Motability and grant for car help please

cymrubaby

Hi everyone.

We currently have a car with motability and we've had to cancel our contract early to find a more suitable car. We're still driving the first one til we can find another.

The reason we're looking for another is because we're due our fourth child in March and they'll all be in carseats. I can't go for a bog-standard 7-seater as most of them have the extra seats in the boot and then the boot space is effectively nil. We need something big, with at least six seats plus a lot of boot space for a double buggy and wheelchair. I have an able-bodied 6 yr old, my 19 month old is fine too and it's my 4 yr old who is disabled. He's absolutely miniscule and so he still fits in a double buggy with my 19 month old. I'll be buying a buggy pod for the 19 month old to sit in when the baby comes and it attaches to the side of the double buggy.

We have a Focus at the moment which is OK but a bit snug and definitely won't fit our family soon.

My question is: Are full grants available for the down-payment you have to provide for the biggers cars? We've already looked at a Fiat Scudo and the down payment is £4321 which is competely unreachable for us. We're also looking at VW Transporters but I'm sure the deposit will be much the same or higher.

I know there are grants available but I don't know whether they provide full or part grants. It's means-tested and my husband earns around £16,000 a year plus my Carer's Allowance and Child Tax Credit.

Has anyone successfully applied for a grant?

Many thanks,
Emma.

Pete268

Hi,

Although I haven't had need of a grant myself, I know a few people that have had them. Basically Motability will only give a grant for the cheapest vehicle that meets your needs (which may not be the vehicle you would have chosen). For example a friend really wanted a Ford C-Max Diesel Powershift Titanium but Motability would only give a grant towards a much cheaper petrol Zetec automatic Focus as that met their needs.

Anyway, usually you would be asked to make some form of contribution to the car, usually a minimum of around £250, but that does really depend on your circumstances and income etc. All you can really do is ask Motability and see what they will offer you.
Regards

Peter

mazza111

You propose that the other children use the bus? How do you propose the children get on the bus? By themselves?

Think mom might only be able to drive one car with all her kids in it at one time.

I know i couldn't fit 4 child seats in my car, 2 in back and 1 in front is the max i would get. By your working it, one child should need to use a bus because he's not disabled?


Sorry am totally gobsmacked at that response. A larger car is so obviously needed here, try fitting a double buggy in a normal car along with a wheelchair and see how you get on. Or she could always get the 6yr old to take the 19month old on the bus... *sarcasm*

elizabethsmum2008

Hi, we had a citroen C4 Grand Picasso, which is a 7 seater, but when i gave birth to my daughter recently, i had a problem as i couldnt fit all the family in and a double buggy and her K Walker, Having spoken to Motability who i have to say were brilliant, they suggested a Ford Galaxy, and that we could apply for a grant for the deposit, which we did and received in full apart from the £250 we had to pay. They are very helpful!! Also the person making nasty comments should try looking after a family which includes a disabled child to experience life before making idiot comments. good luck for the future

arcalis

He/she is just posting as they see it. They are not nasty comments per say, just their opinion.
This grant system highlights the slight unfairness within the scheme. Bear in mind i'm not getting at anyone here.
Emmas decision to have a fourth child may allow her to recieve a £4000 grant but speaking from experience if you are a full time wheelchair user and are lucky enough to get patnered with an assistance dog which can increase your independence, these circumstances are not enough for you hand the car in early let alone recieve a grant to enable you to get a car with more boot space. (Like guide dogs they must travel in boot for insurance purposes.) It would have only cost £600 extra to get the estate version.

Hope it all works out for you ok.

trollseeker

People, do not waste your good time or breath on PolishBigSpender. She trolls the forums causing nothing but trouble. She is rude and can be very cruel. Unfortunately, both this board and the benefits board are her favourite haunts for some reason.

She has nothing nice to say either to or about anyone and she especially likes to pick people up on their bad spelling, punctuation, grammar etc. All rather bizarre really.

Do like 90% of the members of this site have done and add her to your 'ignore' list on your User Control Panel.

I did this some time ago so I have no idea as to what she has posted on here but I can tell from the tone of your repiles she is doing what she does best - winding people up for no good reason.

Adi!s mis amigos

Lentilsforteaagain

Getting back on track from PBS ... I just wanted to say that I'm really pleased to find this thread - I was thinking of starting the same one myself.

We have 5 children, the youngest will be 4 next month and is a wheelchair user. I heard about a year ago that we could get a grant to cover the advance payment onamotability vehicle and phoned to find out more. The lady I spoke to said it was means tested and should be given if on income support or JSA. We're on tax credits, hb, c/tax b but none of those are on the list so she said they would take it into consideration but it's certainly not guaranteed that we'd get any help.

We discussed it and decided against applying because if we get the grant this time, but don't get it next time (5 years down the line I think?) we'll be without ANY transport whereas now, we do at least have some.

However, things have changed a little since then becuase he's getting harder to lift around (even though he's absolutely tiny and only 25lbs but is a floppy, difficult to lift weight) and will need to transport his powered wheelchair to and from school each day from September. We now realise that a WAV will be a necessity so really do need to apply.

It's good to hear positive stories, particularly for the larger vehicles as we'll have 6 people plus the little one in his wheelchair to transport. Has anyone been turned down? How long does it usually take to go through the process fromapplying until actually gettingthe vehicle?

Any advice much appreciated
PS: Pay no attention to our Polish "friend" ... a well-know troll it seems

mazza111

Lentilsforteaagain, i can't offer any advice, just to wish you Good Luck.

I'm sorry I went off on a rant but people like that get my back up when they have no clue. Maybe I have no clue either, but I certainly know about trying to fit car seats into cars, along with buggies and wheelchairs (disabled parents)

But anyhoo, i'm not gonna rant again. Just posted to wish you Good Luck :beer:

Lentilsforteaagain

You don't need to apologise for ranting ... trolls do drive people mad, their intention I suppose (what a boring life she/he must lead!). It's so sad though that they do it on a disability board though, and the benefits one seems a favourite too - usually in response to someone who really needs some advice. Can they not just be banned from the MSE forum?

Thanks for the good luck btw

Paparika

Lentilsforteaagain wrote: »

You don't need to apologise for ranting ... trolls do drive people mad, their intention I suppose (what a boring life she/he must lead!). It's so sad though that they do it on a disability board though, and the benefits one seems a favourite too - usually in response to someone who really needs some advice. Can they not just be banned from the MSE forum?

Thanks for the good luck btw

Yeah its the report button, who wants to press it, now now no pushing :rotfl::rotfl:

arcalis

mazza111 wrote: »

arcalis, I think we all know that the system isn't great, that doesn't help Emma sort things out. I don't think an estate would work for emma given the amount of car seats she has to fit in the car.

I wasn't suggesting she go for an estate, with 4 kids in carseats its obvious she needs an MPV, i was just highlighting the silly rules of the grant system if you need more room. Don't get me started on their unfair automatics policy, infact i think i burst a blood vessel at the mere mention of motability.

i'm sure they'll be able to sort out her difficulties though.