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 .

I drove numerous Motability vehicles for my DD over the years. I always used it in the day when she was at school/college/day centre. I was always 'on call' so needed to have the car with me at all times in case I was needed in an emergency. It was never a problem with Motability.
As she got older though, she had carers at home so I could have respite. I was able to add the carers to the insurance so they could take DD out on trips. This left me without a car as obviously the priority had to be DD as it was her car.

im a named driver on a motability car myself and know what I can and cannot use it for

No you think you know or your just stirring
We have a mobility car as do several other posters on this thread why do you think they are all wrong and you are right?

But you're wrong, and you're trying to put @Justnavigating off getting a car for her DD, who clearly qualifies, because you don't like the fact that she might use it to get to work. It's allowed. It benefits her DD.

I have 2 DDs who qualify for a Motabiliy car. We don't have two Motabiliy cars - we use one. It benefits them both.

From the Motability website:

How you cannot use your carWe take misuse of your car very seriously. This means things like:

• Not using it for the disabled person’s benefit
• You or someone else driving without insurance or while you’re banned
• Using it in a criminal act
• Lending, sub-leasing or selling it
• Using it for business reasons we haven’t agreed with you, like as a taxi or for deliveries
• Not taking good care of it

If a spouse or parent of a disabled person could not use it for commuting to work, then Motability would specify that on this page.

https://www.motability.co.uk/whats-available/cars/package/use/

Motability themselves specifically told me I can use my DDs car to go to work

Due to working in more than one place, so not just home to one normal work place as covered in their standard insurance, they put business insurance on the car specifically for me to do it.

I’d say they know the rules better than you think you do

@PotatoFan you seem to be heavily focused on the fact that my daughter has transport to take her to college and I would use the car to drive to work . I cannot take her to college - so the car would simply be sat on the drive if I didn’t.

Firstly, I pay for the transport .

Secondly, in order to resolve this I would have to give up work- therefore claiming benefits for being unemployed . Would that be better ?

Sound like pretty good priorities :D

And reassuring that it's not only a one off.

I think you misunderstand. They are getting for the seventh car, not all seven cars . I got it in April last year , I can’t remember exactly what it’s for but it’s definitely a one off ! We’ve had 35 years of motability cars .

We have a motability car. No one checks what journeys you do.

Do you live with them? Are they your dependent i.e. do you have financial responsibility for this person?

My son gets DSA taxis to college.. I drive him up because he prefers me to but he gets taxi home…
I think that poster has a bee in her bonnet but have no idea why 🙄

If you read my post upthread it explains the £750 payment. The good condition bonus is £250 for a three year lease and £350 for a five year lease. Motability added £500 to this during the pandemic. Anyone whose current car was leased before October 2022 and who only got one of the the lower payments, they will get an extra £500 when they hand it back - if they haven’t already had it. For anyone whose lease started after this date they will get one of the lower payments depending on the length of lease. The £750 new car payment is only paid on respect of your first motability car and this concession will end on 31/12/24. It was all part of the pandemic support.

1. If your dd is an adult she can be assessed and considered for a grant for the upfront payment. Our first Motability car cost us £4k in adaptations, but last year because DD was over 18 and has no money or income the whole upfront cost was covered by a grant.

1. We got it in writing that a parent can use the car for work as obviously this is benefitting the child

1. They don't monitor your journeys but if you ever have an accident they scrutinise where you were going very closely so don't use the car for your own socialising for example

1. I've always found Motability v helpful if you have queries, so you can check things with them

A lot of people failing to understand what ‘benefiting the disabled person’ actually means. Basically if the disabled person and the driver live at the same address then it’s fine for the named driver to use the car for their own purposes. Going to work is paying the bills and putting a roof over the disabled persons’ head - so directly benefiting them. Even if they lived at different addresses, the named driver can still use the car for work purposes if they can show that that they are still contributing to or financially supporting the disabled person. It’s a simple rule - no idea why this is such a difficult concept for some.

If you live with the disabled person they don’t scrutinise every journey. If you don’t there will be a tracker on the car to make sure it’s not being abused.

The OP pays for the alternative transport. DD is financially dependent on her. She’s not doing anything wrong.

From the Motability Website

In terms of how named drivers should use the car, it must be for the benefit of the disabled customer, but this does not mean that they need to be in the car for every journey — the car can be used for shopping and other routine activities that supports the household.

As work falls under supporting the household then there is nothing to prevent you from using it to get to work.

I love the motability scheme. Go for it OP. The 'worry free motoring' strapline is so apt.
My most recent AP was 5k, for which I got a grant. Smaller cars tend not to have high APs. Choosing a car is fun.

It's worth ringing round dealerships once you've made some initial choices, get an idea of wait times and have a test drive.

You're supporting your daughter, motability will be more than happy for you to get a car to continue to do so.

This is a world that I do not know anything about. But if nothing else, what an incredible waste to have two cars instead of one. It is not a good use of resources to use two separate cars depending on who the journey is for. Apart from things like extra vehicle taxes, MOTs etc it’s another unnecessary car being produced. It is simply not efficient.

The family using one car for different activities makes far more economic and environmental sense surely? However much others may ‘envy’ and resent it.

You will need to tell the insurance company that Motability use that you will be using it to get to and from work.

I would do that before you get the car to ensure that they will cover you as they might not.

There is some misinformation on here.

The rules on mobility vehicles are very clear, each journey in it has to be for the person the car is for.

so you can make journeys in it for…..

-taking the person out
-picking up food, medication for the person, even if they aren’t with you.
-running any errand for them.

going to work in it, or using it for your own convenience is classed as misuse of it, it’s all detailed on the motability website

But she needs to make sure that the insurance will cover her to go to and from work.

She should check with the insurance company as they might not cover her for going to and from work.

Why would they not cover her?
It states that the named driver can use the car for their own means aa long as it benefits the disabled person so what would she not be covered ?