Luxury cars removed from the motability scheme

[AutumnLeavesandKnittedJumpers]

https://news.sky.com/story/luxury-cars-removed-from-motability-scheme-ahead-of-budget-13475029

too little too late. As a full time worker I can’t afford to run a car, let alone a luxury car. Motability should be a standard car - available in automatic and manual, an option for wheelchair users, and that’s it.

It's really not that difficult to understand is it?

Firstly Motability is a charity that leases cars to people in receipt of the higher rate of PIP. That PIP, £77 a week, is paid directly to Motability to fund the car, the insurance and the maintenance. Many, but not all, of those on PIP would not be able to lease a car as they don't work, or have poor credit. The scheme gets PIP directly from the government, eliminating credit risk.

Secondly the disabled are exempt from paying VAT, so cars purchased by Motability are exempt from VAT, making the lease and maintenance cost lower.

So, to reduce the number of Motability cars you either tighten the qualifying criteria for higher rate PIP, or remove the VAT exemption. Removing the VAT exemption from the disabled would mean that crutches, scooters and wheelchairs would cost more. Adaptions to buildings would cost more. Maybe the Government could carve cars out of that if they haven't been adapted, but they chose not to do that. Probably because they, like you, don't understand how Motability works :)

Yes but most cars do not pay any road tax at all because they are “new” cars.

Insurance is included but as a motability user I forfeit my no claims bonus, you do not collect no claims bonuses on the scheme. So if I ever left the scheme my insurance would be far higher than if I never joined in the first place.

There are absolute benefits to the scheme, I’m not denying that at all, but I cannot understand why people begrudge disabled people this. It’s just jealousy and bitterness.

Yes, god forbid a family with a disabled child want to make their lives easier.

You can’t get a motability car for anxiety because you cannot get higher level mobility for anxiety, it is quite easy to see what qualifies for the levels of PIP and DLA. If you have a quick google you’ll see that you have to show you can’t walk/move more than 20m even with an aid or be able to do so safely.

Yes - A lot of “you are so stupid you don’t even understand how Motability works” on here except less polite than that.

I don’t object to PIP at all. I object to the lack of means testing. The luxury car issue is just an example of it in action.

Most things on your list are already means tested, as they should be.

In what way is having a child with a disability convenient? Are you upset that you’re children don’t have a disability?

I don’t see why they shouldn’t have the option of the luxury version of cars if the are putting the higher advance forward themselves.
not everyone’s pip disability is skint and a lot of people of it work so if it helps them to live a somewhat normal
life whats the problem. ??

as for benefit bashing,im not on nor have I ever been on any type of benefit but nor am I disabled.

I am lucky and grateful that I am able bodied enough to work and live a normal life.

so what if they want a nicer car?

it’s like saying yes you are failed and need a vehicle to help you but you can only have a certain type.

all the people kicking off,if any of you have ever had any sort of tax relief or child benefit or anything alike then you wernt told what to spend your money on were you?

aim the hate at the people that really don’t need it,but don’t tar everyone with the and brush guys ffs

Plenty of people don't understand it at all. It also doesn't just involve PIP.

Most of those things aren't means tested. Not in the UK

The difference between leasing a car and a motability car is one is from a business looking to make a profit and one is from a charity.

Now you could set up a charity and run it let's say you call it the petty jealous leasing scheme and you too could get a car from a charity instead of a business.

Go on you know you want to.

@LupaMoonhowl
So should the “very simple principle “ be that disabled people should not receive any support related to their disability?
As for the snide remark @sneezo about “ in the real world” - are disabled people not real?
I can assure you that my disabled daughter is very real and very much enjoys being able to access the world via her Motability leased WAV with the insurance paid for (ps insurance is often free for the disabled).
She doesn’t care if I am in poverty because she cannot understand money but she can understand going out in the car to visit places that interest her.
She doesn’t care if I’m better off than you or less well off because I’ve had to greatly reduce what I do for a living to accommodate her - thankfully the government notices the impact of people like her and people like me and provide DLA.
I pity your lives if you ever end up disabled or your partner or child/ren do. You might regret feeling like you do now and be very grateful, as I am, that some funding exists to help her live a life.

Would you like to swap? You can have my Motability car but your child has to have my child's disability.

Didn't think so.

For the second time.....Those payments go into the up front cost. People who get the mobility component of PIp get what they get. They can do what they like with it.

Heaven forbid someone with a disability has (gasp) their own money and (double gasp) the audacity to spend it on whatever they damn well please without (triple gasp) asking po-faced smug able-bodied people to give permission first.

For some reason my reply to the was deleted. For the avoidance of doubt, I am not funded by anyone, least of all DWP. I have no idea where you got that from. Please enlighten me...

I am not and have never been in receipt of any benefits, including PIP. I have paid plenty of tax in my time and, shock horror, do not resent some of that being spent on the disabled.

I am entertained though by the thought that because I defend the disabled I am a low income worker 😂😂

3 of the 5 aren't means tested are they? Health care, SRP, education.

The Daily Express quotes that more than 20,000 Scots have Motability cars for depression, anxiety or substance abuse.

I think it is a great scheme, but the benefit drawn from VAT exemptions need to be capped (to pay for luxury branding NOT for modifications or features that demonstrably assist the scheme member) at a reasonable level. This reminds me of the debate on council housing - yes it isn't 'subsidised' but it is something available at a rate that most cant access. Same as these cars. No one reasonable denies the entitlement to use PIP towards a car. But there is a limit to what is reasonable to most people. And yes, use your own money to get something better, but it shouldn't attract VAT relief.

I understand that this is a beautiful story for the Mail et al. It is great at winding people up by dropping in half truths. But public perception is important, particularly as a time when we are paying a record amount of tax, which if budget speculation is to be believed is only going one way. The press aren't completely lying and there is some semblance of truth in the headlines.

I haven’t read every reply but I wanted to add my POV as the parent of a disabled 10 year old child. My son gets High rate care and mobility DLA. The mobility is a god send for us with regards to our son accessing public spaces. It old vehicle was unroadworthy for it’s MOT and we went without a vehicle for some time as we just couldn’t afford to replace it with something more suitable. Our biggest fear was breaking down with him anywhere, let alone on a motorway. He is autistic and has no safety/danger awareness. Being able to use his mobility element of his DLA award for a car to keep him safe, has made a huge difference to his quality of life. In addition to being able to travel around safely we needed something with a big enough boot to carry us mobility buggy, which is big and heavy. We are also a family of 5, so being able to choose something suitable we do not forget is a luxury. The vehicle we. Hose was electric but by no means one of the higher end luxury brands, but still a lovely care nonetheless.

The. Motability scheme is the biggest leasing scheme in the UK. This should not be overlooked. Secondly Motability use any profits to benefit many charities and provide grants for those that need adaptations etc. it’s not just as simple as ‘there giving away free cars!’ It’s far more complex. The recipients of the benefits would still get the benefit, even if they can’t lease a car or any other. This does cost the taxpayer by way of less VAT being paid to benefit disabled road users and their families. So yet again instead of looking at the actual reason for tax not being paid, the fingers is being pointed at disabled people. Let’s not target these huge corporate ions that aren’t paying millions in tax…oh no, let’s point the finger at disabled people. Man alive. The hoops you’ve to jump through to even prove eligibility for these benefits is enough to make anyone weep. They are not just giving cars away.

As for being able to get a car on the scheme that has a high advance payment, I do agree it’s a bit of a grey area. But at the end of the day if someone has saved or been gifted money to get a car that suits their needs and is comfortable enough for them to travel in, it makes no difference if they get a tiny cheap car or a big luxury car. In some cases some of these will be the only thing suitable, some of the mobility vans are way more expensive than the luxury end cars and an AP is still due and calculated as the luxury cars are 🤷🏻‍♀️

This is the problem with people that take whatever is reported in the media as gospel, and just run with it.

Does the government pay the insurance? I thought it was paid for by the charity from their profits/investments?

Also, this -> Now you could set up a charity and run it let's say you call it the petty jealous leasing scheme, and you too could get a car from a charity instead of a business.

Although given that parents also should not be entitled to anything extra because they apparently are not working, I'm not sure who would benefit from this charity. Disabled people are out, parents are out, I assume unemployed people would also not be welcome, which leaves OP, pretty much. A GoFundMe might be more appropriate.

Apologies for the typing errors…I’m not illiterate, I just have fat fingers and clearly an inability to check before posting 🤦🏻‍♀️

Yep.

If you need a WAV, you have to pay a huge advanced payment and it absolutely isn't a 'luxury'.

Motability is just about the only way you can get the necessary adjustments done to cars to make them suitable for some people to drive - posters on this thread have already commented on this.

This move is for the optics. It won't save any money to restrict disabled people's choices as they were paying the extra for the 'luxury' cars themselves anyway. This is just about appeasing the baying benefit bashers who are stirred to a flurry of protest if they see someone with something nice they imagine they deserve less than they themselves do. I suppose if it quietens the whingers and gets them off the backs of disabled people it will have achieved something.