Motability payment demands

kathymcanallen

My enhanced rate for mobility was reduced down to standard rate on 05/12/18. I disputed the decision, as the in home assessor frankly lied in her report and reported i can walk unaided over 20 meters. This was totally false. I am a wheelchair user! Anyway, I contacted Motability and told them I was contesting it through the mandatory reconsideration. Today (18.3.19) i received a letter from the DWP stating my enhanced rate has been reinstated. Obviously i was overjoyed at this news and contacted Motability to tell them i would be keeping my car, only to be told that i now owe them almost a thousand pounds! Is this right? Surely its the DWP's responsibility to pay the arrears? I will be in financial mess if i have to pay them this amount of money! The DWP stated they would pay me almost £500 in arrears, but this still leaves me in financial difficulties to pay them. Has anyone ever successfully contested this? Thank you for any advice. 

poppy123456

Hi,

When your mobility was reduced who was paying motability for your car? If you were receiving the standard mobility rate paid to you then yes, this will be correct you will owe motability the extra money.

Johno79

No because you should not have had it reduced. So it should have continued to be paid.. Tell the dwp this and tell them to back date any money you lost out on when they reduce your money  When it should not have. 

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kathymcanallen

Thank you so much for your advice. I will contact DWP tomorrow and hopefully get someone sympathetic to the situation I am now in. I agree that I should never have lost the enhanced rate and only did so because their assessor lied about my ability to walk! I was sat in my wheelchair all the time she was in my house. I agree they aught to pay back the arrears (This is the third time I've had to contest their reports over 6 years!) They have only awarded this enhanced rate this time until Oct 2020! So I won't be able to get another car when my current contract ends in April next year! Why do they do this? My stress levels are making my painful condition much worse! 

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poppy123456

Johno79 said:

No because you should not have had it reduced. So it should have continued to be paid.. Tell the dwp this and tell them to back date any money you lost out on when they reduce your money  When it should not have. 

This is only correct if @kathymcanallen wasn't receiving the standard mobility in with her PIP payments. If she was being paid the standard rate, instead of DWP keeping it and paying motability like they do with Enhanced rate. You can't receive the amount twice.

As my question wasn't answered it's impossible to help further.

CockneyRebel

Simply put, yes you owe the ammount of standard mobility for the period. You received the standard rate into your bank account. Normally your whole award goes to mobility for your car. You have received payment of the standard rate for the period when you lost the enhanced rate. You owe mobility the entire ammount for the period, you have been awarded arrears of the difference between standard and enhanced which now goes toward payment for your car. The short fall is the ammount you were paid for standard rate. This also has to be added to the backdated money to make up the cost of having a car for that period.

kathymcanallen

Thank you all for your advice. I will contact Motability and ask for a payment schedule to be set up. Grateful to everyone for your help. Kathy