Motability cars - should they be UK made?

[Pandersmum]

Motability cars are currently in the news with suggestions VAT will be added. I realise they are a lifetime to some and a perk to others. They are a huge annual cost to the tax payer.

AIBU to think that all motability car choice should be limited to those manufactured in the UK? This would support British manufacturing worker jobs and increase UK business tax revenue whilst still providing cars for those who need them?

No I'm not just trying to understand why my friend was given different rules.
Bit of checking up needed I think.

Yes I think that may be the case but we're going to check with both to see if she's been misinformed

There is a separate scheme via the DVLA where you don't have to pay road tax on a private vehicle if the car is used exclusively by a disabled person. That is nothing like having a motability car. We were told by them - because I checked - that the only business things you can't do are run a taxi or parcels delivery, dog walking where you pick up dogs, that sort of thing.

We only got a motability car because we had to scrap our old one for the ULEZ scheme. I never claimed the road tax exemption because we did use the car for ourselves. And I checked the motability rules scruptiously before we took the car.

It isn't different for children. My brother has a motability car because his wife is disabled and as she can no longer drive, he drives it.

"And what about able bodied people who are driving the privately owned family car, which is tax exempt because the registered keeper is disabled? Hmm?"

In this situation there are rules about how the car can be used. The car can't be used for other people getting to work etc. This doesn't apply to motability cars because road tax is included within the costs of it.

I think friend needs to check again although her circumstances may be different as they're both adults.

We actually do have my Motability car and a second car. When I asked Motability about DH using my car for work, should I not be needing it on that particular day, they said it was fine but only if he was going to a fixed place of work. DH mostly works in one place, but not always, so we had to buy another car to accommodate this, otherwise we’d be breaking Motability’s rules. He, also, can’t use it every day because it’s my car and I need it for local appointments. Any appointments that are further away he has to drive me to them.

Should he need to take MIL to hospital appointments he takes his car because that doesn’t benefit me. He has used my car to go to the GP on the way to work. That benefits me because if he’s out of action by being ill, we get no money coming in and, also, he can’t do what he normally does for me.

When the kids lived at home, one of them (at a time) was on the insurance so they could take me to the hospital or pick up some shopping should I need them too. I had 3 busy body neighbours report me. It didn’t matter how many times Motability told them to wind their necks in, they still thought they knew best.

DD got her current Motability car in January 24. It’s got a tracker, so Motability can check its usage at any time. They told us, they want to know, inter alia, that it’s kept at the registered address overnight. I am her appointee.

We explained DD regards our home as her home, so she is an ordinary resident in our local authority; and she spends 30% of her time here. She is funded by our ICB, as she is an ordinary resident here, to live in a care home in another local authority over 100 miles away, for 70% of her time. Motability said that was fine. DH, I and her care staff are all insured to drive her car.

Her main needs are her severe epilepsy, learning disability (she functions somewhere between 18 months and 4 years old) and challenging behaviour.

Perhaps, some these armchair experts, who think they can prescribe what car she needs, could tell us what her main requirements in a car are, apart from it’s ability to get from A - B? We do at least 640 miles a month, motorway driving to bring her home and then there’s driving her around here for haircuts, eye tests, buying clothes, food, etc? She can’t drive or use public transport.

Yes my son transfers to PIP next year he will never have the capacity yo drive, so my dh will remain the named driver and still be able yo drive to either etc as it will always benefit my son to have a roof over his head.

I would think it quite likely that someone has at some point been misinformed by the DVLA. Based on my own experience dealing with other beurocratic agencies.

So this thread is an eye opener for me. I’ve been called amongst other things a nasty, vile, ableist, nazi loving, user name changing, reform voting, daily mail reading, thread leaving martyr for asking, if in order to support UK manufacturing with jobs and UK taxation revenue, motability cars should be UK manufactured ones.

My question was not premeditated or designed to wind people up, but rather in response to me reading an article in yesterdays Saturdays Times about potential reform of the motability system by RR which had me wondering how could the scheme be funded differently to allow those who need vehicles to continue to benefit from the system.

I am also keen to see UK manufacturing given a boost - potentially AI proof well paid jobs for the next generation of tax payers.

Never once did I say there shouldn’t be a motability car scheme.

My use of the word ‘perk’ upset many people which was not my intention. ‘Perk’ is a word used by my family member who is in receipt of a motability car. I will tell them that is not appropriate and inflammatory.

My ND brain looks at things from a more black/white perspective than a NT and I don’t have advanced language skills, but this doesn’t stop me from having credible (in my opinion) ideas that are worth considering, however what is clear to me today, on reflection, it is a more emotive subject than I had anticipated.

FWIW, for those people (and there are many on here) who require expensive, self funded modifications every 3-5 years, the current system is clearly not fit for purpose and therefore they should welcome reform of the system. It cannot be right that they have to find £10-15k every 3 years to have cars modified again and again. They should receive fully funded modifications.

Also, my concerns about how such schemes will be funded long term is clearly not a view shared by the majority on this site. Personal entitlement is high regardless of the state of UK gov finances.

If she went with that idea then maybe it’s needs to extend to the insurance company used etc

I am also keen to see UK manufacturing given a boost

If UK manufacturing can't make what people want at a price they can afford, then it can fuck right off.

I am old enough to remember the absolute shite pumped out by UK manufacturing when it had to be subsidised the first time.

We are not economists, but as accountants, DH and I have spent 45 years looking at the tax system.

We are not worried about how this country is going to afford disability benefits, and especially Motability cars; what bothers us far more is tax evasion, loopholes and inconsistencies in the law.

As parents of someone with a life threatening condition, we do not want to be told her car is a perk. I have three ND immediate relatives, ADHD and autistic traits, and none of them show such little empathy.

We also don’t want the faux concern from others, who don’t understand the system, that we should be grateful they want to restrict our decisions on how to spend DD’s benefits, when they have no conception of what she needs; because the truth is they are jealous of anything she gets, to make her life a tiny bit easier; and they want a bigger share of the cake for themselves.

Would all those posters like it, if they had a heart attack, and the rest of us, said they are not to have any treatment from the NHS, because it’s our money and why should it be wasted on them? They should have looked after themselves better. The education system and the NHS are just as much benefits as disability benefits?

disability benefits, and especially Motability cars; what bothers us far more is tax evasion, loopholes and inconsistencies in the law.

what loop holes and inconsistencies are you referring to out of interest @BlueandWhitePorcelain ?

The education system and the NHS are just as much benefits as disability benefits?

So is the state pension.

Hm. I phoned Direct Line as my husband is in a similar situation work wise and they just changed the policy to add his business use. The motability people didn't know anything about what you could and couldnt for and they told me to phone Direct Line. They asked plenty of questions and then approved it. Otherwise we were going to have to buy another car.

Yes, we have an adult daughter with epilepsy. She lives at home and we have a car in her name, which we drive. The problem is more if they move into independent or supported living as they may put a tracker on the car.

Well if some people had their way,disabled people would be having to use those blue,3 wheeler disability cars that were around years ago. Got to keep disabled people in their place you know.

I can recall the rather unPC name for them. I guess that's due a revival too ?

"Commuting" is the key word. To keep it separate from "business use" and "Social and domestic".

I learned a long time ago to take anything people say (especially in official positions) at face value. If you want the truth, you have to read the truth, not somebodies "what I think it says" version of it.

I drove DDs Motability car all the time, even if she wasn't with me. I was on call 24/7 365 days a year in the event of a medical emergency - and there were too many of those to count. So if DD was at school, holiday club or respite and I was out and about, i would be in her Motability car, so I could get to her if I got an emergency phone call from whichever setting she was at. Imagine if I'd had to leave her car at home and go out on the very infrequent bus, then catch the bus back home to pick her car up before getting to her in an emergency.

Thank goodness the people who made the rules about the Motability scheme have more common sense and empathy than some of the people on this thread!

The basic policy covers you for driving to and from a single place of work. But my husband's new job requires a car to be driven around to people's houses - he then goes in to their house. So this clearly wasn't allowed under the policy. So I called Direct Line and they upgraded the policy. My nephew, who drives around to different schools as a teacher, has a motability car and he did the same. This isn't commuting as such. They asked if my husband was the main earner - he is. I don't know what would happened if I had said no.

Absolutely they expect you to use it ass a family car despite what people on here think you should use it as
It makes no sense to have a separate car .for all other journeys unless you can afford it .
When we got my sons second cat the dealership even said enjoy your car

The rules are there to ensure people are properly ensured, and to ensure that the disabled person the car is to benefit, is indeed the one benefiting from it.

It's not meant to make life harder - I used to use mine to commute to jobs in various difference places, when I went out to peoples homes to work. That was fine, it was pre-agreed with Motability and the insurer, even though it wasn't the standard use. We no longer need that agreement because I no longer work outside the house.