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

You no longer get the choice to buy the car

Yes you do. I just bought my son’s car, a few months back. You just phone motability and get a price.

Try ringing Motability again, and speak to someone else. I am not doubting what posters are saying, and think that you should just use the car, if you get one, but if you are not comfortable doing that, it is no point, so just get confirmation, and go from there.

OP I work with kids with disabilities every family I know uses the motability vehicle as a family car. You not going to run two cars. Nobody checks. If you weren't a driver the person who drives doesn't even have to live at the same address as you. So long as your not abusing the blue badge no one will know or care.

They don't monitor usage but if you have an accident they ask very detailed questions about where you were going, why, and where the disabled user was if they weren't in the car.

So if you are going somewhere you could explain away then it's fine eg driving to the local town centre you could say you were going to buy clothes for disabled child or groceries for the family.

It isn't allowed to be used generally as a "family car" it's for the benefit of the disabled person so yes, I have had many an occasion where I have walked past the Motability car parked on the drive and got in an Uber / bus.

They don’t check and if your nominated drivers are in the same address they don’t fit a tracker.

They would only check if you had an accident and needed to make a claim so I really wouldn’t worry . You sound like you have a lot to deal with and I hope a motability car makes your life a bit easier

by the sound of it, insurance does at times check if there is an accident. I get that many families use it as a family car but havening spoken to them, it's not what it is for - the website is also very clear. I have decided to not get it. I wouldn't really be comfortable using it in an unlawful way - I am just way to scared I have a crash, cause injuries and then don't have insurance cover. I find it very scary. The guy on the phone was clear for that for example taking the younger one to hospital would breach the rules. I expect my old car to fail the MOT next month. With the mobility money we can use buses and if need be, use a taxi from time to time for emergencies. We will cope as the enhanced PIP rate gives us to room for maneuver that way. Car would have been easier, esp with the many ad hoc calls from school to collect early but hopefully I can save up for one over the next couple of years. Not going to be the end if the world. My sleep is more important (and it's something I would use sleep over).

It’s not about if they check it’s that you are supposed to use it as the family car that’s why you can commute in it.

I am not questioning my right to commute - I understand that this is allowed. But I would use the care in ways which are not to the benefit of my disabled older child. That the bone of contention ;-)

You can drop your other children disabled or not where they need to go. I really think you should phone again. What you’ve taken away from your previous conversation is not my understanding at all.

@Goslingsforlife

Image from the Motability website. Taking your other child to hospital appointments falls within ‘other routine activities’

it's not clear at all what other routine activities mean but it says clearly in top that using it must be for the disabled person. Ferrying my other child to appointment apparently (from what I have been told) not in that bracket.

I have to say this thread has really left me confused. Either the guy on the phone was talking nonsense or everyone else is breaking the rules. I will see if I can find an email address to clarify. at least I have it in writing.

Ensuring that a sibling is healthy IS for the benefit of the car recipient. I worked for them for many years as I’ve previously mentioned - even if you were unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident on the way/way home from such an appointment the claim would not be repudiated as the car is being used correctly.

It is up to you how you want this situation to play out.

He's not talking nonsense, he's interpreting the rules in a very literal black and white in a manner consistent with ideas like if the autistic child doesn't enjoy the activity they're being taken too, then it wasn't benefiting them therefore the car shouldn't be being used to transport them. (something leveled at a friend many years ago)
We have moved on in how the rules are interpreted since then.

If you say may I use the car to take her sister to her hospital appointments?
The literal answer is no.
If you say may I use the car to take her sister to her hospital appointments, so I can easily drop everything and get to her sister (who's allocated the car,) quickly in the event of being urgently needed, the answer should be yes.

No one is likely to put that in an email to you because they need to cover their backs

What question you ask determines what answer you get.

May I strike a man in the face with my keys between my fingers? No.

May I strike a man in the face with my keys between my fingers to defend myself from physical attack? still not a simple yes, but am not going to be found guilty as it is a reasonable defense and something 'normalized.'

My PIP is to enable me to work. Should I watch my children's needs go unmet rather than spend it on them when needed? After all it has been awarded to me to enable me to work, not to help them...

@Rookangaroo4

Yes you do. I just bought my son’s car, a few months back. You just phone motability and get a price.

I said you no longer get the option to buy, which is true. What you did a few months back is irrelevant. It is not an option anymore. Feel free to check the website to verify.

Not sure when that changed then as we bought the car in December I think it was. Must be very recent. I stand corrected .

i think It depends who you speak to. When my son moved to a residential placement and we had a year left on an extended lease, I phoned motability to arrange buying the car, they said as long as he comes home regularly it’s fine to keep until the end of the lease and fine to use for shopping etc.

I would argue that using the car to attend appointments while dc is at school is in his best interest as means he doesn't have to have alternative care which could be distressing for him.