Parent stealing disability benefits from my little sister

poppy12345

The motability vehicle should have been returned when she left to go to Uni, as the car wouldn't have been used for her purpose at that point.

It does sound like she's quite able to manage her own money and her own benefits. She will be able to contact PIP and motability and tell them everything that's happened.

RedMonty

poppy12345 said:

RedMonty said:

About Motability, it should 100% be in her name, ESPECIALLY if she has the ability and desire to learn to drive. I dealt with Motability for a young disabled family member who was 17. (1 year below legal driving age, but disabled can start early.)  Motability were very happy to pay for driving lessons, full insurance, breakdown cover, provide car, pay for an electric charging point to be installed etc for this 17 year old. 

If the mother is her appointee then the vehicle will be in the appointees name and the mother will have had to sign for everything. I know this because i'm my daughters appointee for PIP and we collected her car in April this year and it was me that signed for it and all letters come to me, not my daughter.

Legal driving age for a car is 17. If a person receives either high rate mobility DLA or Enhanced mobility PIP then they can learn to drive at 16. https://www.disabilitydrivinginstructors.com/driving-advice/first-time-drivers/driving-at-16-with-high-rate-mobility-of-pip-dla/

Oops yes that's correct, my family member was 16 when I contacted Motability for her, not 17. 

RedMonty

rajd said:

Thanks for the recent comments. Especially RedMonty for the openness. 

Just to clarify - my sister has asked us for help. She is scared of her mother as when she has asked for her money in the past, she is shouted at. Told it’s her rent contribution or that the money is spent on her. Nothing is behind her back or without her knowledge. Except this thread. 

She has left the home, living in halls and so far doing ok. When she gets overwhelmed, she calls my wife, her sister. 

She doesn’t intend to go home at holidays either. However if she does, she had her fathers or if she goes to her mothers, she is entitled to given the divorce settlement. Worse case scenario she comes to us. She pays her own rent at uni, saves her money and spends it very maturely. She as many of us, didn’t have exposure to paying bills at that age and I totally agree regarding mistakes.

I see it as stealing and financial abuse tbh. So yes, criminal. 

Thanks for the clarification. It does look like your sister is entirely capable of and entitled to having everything rearranged and put in her account / given to her directly. Whether she wants to make a police report or just get the PIP / car sorted out is up to her. Personally I'd focus on security / money / car first, but she may think otherwise. 

If she wants to hold police involvement to a later date, then check time limitations for making a police complaint. 

Given the circumstances, Motability may be able to break the car lease for dishonesty / not being used for the benefit of the disabled person, then rearrange a new car / driving lessons for your sister. Have a chat with them first to get a full understanding of this process / timelines / requirements first (without giving sister's details) before starting down this path. You may find Motability may insist on a police report, which will be something for your sister to think about.

[Edit: Motability take quite a large part of PIP to pay for the car. Your sister may find she would prefer to use the cash for other purposes rather than have a car. Up to her.]

Your sister is likely eligible for other benefits too - eg disabled travelcard, disabled students allowance, possibly Universal Credit, and some others. Hopefully they are going to her, and not into the mother's account. She may also qualify for things like extended exam time, extra 1-2-1 support and disability-aware mentoring in university. The university's disability support unit deals with things like that. 

Sorry this is quite a lot to think about. Your sister or you might benefit from a chat with a local disabiled-led disability support organisation for their advice, have a google for ones that have experience in your sister's specific disability (or a pan-disability one). I much prefer disabled-led support organisations/charities rather than non-disabled-led support organisations - they have a lot more personal experience of situations like your sister's, and are more focussed on supporting independence than on 'curing'. You (plural) might need to try a few before you find one that clicks with you. 

Good luck to your sister and to you! 

Vegastare

Re the car - my friend due to an increase in her disability has become unable to drive herself.

She could I understand have had a friend named as driver of the car, but decided in the end it was best to return it.
However, she does still get some form of mobility payment and she uses this for taxi and payment for petrol for friends or taxi to get her to doctors, hospital and other appts.

poppy12345

For help with driving lessons through motability then you need to be in receipt of a qualifying means tested benefit. As the sister is in Uni they may not be in receipt of any of those benefits.

F70

Does any of the above go against the original PIP claim? 

For example the mother could have lied or exaggerated to get the pip claim in the first place if she was so money obsessed and controlling. 

She may well be more capable than put on the forms thus would have never been entitled in the first place.

rajd

poppy12345 said:

For help with driving lessons through motability then you need to be in receipt of a qualifying means tested benefit. As the sister is in Uni they may not be in receipt of any of those benefits.

No she's not. Although I guess she could apply for JSA during the holidays. But then that's not really being honest. I guess she just pays for them, if there are specialist instructors then that is good. Any support is good, money doesn't solve everything. 

rajd

F70 said:

Does any of the above go against the original PIP claim? 

For example the mother could have lied or exaggerated to get the pip claim in the first place if she was so money obsessed and controlling. 

She may well be more capable than put on the forms thus would have never been entitled in the first place.

No but I see your point. The sister fills out the form herself with help if needed. 
I don't think the mother has done anything to defraud the state, just her daughter. 

poppy12345

rajd said:

poppy12345 said:

For help with driving lessons through motability then you need to be in receipt of a qualifying means tested benefit. As the sister is in Uni they may not be in receipt of any of those benefits.

No she's not. Although I guess she could apply for JSA during the holidays. But then that's not really being honest. I guess she just pays for them, if there are specialist instructors then that is good. Any support is good, money doesn't solve everything. 

She would only be able to claim New style JSA and claiming this depends on Ni contributions in the previous 2 tax years. As a student i wouldn't have expected her to have paid the correct amount, therefore she won't be able to claim this.

Universal Credit can't be claimed by students unless they've already been assessed as having limited capability for work, which wouldn't have happened.

rajd

Ok, yeah that looks like a non-starter then. But it's ok, we never expected lessons to be covered.