Mobility Car Rules - is this genuine?

bestpud

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

I meant, "I wouldnt bother as your views are sound but are being devalued by a few radicals that aren't worth reasoning/argueing with"

or "point made, with which I agree, now let the rest dilute it"


Or "I agree, why bother typing any more";)

Ah right! Ok, I was being thick then!

I'm surprised this discussion is still on this board tbh, especially as the OP seems to have disappeared.

KellyWelly

elektra-2007 wrote: »

They Are Prob Doing It Because If They Use There Allowance On 2 Cars They Will Be Able To Claim Full Housing/ct/ect Other Benefits Otherwise The Money Is Classed As An Income. Some People Just Have It Cushy

Do you even know what you are talking about?

DLA is not counted as income whether you use your allowance to lease a car or not and it doesn't automatically entitle you to other benefits either. You can't get HB or CTB or IS because you get DLA. Some people on DLA might also qualify for those benefits but not because they are get DLA.

This is one of the most spiteful threads on the whole board. How can any of you be jealous of a person who is so ill or disabled that they qualify for DLA? If you knew just how hard up you had to be to qualify for it you wouldn't say they had it 'cushy'.

And what difference does it make to you that somebody's husband used their motability vehicle? You can't buy a tax disc for a motability car, that's the system and not the individual so getting up in arms that somebody is driving a car with a disabled tax disc on it is pointless, complain to your MP.

And what would you have them do anyway - have two discs so that when the disabled driver is using the car they display the subsidised one and then when the able bodies driver used it they'd switch it out?

This is a money saving forum, not a grass-on-your-neighbour forum or a forum for petty jealous people to complain that Mr Jones has it better and I don't like it.

You try getting hit by a car and being impaled against a concrete barrier on the M4 and having your legs cut off and your shoulder ligaments torn whilst being rescued and living in constant pain for the subsequent ten years. Then you can !!!!! about your neighbour driving a PAID FOR motability vehicle. Cushty. !!!!!!.

zzzLazyDaisy

elektra-2007 wrote: »

They Are Prob Doing It Because If They Use There Allowance On 2 Cars They Will Be Able To Claim Full Housing/ct/ect Other Benefits Otherwise The Money Is Classed As An Income. Some People Just Have It Cushy

Please get your facts right before spouting such nonsense. DLA is not counted as income for means tested benefits as it is paid to help with the needs of the disabled person.

tomstickland

Sherrie wrote: »

I really think that some people need to get a life,

You might well think that, but people hear stories that sound suspiciously like abuse of a system, and become curious. You can stand in front of me shouting "get a life" if you want, but I'm curious now after some stories I was told the other day. It's alright, I'm not jumping to any conclusions or believing the stories outright. I'll start with just wanting to know how the system works.

I've had a look at the motability website and it appears that a new car every 3 years with insurance, tax, breakdown, servicing etc can be had for a weekly rental charge of around £47. So that's £2,444 pa, or £7,332 each 3 years.

From their website, 1in 14 of new cars sold in the Uk go via Motability, so it's a large operation.

Motability Operations is a profit making company. So I guess it just works on an economy of scale.

I did some google work and found:

The relationships within the scheme have been subject to criticism in the media, although official investigations have found such criticisms to be without basis. The problem may have been a lack of transparency, but generally the scheme is found to work well and approach optimality.

Also:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/1999/jan/19/disability.guardiansocietysupplement1

zzzLazyDaisy

tomstickland wrote: »

You might well think that, but people hear stories that sound suspiciously like abuse of a system, and become curious. You can stand in front of me shouting "get a life" if you want, but I'm curious now after some stories I was told the other day. It's alright, I'm not jumping to any conclusions or believing the stories outright. I'll start with just wanting to know how the system works.

I've had a look at the motability website and it appears that a new car every 3 years with insurance, tax, breakdown, servicing etc can be had for a weekly rental charge of around £47. So that's £2,444 pa, or £7,332 each 3 years.

From their website, 1in 14 of new cars sold in the Uk go via Motability, so it's a large operation.

Motability Operations is a profit making company. So I guess it just works on an economy of scale.

I did some google work and found:


Also:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/1999/jan/19/disability.guardiansocietysupplement1

Remember that for certain cars you have to pay an additional up-front charge as well as the monthly rental, and also all adaptations to the vehicle have to be paid for by the disabled person, so the over-all cost often works out a quite a bit more than £7332 over three years.

I am entitled to a motability car, but it wasn't worth it for me as I was able to buy a decent reliable car privately. However my friend who is on means tested benefits has no chance of ever buying a decent car as she can't get credit, so a Motability car is her only way of ensuring she has a reliable car - if you are disabled you simply cannot risk driving a banger that might breakdown and leave you stranded.

KellyWelly

tomstickland wrote: »

You might well think that, but people hear stories that sound suspiciously like abuse of a system, and become curious. You can stand in front of me shouting "get a life" if you want, but I'm curious now after some stories I was told the other day. It's alright, I'm not jumping to any conclusions or believing the stories outright. I'll start with just wanting to know how the system works.

I've had a look at the motability website and it appears that a new car every 3 years with insurance, tax, breakdown, servicing etc can be had for a weekly rental charge of around £47. So that's £2,444 pa, or £7,332 each 3 years.

From their website, 1in 14 of new cars sold in the Uk go via Motability, so it's a large operation.

Motability Operations is a profit making company. So I guess it just works on an economy of scale.

It's not only the £47 a week though, most of the cars require a hefty down-payment that the individual pays up front and does not get back. Motability then sell on the cars at auction once the lease ends.

The down-payment or 'advance payment' can be anything from £50 to more than £56K for a wheelchair adapted vehicle. Motability make a profit on all the vehicles they lease, afaik. For example, currently they offer a Fiat Panda for no advance payment, over 3 years at the current rate of DLA taking £7332 from the person leasing. The car is only £7005 otr at RRP. Motability will then sell the car on with the low mileage as Motability car drivers are restricted to 45,000 miles over the 3 years, and from my experience of buying them, Motability cars carry a premium at auction because they have been looked after and for the most part not used as much as other cars of a similar age.

I personally think Motability have tapped into a very lucrative market and mostly will be leasing cars to people who think they are getting a good deal - whereas I think most of their customers would be better off going elsewhere for a vehicle and for the most part are getting ripped off. The only benefit I can see in them is that through them you can get cars with adaptations that you are hard pressed to get mainstream insurance companies to take on.

skintas_2

my next door neighbour has a mobility car for his mum, he does drive her shopping once a week, than he uses it as a illegal cab , i see him touting with it

Sugarfree_Babe

Pssst wrote: »

The motorbility scheme gets ripped off about as much as the Blue badge parking scheme so i could well believe it!

Only in this country are we so generous.


Lets examine the concept. Someone has a disability therefore the taxpayer buys them a nice new car...I dont understand.

Let us put it this way. Someone has a child and the taxpayer i.e. me, pays them child benefit. Why?

Furthermore, disabled people, even the poorest have to pay for care. It is exactly the same as expecting parents to hand over their child benefit to the council to pay for their education.

I do not have children but have spent my whole life paying for other peoples. If the Govt gave me back this tax, I would not need any disability benefits - I would be rich !

You are a sad, spiteful and venial lot. Get a life

bestpud

KellyWelly wrote: »

It's not only the £47 a week though, most of the cars require a hefty down-payment that the individual pays up front and does not get back. Motability then sell on the cars at auction once the lease ends.

The down-payment or 'advance payment' can be anything from £50 to more than £56K for a wheelchair adapted vehicle. Motability make a profit on all the vehicles they lease, afaik. For example, currently they offer a Fiat Panda for no advance payment, over 3 years at the current rate of DLA taking £7332 from the person leasing. The car is only £7005 otr at RRP. Motability will then sell the car on with the low mileage as Motability car drivers are restricted to 45,000 miles over the 3 years, and from my experience of buying them, Motability cars carry a premium at auction because they have been looked after and for the most part not used as much as other cars of a similar age.

I personally think Motability have tapped into a very lucrative market and mostly will be leasing cars to people who think they are getting a good deal - whereas I think most of their customers would be better off going elsewhere for a vehicle and for the most part are getting ripped off. The only benefit I can see in them is that through them you can get cars with adaptations that you are hard pressed to get mainstream insurance companies to take on.

While I agree they make money from it (it's obviously a business), you are not comparing like with like by saying the panda can be bought for that price.

True, if bought, the owner would have a car but when you factor in that the mobility scheme includes insurance and servicing...

I'm really not sure why people feel those who ask questions about such things are automatically out to bash people with disabilities? Why so defensive?

I'm outta here anyway as this doesn't seem to be going anywhere but down!

KellyWelly

Well that was why I pointed out that the price on the Panda was the RRP. Frankly, anyone who walks into Fiat and pays that price is a born idiot because as we all know, when buying a brand new car you never pay the RRP and you always get free servicing/free insurance or some other freebie thrown in to sweeten the deal.

And if you figure in the price of the servicing and the cost of the fleet insurance Motability will still be making a profit due to the advance payment and the resale value after the 3 years.

And maybe people are getting defensive because they are being brought into question over claiming a sum of money they are perfectly entitled to because of great difficulties in their life. A lot of disabled people find it impossible to use public transport and cannot walk or cycle and would be permanently housebound without a reliable car to get out and about. And the DLA money won't just go on transport, it will be spent on things like personal care provided by a carer or very expensive specialist equipment and aids which make their lives a little bit easier.

I find it sad that people get so upset that Jo Bloggs might be getting a few quid more than. I imagine if you ask the same person if they would support doing away with the welfare system to save them a few hundred a month (or probably even less) but they would have to beg or starve if they fell on hard times they'd say no.