Motability car pro's and cons. enhanced PIP

camber993

I get enhanced rate mobility component of PIP, and so I'm considering the car lease option.

Is it a good thing? Keen to hear of others experiences.

Do you have to choose from their list of new cars only, or can you perhaps choose a nearly new/used car for example, to maybe have less impact on the deduction from PIP? 
Is the option to buy at the end favourable?

Chloe_Scope

Hi @camber993, I have always the lease option and have found it so helpful. There was a list of cars that we could pick from or pay a bit towards it to get extras or more advance models of that car. Unfortunately I am unsure if there is the option to buy it as I have always changed. I hope this is helpful!

wilko

Hello and welcome, if you choose to use the mobility scheme then every main car dealership will have a person to help you decide on choseing the best, right car for your needs. You can have two named drivers on the insurance. Remember everything is inclued except the fuel. Whereas if you buy private you can still have leased car or use your pup award money to finance a car, but you still have to insure, take out brakedown cover, service bills, puncture repairs, replacements. All those, these costs are covered using the mobility scheme. You also have to remember at your next review you may lose the full mobility award and the car. For me I already had a car so I have my two daughters on the insurance boot mobility scooter fits in plus still takes three adults in the rear seats or three adults on holiday to Cornwall. Financially I reckon I am better off keeping my car. 

OverlyAnxious

Motability only covers a brand new car.  The upside is that you get a brand new car that's suitable for your needs, shouldn't break down leaving you stranded and it gets maintained, taxed and insured completely hassle free (you just have to put fuel in it!).  The downside is that you could lose the car with very little warning if your PIP decision changes at review, you don't get NCB on the insurance so if you've currently got a lot of NCB and do lose the car and have to buy another then you will have to start again at 0 NCB.  You also have to pay an extra deposit for some cars if you choose a model that is large, well specced or automatic for example.

Alternatively, you can use your mobility allowance to cover the cost of a used car instead of the motability scheme.  You won't lose that car if the PIP decision changes in future but obviously you have to tax, insure and maintain the vehicle yourself and there is a higher chance of breakdowns as the vehicle gets older.  Depending on your circumstances/savings you may also not be able to afford a car that meets your needs.

I don't qualify for Motability sadly, as I would really benefit from the scheme myself.  However my Nan qualified and had a mobility car for around 5 years.  She had no problems at all with the scheme in that time.

KG100

I've had a motability car for just over 2 years now, and my parents had one for over 20 years.
They're really easy to lease and they explain everything to you at the car show rooms. 
The bad thing about it now though of course is that they're easy to lose if we lose our enhanced payments of DLA or PIP.
I did hear of someone who bought a small campervan a few years a go, they applied through motability and had the tax taken off the purchase price. 
It was a story I read in an old disabled magazine. 

KG100

We still have to pay excess payments when making insurance claims though, I had the windscreen crack this year and had to pay £50 towards it, but it was fixed without any hassle or problems. 

Connie00

I have a mobility car, all I pay for is Petrol, when it needs any work done or a service they will come and pick the car up from my home, it gives me complete peace of mind.

 

The way I see it is that I never had the enhanced rate before so I wouldn’t miss the money, I needed a car that would take my wheelchair and scooter, so yes we had to pay an up front cost but we dealt with that buy selling my other motor. It does give me Peace of mind. my condition is not likely to get better in fact my mobility will decrease more so, I am not really worried about losing PIP

CockneyRebel

There seems to be an increase in mobility awards being lowered at reveiw and thus the loss of a car.

In some circumstances you might be allowed to retain the use of the vehicle for a while if going to appeal. If you do win your appeal then the "grace" period has to be paid for. If you go from no award to enhanced then the backdated payment should cover this ammount. On the other hand if you receive a standard award and then win your tribunal, you will have to find the difference ie the money you paid as standard rate.

Do you cover sufficient milage to justify a shiney chariot ?

Do you require special adaptations ?

If you only use a car occasionally then perhaps buying a second hand car will suit you. As has been said, you will be responsible for the upkeep and maintainance, whether you are able to do this varies with each individual.

I am fortunate in that I have been a mechanic and am able to take care of maintainance etc.

My mileage is limited so an older car meets my needs, along with a good breakdown service that brings me home if the worst happens.

With carefull reasearch, I haven't paid more than £500 for any car, which, if it lasts for a year makes it cost effective to scrap and replace. One of my cars I have had for 6 years now with only the annual MOT and insurance etc to pay

It really is a matter for each individual to decide what suits their circumstance the best

justm3x

Hi

I've had mobility car's for 13 years ( waiting for PIP outcome, so could lose it soon) and its so much easier knowing tax, insurance, service is all sorted for you.. 

Connie00

Hello @CockneyRebel
that's great you doing that if you can, yes you are correct it depends on how much you use it my car is used everyday, and its the difference between going out and not going out, it is of course a matter of choice. and yes some people could have the car taken back. so you need to think carefully about it, for me it was a no braina,
needed something to get the electric wheelchair in.

pcoventry

I can't get it as I was 2 points short but before I gave up work my job was to collect motability cars from people and deliver them to the dealers who purchased them from Auction. I would say this - it's a great scheme but take care of it - the amount of cars I have had to get where they had been vandalised due to a stopped allowance letter - we were driving back over 700 cars a week! some I had to get the Police to help with - one was even fire bombed as I was driving it away!

Most do look after it - some don't . but the one thing I said to them last week at a meeting was that they should allow people like me on Standard to have a car and pay the extra - my own car costs me double a month what a Motab car would - and with no chance of losing my enchanted allowance there would be no need to get the car early - which would save them a headache. 

On the whole the system is abused, which is really off. Being given a 19 plate car to then just abuse it is not on - and I never once in my 5 years doing it saw Motability charge anyone for the damage on the car when they sent it back 

pcoventry

justm3x said:

Hi

I've had mobility car's for 13 years ( waiting for PIP outcome, so could lose it soon) and its so much easier knowing tax, insurance, service is all sorted for you.. 

And breakdown (RAC response disabled cover), tyres, windscreen - it's basically a just add fuel service.  Its fantastic I agree 

exdvr

Hi @camber993......I'm now onto my 4th Motability car having had a Vauxhall Zafira, Kia Cee'd, Skoda Yeti, and now a Citroen Multispace.  All good reliable automatic estates with my latest one having a hoist fitted for my scooter and still returns 50+ mpg on diesel. The cost over the 3 year lease period is however considerable......say £10000 in PIP benefits, the Advance Payment, plus the cost of fuel at 24000 miles (my figures) over the period..  I reckon that the weekly cost is over £80, which is a lot to pay for peace of mind.  I still have 2 years before the lease comes up for renewal but I'll be 73 by then and don't really know what to do when that time comes.

All I can really suggest is that you think long and hard about whether Motability is right for you and that you make an ultimately good choice.

Sco76

Hi. There are many pro's and con's to having a motability car and it really depends on your personal situation and the family members around you. I care for my wife who has had 2 cars through the scheme, the first was great as she was at university and needed a suitable vehicle to transport her as my my old rover 416 was so low it was like sitting on a skateboard so we went with a 13 plate yeti. It was the base model and had no adaptions, it was a good car and a pleasure to drive and over 3 years we drove 15,500 miles. The car was swapped for the newer model  with a slightly higher spec as it had no advance payment. Then my wife's health took a turn and depression and anxiety caused her to spend more time at home until she had become housebound, I too suffered with a small mental breakdown and decided I needed to go back to work. Unfortunately there's not many employers flexible enough to work around caring roles so I opted for delivering pizza for a local takeaway and this is where issues can start. With my old car I could just start straight away but a motability car can't be used delivery unless it is the claimants employment. That means I need to increase the household vehicle count to 2 with only 1 driver. Its great if you can still drive yourself but when you rely on others (and they need to be fairly close) it can become a bit of a bind. I opted for a motorcycle as I love them and used to ride as a younger man (could be considered a middle aged crisis but I needed to work) that's when the car became a drag on the finances. I would use the car for trips to the hospital, pharmacy and grocery shopping and in 3 years my wife attending 3 hospital appointments, when you consider the claimant is paying £62.25 a week from their benefit those 3 trips cost more £1000 each. The car has only traveled 8200 miles in 4 years but has cost similar to a business contract hire @ £269/month. 
We are now swapping the car scheme after 7 years, lockdown pending, for the mobility scooter scheme and some change from the claim. I have bought a second hand car which I can do what I like with and I save £105 per month towards its upkeep and insurance, I'm over 40 so insurance is low even at 0 NCB which I have lost 12 years NCB and they don't warn you you'll loose it either. 
My point is this, before you decide you want a car, check your local transport links, if needed do you have willing drivers close by, how many journeys do you envisage doing in it, if you're considering short journeys would a scooter suit you better, they have good range and are maintained the same as the cars but you wouldn't need to bother someone else to drive it for you and you won't get stuck in traffic jams, won't be looking for disabled bays at the supermarket and you can get enjoyment from being able to go where you want when you want without polluting the environment. 
If you are one of the lucky few to qualify for the enhanced mobility payment you will know that you have far more bad days than good, good days are a premium not to be wasted and if this is the only deciding factor to get a car go ahead, your happiness and mental well-being is what matters most.

mikehughescq

Let’s put a couple of things to bed:

Sco76 said:

If you are one of the lucky few to qualify for the enhanced mobility payment you will know that you have far more bad days than good, good days are a premium not to be wasted and if this is the only deciding factor to get a car go ahead, your happiness and mental well-being is what matters most.

1 - 62% of claimants get at least one component at enhanced rate. There is no “lucky few” here. It’s the majority award according to the quarterly statistics. See page 12. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/873332/pip-statistics-to-january-2020.pdf#page5

2 - almost nobody asks for a specific award length or makes it part of their claim. Most awards are wrongly short and yet can be challenged without putting the rates awarded in question. If you have a deteriorating, degenerative or long-term health condition with no medical review date unless initiated by you then you should be asking for a 10 year award every time. Get that sorted and Motability negatives fall away.

Sco76

My apologies, I should have worded that differently and not called it the luck few. 
I am as stated on the second line the main care giver to my wife so my opinion is from a slightly different perspective, but still relevant, I hope as my life has also been dramatically changed by her condition. My thoughts and the figures that I shared about the pro's and con's of having a motability vehicle are based on my own experiences, where by I personally think that I could have provided a more positive environment for my wife if I had been able to keep a second hand car and release the weekly benefit to provide more excursions as it doesn't need to cost £62.25/week to keep a car on the road.   
Also, I am a little confused about your mention of claim length, I didn't specify anything on the length of the claim itself as that's private and confidential. 
And lastly, could I draw your attention to the last part ' if this is the only deciding factor to get a car go ahead, your happiness and mental well-being is what matters most.' I'm not trying to dissuade anyone from joining the scheme, it was purely MY pro's & con's based on my experience.
I hope this clarifies things. 

woodbine

We have a friend who had a motability car when on DLA, she only used it to go shopping once a week and the doctors as and when, worked out she could use taxis send the car back and be £50+ better off per week. As for pros and cons you have to work out how much use you would get out of a car, if you would use it on a regular basis then its a great scheme, if it would only be for occasional journeys then better to have the money.

mikehughescq

Sco76 said:

Also, I am a little confused about your mention of claim length, I didn't specify anything on the length of the claim itself as that's private and confidential. 
And lastly, could I draw your attention to the last part ' if this is the only deciding factor to get a car go ahead, your happiness and mental well-being is what matters most.' I'm not trying to dissuade anyone from joining the scheme, it was purely MY pro's & con's based on my experience.
I hope this clarifies things. 

I mentioned claim length because there’s a minimum award length needed to buy and similar to lease so, for many people, there’s no decision to be made between buy or lease. It’s determined by the award length; their anxiety over that etc.

However, ask for and justify a 10 year award; get a 10 year award and there’s no hard decision to be made re: Motability you can buy or lease knowing that if you do the latter there will be little threat to PIP at the end of the initial or even second lease period. 

Sco76

My personal opinion (considering my wife's particular circumstances) I would still go with leasing a scooter and buying an old car, but that's all it is, my opinion.

mikehughescq

Indeed. As has been said, it’s a personal choice.