To think this is a fair change to the Motability scheme...

[BusyBumbling]

BBC News - 'Premium' cars like BMW and Mercedes cut from Motability scheme
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd9znkxq47xo

It's still supporting disabled people with the cost of owning a car whilst also supporting the British car industry. I think public opinion has been listened to on both sides and this seems very sensible.
It may also reduce some of the costs of the grants paid from the scheme which were helping fund the upfront cost for premium cars for poorer claimants.

How would you police this?
Do you really think a household that has a disabled person with a Motability car should have a second car so the mum/wife/whatever can go to the gym?

The whole point of it is to benefit the disabled person that’s why they can use their pip/dla to fund it. It’s part of the conditions.

So yes if the family needs two cars run two cars. Don’t use the car against its lease terms.

And for those folks who work 40+ hours a week just to survive who can't afford a luxury vehicle? What becomes of them? Or do we pretend that they don't exist?

How many times does this scheme have to be explained to you? You are posting in exactly the same style as the poster in the larger mobility thread. Misinformed and perpetuating that misinformation. I smell a bit of a rat.

So you can't have a nice car if you're disabled? Got you. People have to pay a deposit 'You’ll probably need to make a payment upfront if you choose a more expensive vehicle'

The “luxury car requires an advance payment of 8k it’s not free!!” point is a dud one imo. The point of the motability scheme was to allow people who needed a car and had no way of affording one to have one. With the exception of those needed specially adapted vehicles, if you’ve got 8k to put as an advance payment then you can afford to own a car and should be buying an 8k one like everyone else with that budget has to.

No one is “entitled” to a luxury car and people acting like driving a brand spanking new Kia or Hyundai is beneath them is bizarre. Most people never have a brand new vehicle in their lives.

Apple and oranges.
Disabled people lease a car via PIP because they are disabled. It is nothing to do with affording things.

If you want a luxury vehicle, either get a better job, or leap in front of a bus and hope you get HRM when you apply for PIP. The choice is yours.

And carer wellbeing matters! If using the car means the carer can get out the house for an hours self care to prepare themselves for the daily grind of caring then fantastic.

Would you feel the same if you had another adult, 2 or 3 other children, maybe a dog, and perhaps towed a caravan so needed a 7 seater BMW, plus lived on one wage due to having to give up a career to look after a disabled child with 24/7 care needs and couldn’t possibly have afforded to buy and run a second vehicle. In this instance a basic run around wouldn’t have been sufficient as the main family car.

DLA and/or PIP enable families with a disabled family member to access a range of things which provide a far better quality of life for that family member. As you’ll know, very few families and individuals in this situation are living the life of Riley. Means testing would be a futile and expensive exercise because the majority would remain eligible. It would also cause a massive amount of unnecessary stress and worry in an already stressful situation.

There are billionaires not paying their way, with garages full of cars and you choose to rage against a disabled person because they have some extra money to upgrade their disability car.

The rule is the car has to be used to benefit the disabled person.

A carer gong food shopping benefits the disabled person.

A carer going to work benefits the disabled person.

A carer having some time off benefits the disabled person.

careres using these cars to go and spend money in the country benefits the economy.

It can easily be that much for the advanced payment on a WAV, the cheapest advanced payment on a WAV is currently £4,000. Can you show me all these WAVs you can buy for £4-8k?

This in spades.

Charming.

"Just get a better job."

You heard it here first. It's not about affordability, it's because your choice of occupation sucks. You best get back to university and get yourself into even more debt so you can maybe get a higher-paying job. That is the way, apparently.

but to take your own example, a carer being able to get to the gym DOES benefit the person they care for. It benefits their physical and mental health which in turn means that they are able to contibue caring.

I think they also need to assess who is actually eligible as it seems extraordinary that so many people are eligible for the higher rate of mobility PIP to make this problem exist in the first place…!

This. It should be limited to those with the most continuously severe physical disabilities. Not based on worst day, based on a typical day/what most days are like.

90% of motability cars are not adapted - so more likely the car isn’t adapted.

A screenshot I took at the end of September shows the AP for the Audi Q2 ranged from £1599 to £3099, during the same quarter the VW Troc, which is the Q2 equivalent, ranged from £599 to £3999.

So, where is the logic that I should not be able to choose the Audi, but it’s fine to have the VW?

I forgot the example of the man going fishing for hours with his wife’s mobility car. Must really benefit her. Who also drives and is left with no career or car at home.

Anyway I’ll bow out as apparently all and any driving of the car really benefits the disabled person regardless of what it is.

I say that because is a line that gets trotted out all the time on here.

Struggling with bills? Get a better job.
Working full time and get a UC top up? Get a better job.

Evidently you missed the part where I said “with the exception of those needing specially adapted vehicles”

So the family is expected to buy and fund a second car fueling criticism that they already have a car why do they need a mobility car. They are rich enough to be a two car family blah, blah.
A mobility car can be used as a family car.

You're saying it because you're tired of disabled people being dunked on for wanting a taste of luxury.

Many disabled do not have the luxury of getting a better job, that is if they have one.

I am tired of people that are not disabled and have no experience of the benefits system comparing them selves, with green eyes at times, with people that are not on the same level playing field as them.

"With the exception of those needed specially adapted vehicles, if you’ve got 8k to put as an advance payment then you can afford to own a car and should be buying an 8k one like everyone else"

My son has a mobility car and it would be cheaper for him to buy a car but since he lives in supported living and has multiple different drivers, a lot of them young, he needs specialist insurance that only the motability scheme provides. He also has to pay £3 k upfront because he needs a car big enough for 5 adults and a folded wheelchair.