help with mobility car and multiple disabled children

[Goslingsforlife]

how do others use it esp with multiple disabled children. I am thinking of getting one as my eldest has complex needs and is in receipt of enhanced Pip. I am aware I can use it to commute to work and shopping as this will benefit my eldest. My younger one is on DLA but not on high rate mobility (only middle rate care and low rate mob). I was told that I wouldn't be able to use the car for hospital appointments for them for example. Which makes sense on a certain level.

I cannot be the only parent with more than one disabled child. How do you work around such things. Do you still take the car? or do you take the bus on those occasions? What about if I have e.g. a hospital appointment for myself? Do I need to take the bus or the bike?

My old car is dying and I cannot afford to replace it at the moment but we really need one. A mobility car would have been the perfect solution but I now question if it's worth it I cannot use it for high numbers of journeys and if I am better saving up for a replacement vehicle. help

Get the car and on the way home from a hospital appointment so the food shopping or get the prescriptions for your "most" disabled kiddo. That journey still begets them. I've had a notability car for 9 years and nobody has ever checked or asked about my journeys. Not even when I've had a minor bump .

Just use it as your family car, there isn't anyone checking up where you have been, as long as you don't do over 20k miles a year you have no worries. The rules you are worrying about are more for blue badge use.

We use it as our family car ,most people do they expect you to.

Actually it is allowed very similar thread a couple of weeks ago with people giving out wrong info all.over the place mobility don't expect you to mess aroun d on buses when there is a car at your disposal.

The rules surrounding use of motability cars are different when the car is for a child as it can be used as the family car.

I've had multiple Motability cars over the years for my DD from when she was 5. I used it as my main family car. No one ever queried it. If I'd needed to justify it I would have just said that I was on 24/7 call for DD and it would not be beneficial if I had to return home to get 'her' car first.

I think Motability tightened the published rules years ago when it was found that some people were effectively giving their cars to family members who lived at other addresses. But I know lots of people with Motability vehicles and they have all used them as family cars.

When did you apply? The rules changed in 2019 so that some of us with invisible disabilities could qualify.

Get the motorbility car OP. It sounds like it would really help your family. No one will be checking on your usual journeys.

Phone Motability and talk it over with them.

Using the car means you would be able to respond much more quickly if your other child needs you than you would on public transport. I have a motability vehicle for my little one and I have my own car but only because I don't want to be parking his vehicle up in a non blue badge space when he's not with me (He has a VW Crafter and it is huge) but the disadvantage is if he's unwell at school I have to go home to collect his car before I can go and get him.

I had a mobility car that dh used for work this was allowed and we used it as a family car we did ask what was permissable at the time, although it's been decades so rules may have changed.

That's terrible have you been refused can you appeal? I know in the grand scheme of things and your life an appeal might be too much to do but I don't see how a severely autistic child can be seen as having an invisible disability!

I didn't read properly I see you appealed that awful and so discrumatory.

we tried. twice, even with MP involved it was a no. We are ok without BB. we managed for the past 16 years and will cope moving forward. It's not a big issue on the greater scale of things.

this is intended to stop people taking advantage of the scheme and monopolising the motability car without benefiting the entitled person. It’s not about the family car.

Stop at a shop on the way home. Use the car so you will be back in time to meet him off the bus etc.
It isn’t you they are trying to catch out.

I did and was a bit taken aback. Hence my post but it looks like the man I spoke to was right and I indeed cannot use it for my younger disabled child.

I will leave it I think. Doesn't sound like it's right for us and I need it a lot for the younger sibling too so would not wanna risk getting into trouble. Real shame though as my current car is 15 years old and reparations are costing a fortune and it won't get through the next MOT. Will just have to cope without one for a while and save up. But at least I can be sure I don't commit fraud. I do black and white well but struggle with grey 🙈 I wish I was more laid back. I think I was hoping people would tell me the info was incorrect.

Does your child have a social worker you could check with? Or an advice worker at the school?

I'd use the money to buy a car it's essentially for the kids and family to get around. I know you can buy a mobility car rather than leasing but I think the upfront fees are high.

Honestly you are really overthinking this. It's totally reasonable to use the car as you described. The rules are there to ensure people don't effectively give the car to someone else, most people with motability cars have them as their only car, and use it for normal family usage, as well as to meet the needs of the person they care for.

A social worker wouldn't have any idea about how mobility works ,
It's fine we have a mobility car we use as the family car Mobility EXPECT you ti use it as the family car.

Are you sure it was the actual Motability charity you spoke to as that doesn’t sound right at all. I’ve had a car for my daughter for over 30 years, it’s always been used as the family car . Now that my husband and I are both retired it is our only car , we aren’t expected to buy another car just for when she’s not in it, that would be silly .

I did and was a bit taken aback. Hence my post but it looks like the man I spoke to was right and I indeed cannot use it for my younger disabled child.

That's not true at all. You can use a child's motability car as the family car you are not expected to buy another car to use for siblings.

There's a lot of po-faced twattery being punted here. As long as you're not using it for commercial use you'll be ok.

If you are in receipt of higher level PIP you'll get a blue badge. Good luck with spaces though, it's all down to getting out the door in good time as they're like gold dust sometimes.

Of course you can use a motability car this way!

Might you need to collect your child from school in an emergency? Thats a reasonable thing to assume, and therefore you need to be using the motability car, not leaving that at home and using your other, second car..

If you stop at the shops on the way home from wherever with the other kiddo, and that benefits the child the car is for... thats a reasonable use.

I think whoever you talked to at Motability is a bit of an idiot tbh.

It's 'enhanced' rate, not 'high level'

It's also not true that enhanced PiP gives an automatic entitlement to a BB. You have to score the correct number of points in the right place, I get enhanced rate and have a motability car but don't have an automatic entitlement to a BB.