AIBU to feel horrified at the number of Motability vehicles being provided?

[DawnRaiderNight]

Just read this in the Telegraph about what the Americans think of our welfare spending:

“It also shocks Americans to learn that almost one in every five new cars sold in Britain is provided through Motability, the taxpayer-backed car scheme. The equivalent in the United States would be every Chevy, GMC, Buick and Cadillac sold through welfare. Or every Ford”

One of my friend’s daughters, aged 27, who has never worked, has several children with various diagnoses and is a single parent recently received a top of the range car, got to choose the colour and was given a ‘big reveal’ at the garage when she collected it. She has now been given a new four bedroomed detached house, something my own hardworking children could never manage.

Something is very, very wrong in this country.

I think you've been had there OP!

Apart from the £80 a week they pay out of their benefits plus possibly a advanced payment which they don't get back

So who is paying for the petrol, that goes in the car? Is it free? The car is not free either, it has to be paid for monthly, out of the PIP allowance.

What do you deem to be an amazing car? Do you mean because it is new?

They often aren’t “very” disabled in such a negative way. One of the two I know lives very happily and very normally. Her condition prevents her driving so she gets a car which her perfectly able boyfriend drives as her carer.

The second is young, has ASD and wealthy parents. No job or college.

It’s not jealousy, it’s about a system that makes no sense. Neither of these people need a brand new car with all the associated benefits ( financial and practical) more than anyone else.

You only know what you see. Are you privy to her medical records, and what was on her PIP form? Thought not.
Someone can be eligible for a car, and not able to drive.

You only see disabled people out and about and being "happy", but not when they are in pain at home.

It's exactly about jealousy. People who get Motability cars pay for it - and it's a hefty monthly payout. At the end of the period, they don't own the car, and don't have the option of buying it - unlike someone on a PCP.

If someone needs a carer and can't drive, they're clearly not living a normal life.

Newsflash - it's not fair that people suffer from conditions and disabilities that impact their ability to function in our society due to the inbuilt systemic discrimination that is barely addressed by "inclusive" policies which are often tick box exercises and unenforced.

Some people who utilise this scheme will actually be able to do work because of said scheme. Those who cannot work may desperately want to but are stymied by workplace disadvantage. Not to mention the generally dire state of employment impacting various age demographics.

If you want to talk about fairness, we could discuss the biggest wealth transfer upwards in recent history which started during Covid, when disaster capitalism was fully leveraged at the expense of the general populous to service dodgy dealings in PPE for a start. And the trend continues. End stage neoliberal capitalism is an exercise in economic sleight of hand which depends on destabilisation of successive previously comfortable or managing groups and pointing the finger at those with demonstrably less advantage by pointing out the few crumbs they are offered rather than the wealthy who are hoovering out your pantry with impunity.

People are falling for it in every direction out of fear. But people accessing Motability are not a threat in any way. Billionaires with dodgy eugenicist and transhumanist ideologies on the other hand... well, if I may resort to cliche.... "do your own research".

Yes. You walk into a showroom of any car make you fancy from Mercedes to Renault and pick. How can it be right that PiP gets an 17 year old get a £30k car?

You think someone isn't very disabled and lives very normally when someone else has to drive for them?

You failed the sniff test. You can't get a Mercedes on PIP.

Some people who utilise this scheme will actually be able to do work because of said scheme
Even you’ve said “some”. And if they can great. But still why a brand new car? Why can’t Pip pay the lease on a normal car.

What is a "normal car"?

DM used to lease cars.. nowt to do with PIP. She could only lease new cars.

Except that isn't true. You have to pick from a list of cars and no, not any car you fancy is on the list.

Mercedes aren't available as an example. You also often need to pay extra with many cars with an advanced payment. Not many cars exist which only require the PIP/DLA payment.

I don’t think it quite works like that. People still have to pay weekly for the car out of their disability benefits so have hundreds of pounds less per month then if they don’t have the car. Also the more expensive ‘flashier’ cars can require a non-refundable deposit that costs thousands of pounds that the claimants must fund themselves.

My mistake. Mercedes and others were taken out if the scheme last year. So yeah , clearly I’m not the only one who thought the scheme was wrong.

What benefit was there to removing Mercedes from the scheme?

To keep those jealous of people with disabilities happy probably.

Didn't affect them whatsoever.
The way some of them talk, you would think they were expecting a tax rebate in the post.

Which people can do? It's not compulsory for people to use their pip money on the motability scheme

You don’t get enhanced rate PIP just because you can’t drive.

Someone’s wealth or their parents’ wealth has nothing to do with their PIP eligibility. PIP eligibility isn’t based on whether someone works or not.

I explained why motability doesn’t use older cars earlier in the thread. It would cost motabiltiy more in maintenance costs and the resale value would be lower.

The vehicles aren’t free to run unless you can point me to where I can get* *free petrol/diesel/electric.

DS1’s vehicle had a 5 figure advanced payment. That was the cheapest vehicle that could meet his needs. It most certainly wasn’t ‘free’.

Even if the person wasn’t getting a motabiltiy vehicle, they would still be receiving the mobility component of their disability benefit (e.g. PIP/DLA).

I didn't have an issue with it personally. Cars like Mercedes required huge advanced payments from the persons own money.

Okay but looking at some of the more expensive cars on the scheme, if you chose one of those on motability it would mean-

-Non-refundable advanced payment of £6-8K

-then paying £350 a month (entirety of mobility benefits that you would otherwise have as money) to lease that car
-then at the end of the three years you do NOT own the car and hand it back

Sorry with all that taken into account it’s hardly walking into a showroom and being ‘given whatever you want for free’

Some people wouldn't be happy until people needing a Motability vehicle could only have a 40 year old 2CV with rust on every panel.

The jealousy of the disabled on this thread is disgusting.

Yep, and it wont affect them one jot anyway.