Wheelchairs

sunnyone

You get new powerchairs every five years unless yours perminantly breaks down or becomes unsuitable but they rarely agree it unsuitable in under 5 years.

Crash tested wheelchairs cost more and if you drive from wheelchair your not insured unless you have a crash tested one, by using motability for a car you cant get HP from them for a crash tested wheelchair either so it just another way of keeping us down.

The powerchair Ive chosen for my next one has a powertilt, dont get a manual tilt because you probably wont be strong enough to use it, Im not.

Im insured with fish but be aware you cant get breakdown coverage further than local to your home and I had my one and only breakdown a hundred miles from home when the lead came out of my controler and flames shot out of it, Im so please that I was with my family who pushed me back to the car with the motors disconnected.

Ask as many questions as you have got because you need as much information to formulate a list of questions and other things to make sure you choose the right powerchair, Im not the only powerchair user on D&D but I think Im the only NHS powerchair user that has mentioned they have their powerchairs provided by the NHS.

saving_pennies

formaldehyde_perfume wrote: »

I have my wheelchair assessment at my 'local' big hospital tomorrow, it's at the rehabilitation centre and I'm really nervous now I've read the rest of this thread. There's no way I could use a manual chair as my arms are just too weak, and I could dislocate a joint at any point. Seems like there's no point going really.

Oh, I'm sorry my posts have added to your nerves - that certainly wasn't my intention. No one can force you to go tomorrow, but I strongly encourage you to try. I know you are worried that you won't get what you need, but if you don't go then you certainly won't get what you need (I hope this comment hasn't upset you further). Try to remember the positive aspects of my posts: within a relatively short time of them saying all they could give me was a manual chair, I managed to get a second assessment and now will get a power chair.

Is anyone going with you? At the second assessment I had a carer who knew me very well. I'm sure this helped as it was a second person backing up my needs. It's important to give them as much information as you can so they get a full picture of your mobility difficulties. I would really stress that your arms are weak and they dislocate. one criteria for a powerchair in my area is that the person can not self propel a manual wheelchair. I assume you have been using a scooter as you can't use a manual chair?

I know it is easier said than done, but try to think positively. My experience is just one experience of many people.

I'll pop in tomorrow to see how you are and what happened.

take good care

sunnyone

formaldehyde_perfume wrote: »

I have my wheelchair assessment at my 'local' big hospital tomorrow, it's at the rehabilitation centre and I'm really nervous now I've read the rest of this thread. There's no way I could use a manual chair as my arms are just too weak, and I could dislocate a joint at any point. Seems like there's no point going really.

Go and you will be better off than most because you know what you want, why you want it and you want both a powerchair and manual, they say no and you can fight it but take the manual anyway for now and post after your assessment.

Good luck.

saving_pennies

Thanks for answering my questions.

sunnyone wrote: »

Crash tested wheelchairs cost more and if you drive from wheelchair your not insured unless you have a crash tested one, by using motability for a car you cant get HP from them for a crash tested wheelchair either so it just another way of keeping us down.

oh, Why do they make life more difficult for us!! Seems I need to look into this more. I won't let this little issue stop me feeling happy that I'm moving forward at last.

When I get the paperwork I will ask if the tilt is power or manual. I am pretty sure he got the picture today that I don't have strength or energy to do what others might find relatively simple tasks.

I've heard of fish insurance. Sorry about your breakdown. Clearly the breakdown people think that disabled people can't travel outside there local town.

Good to know I can ask away. It is good to talk to someone who has a powerchair provided by NHS as I guess there is different rules for people who use the voucher scheme. And obviously if it is outside the NHS then the choices will be much greater.

sunnyone

It was very scary when my breakdown occured because I cant stand or walk at all and my arms/hands arnt much cop either so that my first reaction which was to leave the chair ASAP I couldnt do alone :eek:

I mentioned power or manual tilt becusae the time to bring it up is before it is ordered, you cant just get a powerchair and reject it on the NHS because you didnt pick the right one and thats how it should be because they cost a fortune so the more homework you can do first the happier you will be when you get it.

I've asked for clearance to change the headrest for a crash tested one on my chair for now on the understanding that I take on the risk of travelling in my none crash tested powerchair upon myself, as most people who travel in wheelchairs dont use crash tested ones but if there was an accident I wouldnt be able to claim in the same way as I would in a crash tested wheelchair if the accident wasnt my fault but I dont have a motability car and if I did I would want it in writting that they would allow this.

sunnyone

skcollobcat10 wrote: »

I don't know whether you have a partner who works or if you are on your own but I will let you know what happened to me.

I asked to swop my motability car for a WAV.

My husband works, therefore charge for the cheapest vehicle from motability:

£11,000 advanced payment and 5 years of motability money, this equals £25,000 every 5 years.

If you live alone or your partner does not work:

£200 advanced payment and 5 years of motability money, this saves you £10,800.

I did neither because I feel motability are penalising my husband because he works, and we would get no help with the £11,000 advanced payment every 5 years. I bought a WAV vehicle from a specialist dealer who actually bought a vehicle straight from the motability auction and gave me a choice of 4 vehicles to choose from. This is a lot, lot cheaper my vehicle had 237 miles on the clock and had all the warrenties on conversion.

If you could get possibly a loan from your bank, you could use your motability money to pay for it instead and then it would be yours to own outright when you finish paying for it. You can also extend the warrenties for the conversion too.

Im thinking of following you, will you post the details of the car you bought or should I pm you?

saving_pennies

Hello Sunnyone

It was very scary when my breakdown occured because I cant stand or walk at all and my arms/hands arnt much cop either so that my first reaction which was to leave the chair ASAP I couldnt do alone :eek:

I can really understand how scary that is. I am glad your family were there to help you.

I'm not 100% sure of process but I know he will write to me and then I have to do driving test, so I think after he has written to me I will pose several questions including if the tilt is power or manual. Do you know if it is normal part of process to test me in a couple chairs to see which is best?

Re crash tested powerchairs - so a non disabled person will travel in a car seat which has safety features and tested in case of a crash, but people in wheelchairs, who might not have a choice but to travel from the wheelchair have to take the risk of not being in a crash tested chair. Hmmmm. I wonder what the difference in cost is. I think I'll ask motability how people how have a nhs chair get around this in terms of the motability insurance.

saving_pennies

Hello skcollobcat,

I am single, living alone and have no savings. The advance payments for WAV are steep. Apparently there is a grant department that can help.

My husband works, therefore charge for the cheapest vehicle from motability:

£11,000 advanced payment and 5 years of motability money, this equals £25,000 every 5 years.

If you live alone or your partner does not work:

£200 advanced payment and 5 years of motability money, this saves you £10,800.

This is a huge difference! I'm not surprised you felt penalised. Not sure how they can justify the huge gap. Being single with no money, it would be great if the £200 one still existed (no one from motability has mentioned it to me) but at the same time I am disgusted at how big the gap is. Ok, so someone is working but I think many would still struggle to find that amount of money.

I'm not sure how motability grants depart works but I will be investigating. I assume grants will be limited and may only cover part the cost, but everything helps.

I would be surprised if Mr Bank man would give me a loan, when I asked last year he wasn't impressed with my finances and said no. Not sure if others on benefits have difficulty getting bank loans.

But you managed to get a nearly new WAV with less than 300 miles - that sounds like a good buy. Prior to getting my current motability car I took to option of using my DLA mobility money to pay for the finance for a car I brought. So maybe one option is to get a second hand WAV on finance, as long as the repayments were no more than the DLA mobility component.

formaldehyde_perfume

Had my assessment today, long story that I'll write about later as I'm tired and a bit low because of some other stuff. I think a nap will help.

Chorlie

You really need to go to the Mobility Roadshow, it has everything you're looking for in one place.


There are several companies out there selling second hand adapted vans (just a case of find the right one for your needs)


http://www.mobilitynationwide.co.uk/

http://www.mobilitydisabled.co.uk/products-page-wheelchair-accessable-vehicles


I'm glad to hear you're getting your chair sorted out.