits them. Do they expect it to be used as the main car, so in that sense not every single journey is for the disabled child but on the whole it is ?

I know of someone in the same situation who uses it as their general car - but they don’t work so day to day they use it when their 19 year old disabled child is at work but they take them to work and collect them .

The wages benefit the daughter but the parent doesn’t need a motability car to get to work to benefit the daughter. The motability vehicle is for journeys that benefit the daughter so the clubs, the times you’re taking the daughter out.

For other journeys eg going to work by yourself or going out socialising yourself, that journey being in a motability vehicle doesn’t benefit the daughter, so it can’t be used for that purpose, even though the work itself benefits her.

I have experience with a motability vehicle and know which journeys you’re allowed to use it for.

We were told it was fine as we would do things like drop dc to school then drive onto work ot would have been ridiculous to then drive home just to get public transport when we were halfway there already

Well worth doing, I’m appointee for my autistic son and the notability vehicle is used to get him out and about . One day I week I take it to work as I drop him at a provision on the way and collect him after. Rest of the time I use the other car .

We have a Nissan Leaf which is great for us, we don’t need it for long journeys but to get DS out to the zoo, the farm, the provision he attends, doctor’s appointments, community dentist etc etc.

He loves the car.

Yes your use of course is fine, you’re taking the disabled person somewhere as part of that journey. But OP is just talking about driving to work without taking her daughter anywhere on the way that I’ve seen any mention of

It was a work one and he went to a different company - how it stands at the moment we managed ok but now he’s offered a different role in the company a lot longer hours and further away x

Go on the motability scheme website. You can browse available cars on there and see the advance payment required if applicable. You can fill in the search form and it will bring up all the cars available to you. It's been a Godsend to us as we need a reliable car to get me to appointments , days out , trips to friends etc.

Well I have had one for over 20 years for my ds and I have always been told that it is fine. For instance if her daughter needs her home asap then the car allows for that. I go shopping- I take the car- my ds doesn’t come with me as he hates it. Etc etc etc
It isn’t a ‘free’ car. It is one that youu you lease using the mobility portion of Pip.

No not all we didn't have to pay an advance payment ,my son gets HRM under SMI rules so he didn't need any adaptions were also happy to take a car somebody else had cancelled ,so we got it within a couple of weeks ,you need to look around

@PotatoFan I’m not sure where you are getting your info from. My husband has a mobility car and I use it for work. They pay my business insurance as there are certain jobs you can use the mobility car for. They are FULLY aware my husband is not the main driver and it’s never been a problem! a mobility car isn’t a free gift it’s something we pay for and can use it as we wish within the limits such as mileage cap.

So do you know this for certain that I’m not allowed to use it for work when my daughter is in college ? Or is it opinion ?

I don’t mean that rude , genuine question .

Info is from the agreement you sign which covers how the vehicle can be used, I’ve linked my sources already

No your wrong the Op going to work is within the actual rules ( not the rules you have made up.in your head ) it benefits her daughter as it keeps a roof over her head.

Ignore the Pp they are wrong going to work is fine .

Yes I do, if you’re dropping your daughter at college on the way to work then it’s fine, she’s benefitting from the journey. If you’re just seperately going to work you shouldn’t be using the motability car for that journey. You are of course eligible for the car as there are times she will benefit from it, so sounds worth getting one anyway

My friends just applied for one. Three month lead in time from ordering car til she receives it.
So if you do go ahead be aware of that as you may want to shop around to get one now. If it's possible.

Ignore PotatoFan. They are wrong. I use my sons motability car for work sometimes.

You should have as it’s been in place since March 2023

https://news.motability.co.uk/scheme-news/new-vehicle-payment-introduced/

You need to reread the rules you have posted.

Motability don’t expect the parents of an eligible child (or spouse of an eligible adult) to have a separate car to go to and from work. That would just be daft.

Its a fully acceptable use of the car.

If I can’t use it for work it’s pointless as I’ll still be paying around £50 per week on taxis and I can’t afford that as well as the payment for the car . Even though we use PIP to pay for it , that PIP is not just sitting in the bank doing nothing so it’s still going to be £300 a month extra cost ,

I won’t be dropping her to college on the way to work - she has transport ( that I pay for ) as my work hours won’t allow me time to do this , the college isn’t local

Yes I better! Just waiting on 100% confirmation for DH new job x

Please ignore the poster saying you can’t use it, in fact you can have 3 different drivers use the car! Pop into one of the show rooms and speak to the salesman to get some reassurance!

Are you perhaps getting confused with Blue Badge rules?

The disabled person doesn't have to be in the car:

www.motability.co.uk/get-support/faqs/do-i-need-to-be-in-my-vehicle/