Motability and grant for car help please

devizes18193

cymrubaby wrote: »

Hi there, we looked at the galaxy but as all our children need car seats (4 kids) plus seats for myself and husband that's 6 seats already taken up leaving one spare seat in the boot and no room even when folded down. We'd have to put our three youngest children in middle row of seats (all in baby seats) and our eldest in the fold down seat at the rear on a booster seat. I really can't see how it would work but I can see why you suggested it because they are generally very roomy cars.

My local taxi frim have started using reanult Traffic people carriers. walked pass 1 the other day 3 rows of 3 and penty room in the back . Might be better then some .

earthmother

cymrubaby wrote: »

Hi there, we looked at the galaxy but as all our children need car seats (4 kids) plus seats for myself and husband that's 6 seats already taken up leaving one spare seat in the boot and no room even when folded down. We'd have to put our three youngest children in middle row of seats (all in baby seats) and our eldest in the fold down seat at the rear on a booster seat. I really can't see how it would work but I can see why you suggested it because they are generally very roomy cars.

Hi - that's ok, as I said, different bits of kit take up different shaped spaces, so what works for one, won't always work for another. We have 3 kids in car seats - as you say, they go across the middle, then the 6th person sits in the back. We get hubbys wheelchair (Fortuna 1400 if the measurements help at all) and a stroller in the remaining space, or if I wiggle things, I can get a Britax Ultra in instead of the stroller (although I admittedly don't have shopping space then).

davsidipp

hi thanatos are you still workimg for dla

sendeaq

Hi, I've not posted on here before, just found you and i'm sooooo glad that I did!:j

I recieve the higher rate of mobility. I'm in need of a new car, I had more surgery done on New Years Eve and my surgeon said that I can start driving again yesterday. I've been thinking about the motability sceme for ages now but just didn't know how to go about sorting it out. I don't have much money, certainly not the amount needed for a down payment, my problem is that I have 5 children and a husband so a 7 seater is a must, the only problem is that with a standard 7 seater I have no room for equiptment, I don't need much room for this but my daughter is also disabled and i do need to take her needs into account too. I hadn't realised that there was a posibility of a grant for the down payment, this was the reason that I haven't done it before as the down payments are huge for the kind of vehicle that I require. I just feel bad asking for a grant as they are so expensive.

Anyway, thanks for all you help and advice, its a great thread.:T

colin13

sendeaq wrote: »

Hi, I've not posted on here before, just found you and i'm sooooo glad that I did!:j

I recieve the higher rate of mobility. I'm in need of a new car, I had more surgery done on New Years Eve and my surgeon said that I can start driving again yesterday. I've been thinking about the motability sceme for ages now but just didn't know how to go about sorting it out. I don't have much money, certainly not the amount needed for a down payment, my problem is that I have 5 children and a husband so a 7 seater is a must, the only problem is that with a standard 7 seater I have no room for equiptment, I don't need much room for this but my daughter is also disabled and i do need to take her needs into account too. I hadn't realised that there was a posibility of a grant for the down payment, this was the reason that I haven't done it before as the down payments are huge for the kind of vehicle that I require. I just feel bad asking for a grant as they are so expensive.

Anyway, thanks for all you help and advice, its a great thread.:T

good luck with this hope u get a sutiable car u require and with help from the grant scheme a small advance payment

carrbuck

Hi,
I applied for a motability grant as I could not afford the advance payment I was told that I had to go to look at specific cars that they had chosen, you cannot have just what you want. When you go to look at the cars a mobility adviser will assess your needs and tell the charity if the car is ok or not for you. This I did as well as filling in a long application form. I was also told that if I was given the grant after the Charity had reveiwed my claim I would have to pay the first £200 myself and that they can now only give up to £700 per applicant as there are so many people applying. There is also up to a months waiting time just for a decision, so you are stuck for quite a while and may still be turned down. I have had to extend the lease on my present car until I get an answer and can then go and order my new vehicle. Don't know if this info will help you at all.

ivyleaf

Pete268 wrote: »

Just thought I would mention this as a lot of War Pensioners are not aware of this grant.

Regards

Peter

My husband gets WPMS and and has to have an automatic, and he certainly wasn't aware of this! Thanks very much, Pete!

angecull31

Tally-Ho wrote: »

Thanks anyway. I rang Motability this afternoon and unfortunately the £660 grant towards automatic cars is for war pensioners only. Now, I am not having a dig here, and war pensioners probably thoroughly deserve it, but it does seem a little discriminatory for want of a better word, that there is not an equivalent non means tested grant for DLA people who need an automatic car, particularly as when on DLA we have to pay a higher deposit/advanced payment on the scheme than the war pensioners anyway. Oh well back to plan B! Tally

I agree that the people who recieve WPMS thoroughly deserve it but at the same time I know what it is like to need a car with Automatic Transmision as my back and leg were badly affected after a car crash.

I currently have a Peugeot 1007 which has triptronic gears (no clutch and with paddle shift gears) but I have however just taken out a new contract for a car which I will get on the 1st March and was delighted to discover that there are certain adaptations that can be added into your car to make it easier for a disabled driver. I will be getting (for free) a device that can fit onto either your brake or accelerator or both together to enable you to drive your car without having to worry about the pedals (obviously perfect if it is your right leg that you have problems with).

I don't do the same amount of miles as I once did and as a result it doesn't matter as much this time around if I have a clutch or not but the fact that the automatics are so much more expensive than manuals means in effect that there is, to a certain degree, discrimination for the disabled driver! This was the entire reason that I decided to go with a manual this time around. It would have been so much better for my health to go with an automatic but I simply couldn't have afforded it!!!

Something should be done about this and as a last resort could possibly be taken to the Court of Human Rights if it affected you to that kind of degree. Somebody always needs to be the first and it would then open the floodgates for everyone else to appeal. Go for it!

Pete268

angecull31 wrote: »

I agree that the people who recieve WPMS thoroughly deserve it but at the same time I know what it is like to need a car with Automatic Transmision as my back and leg were badly affected after a car crash.

I currently have a Peugeot 1007 which has triptronic gears (no clutch and with paddle shift gears) but I have however just taken out a new contract for a car which I will get on the 1st March and was delighted to discover that there are certain adaptations that can be added into your car to make it easier for a disabled driver. I will be getting (for free) a device that can fit onto either your brake or accelerator or both together to enable you to drive your car without having to worry about the pedals (obviously perfect if it is your right leg that you have problems with).

I don't do the same amount of miles as I once did and as a result it doesn't matter as much this time around if I have a clutch or not but the fact that the automatics are so much more expensive than manuals means in effect that there is, to a certain degree, discrimination for the disabled driver! This was the entire reason that I decided to go with a manual this time around. It would have been so much better for my health to go with an automatic but I simply couldn't have afforded it!!!

Something should be done about this and as a last resort could possibly be taken to the Court of Human Rights if it affected you to that kind of degree. Somebody always needs to be the first and it would then open the floodgates for everyone else to appeal. Go for it!

Hi,

Just something to note re this War Pensioners Mobility Supplement Automatic car grant and whether a similar grant should be also available to those on DLA.

Well, the government did do something about this situation, they abolished the War Pensioners Mobility Supplement (and the War Pension Scheme!) for those injured in HM Forces on or after 5th April 2005.

There is a new scheme to replace the War Pension Scheme (called the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme) but it pays no mobility or other supplements like the War Pension scheme did and servicemen/women injured with mobility problems since April 2005 have to claim DLA mobility instead.

So,although current WPMS recipients can carry on receiving WPMS and claim the automatic car grant if needed, in effect WPMS receipients (and ultimately War Pensioners) are a 'dying breed' and over time the anomaly of receiving the grant for an automatic car will also die with them. Hence the government can say they have 'righted' the anomaly (took the cheaper option is my view).

Regards

Peter

justlikethat_2

I have spent the last six months or so in 'discussion' with motability about our families needs. We need a larger vehicle with space for one wheelchair passenger and four others including the driver.

Something like a basic transporter would suit us fine, we applied and were awarded a grant which was enough to cover one of the models offered by a couple of their approved converters. But when we looked closely at what was in offer it turned out to be far from ideal.

• wheelchair ramp was from the rear meaning no luggage or shopping space unless you boxed the wheelchair in!
• the wheelchair user was in a space behind all the other passengers, sorry but I don't like to treat my daughter as luggage.
• there was no option to transfer wheelchair user to a normal car seat once in the vehicle which for my daughter I believe is much safer and more comfortable (our journey to hospital is over 100 miles return).

There was one side entry transporter available on the scheme but as it uses a hydraulic underfloor lift it costs £4500 more! We could manage with a simple side ramp but these are not available, why is this? Well it seems that every conversion type has to undergo A1 testing and this costs each company around £20,000 to £30,000. So for this reason they are naturally keen to limit the number of different conversions they do to keep costs down (and profits up).

You can get a transporter with removable side ramps if you pay for it privately but then you cannot use the grant awarded to you by motability (which by the way is the only organisation used by the DWP to disburse their funds for disabled people who require adapted vehicles).

To cut a long story short we are now no closer to getting the vehicle we need. It seems providing family WAV's is not one of motabilitys priorities.