Car Lease Outside of Motability

OverlyAnxious

Does anyone lease a car on PIP/ESA outside of Motability?

I've had a nightmare with cars recently.  I need a very specific type of car due to my conditions but don't qualify for Motability.

I was wondering if there was any way I could contact 'someone' within PIP (no idea who!) to explain my situation and get something in writing allowing me to lease a car using some of my daily living PIP without it being classed as deprivation?

My car is my only means of transport as I cannot use any form of public transport, taxis or lifts.  Even in my own car I can only cover short distances on smooth roads on good days and at certain times.  I need a car that I can use reliably to get to the supermarket as well as medical places in order to have any chance of treatment in future.  On top of the physical stomach problems and vertigo that I experience in moving vehicles, I am also agoraphobic and could not cope with a vehicle breakdown (and especially not a ride in a recovery truck).  Plus I suffer from severe contamination OCD, especially around bodily fluids, making any used vehicle very difficult to deal with.  They all seem to have been used to transport leaky pets and children unless I'm just very unlucky with used purchases!   

I have had many used cars over the years due to financial restriction which have never really been helpful, and in many cases made things worse due to a rough ride or a lack of mechanical reliability.  Since receiving PIP I've been exploring various options including outright purchase of nearly new vehicles (and realising people on short leases don't care about them), and financing a brand new vehicle which looked ideal on paper but has turned out not to be smooth enough for me to even get a couple of miles to the supermarket - I will lose a considerable amount of money on this one which I am extremely frustrated by.  So it seems my only option left is to try leasing, but I don't want to find out after a few months that it isn't allowed and then end up back at square 1 again, as well as having to pay back money spent on a lease.

I am also unable to use telephones so need to be able to email whoever it is that has enough to power to confirm these things.

Thanks

janer1967

Hi there 

That is a difficult one and not sure of the answer . To lease through non disabled route I would imagine isn't going to be easy as at the end of the lease it may not be easy for them to sell on 

You could try to email a car dealership to ask some advice 

OverlyAnxious

woodbine said:

You can spend you PIP as you want and it wouldn't be seen a deprivation of capital, which is a whole different conversation. The only problem I can see is that PIP is never gauranteed to continue like many other benefits. I have seen some really good lease deals for new electric cars.

Yes, I am aware of the risk of losing PIP.  That was the main reason behind just buying what I could afford outright from my backpay but sadly it hasn't worked out.  I would only take a short lease, with the intention of either extending, or leasing the same make/model again, once I've been reassessed and have a bit more security, assuming my award continues.

Although it's PIP income, it would still be classed as savings for the ESA if it wasn't used.  So bearing in mind it would be around £200 a month, I think it would take some justifying that there's no hidden agenda behind doing that.  Maybe I'm overthinking this though!! 

66Mustang

Sorry to hear that the car was no good I can imagine it’s really frustrating.

I know it’s easier said than done but at this point have you thought about forgetting about cars etc. and putting all your money and time into working on directly addressing your issues rather than a temporary solution that accommodates those issues but makes them no better, if that makes sense. 

I’m just thinking it seems the only constant is your issues and they are getting in the way of everything, so rather than looking for ways to accommodate the OCD and other issues, work to tackle them head on and get rid of them once and for all.

I’m sure there must be a doctor who could give you therapy via email or electronically, if you are willing to pay anything is possible I guess. But again we are accommodating the issues here(!) so maybe need to find a doctor who could work on getting you able to use the phone or see someone in person, as a gateway to further treatment. 

Sorry if you already thought of this and it’s really basic, I know this is far easier said than done but this is just how I am thinking about it. I hope it makes a bit of sense!

Just some random thoughts that may or may not help! 

Adrian_Scope

Hi @OverlyAnxious. As @woodbine mentions, it’s only an issue of deprivation once it becomes savings/capital. The fact it could have been savings/capital if you hadn’t spent it is irrelevant. 
What you choose to spend your monthly money on is your own business. 

OverlyAnxious

66Mustang said:

Sorry to hear that the car was no good I can imagine it’s really frustrating.

I know it’s easier said than done but at this point have you thought about forgetting about cars etc. and putting all your money and time into working on directly addressing your issues rather than a temporary solution that accommodates those issues but makes them no better, if that makes sense. 

I’m just thinking it seems the only constant is your issues and they are getting in the way of everything, so rather than looking for ways to accommodate the OCD and other issues, work to tackle them head on and get rid of them once and for all.

I’m sure there must be a doctor who could give you therapy via email or electronically, if you are willing to pay anything is possible I guess. But again we are accommodating the issues here(!) so maybe need to find a doctor who could work on getting you able to use the phone or see someone in person, as a gateway to further treatment. 

Sorry if you already thought of this and it’s really basic, I know this is far easier said than done but this is just how I am thinking about it. I hope it makes a bit of sense!

Just some random thoughts that may or may not help! 

It is incredibly frustrating.  I would gladly pay for some help but there isn't currently a service that covers someone in my position.  Each place only does one thing so everywhere I've asked can't do anything because of my combination of issues.  The constant is the stomach & bowel problems which have worsened considerably since 2018, without any particular reason to have done so.

I can't bend or lift or lean or lay down at home without triggering stomach, bowels or both...it has to be a physical problem surely.  Same with driving, even when I could get out more I had to be so careful about any rough roads etc because it only takes a tiny bit of movement to cause a physical upset.  Even trying to speak causes 'exertion' on my stomach which creates nausea & reflux.  Obviously it gets worse in anxious situations but it's a constant problem even when I'm not in an anxious situation.

At the end of the day, any therapist will just say the same thing essentially...'go out more, stay out longer'...I know the tools of CBT/ERP, but I'm unable to use them because of the physical issues. However I have no chance of ever being able to have physical diagnosis, let alone any treatment for the physical issues, so will continue to just go round in circles until an 'all encompassing' health service becomes available that can make a tailored plan for the order in which things could be tackled in a manageable way.

I know I haven't done myself any favours with this screenname, but I really don't believe anxiety is my most debilitating issue.  Yet it's the one everyone seems to latch on to, on here, family members, and health professionals.  I was managing the OCD, anxiety and agoraphobia for years and still able to do some (admittedly limited) things.  I'm now at the point where I can't really do anything even in my own home, let alone trying to do anything outside of home.

Maybe I'm just massively in denial about the anxiety and it is having a bigger impact than I think, but I genuinely believe that a reduction in anxiety alone wouldn't allow me to do any more physically than I can do at the moment. 

Adrian_Scope

I know it's slightly off-topic but you've raised a really interesting and valid point here @OverlyAnxious. 

OverlyAnxious said:

I know I haven't done myself any favours with this screenname, but I really don't believe anxiety is my most debilitating issue.  Yet it's the one everyone seems to latch on to, on here, family members, and health professionals.  I was managing the OCD, anxiety and agoraphobia for years and still able to do some (admittedly limited) things.  I'm now at the point where I can't really do anything even in my own home, let alone trying to do anything outside of home.

My partner went for years with an undiagnosed heart condition because any time she raised the problems she was having it was dismissed as just being related to her anxiety. Obviously some of these things can be related and certainly in her case, her anxiety exacerbated her heart condition and other symptoms, but as we eventually found it, the anxiety wasn't the cause. So I'm really sorry if you feel that we've done the same thing to you.
Equally, it is important to remember how powerful the mind is and the impact of anxiety shouldn't be minimised, my understanding is that it can have all sorts of physical manifestations and the way anxiety is portrayed in the media and on TV can be very misleading.

Have you ever spoken to a professional about the stomach/bowel issues you're experiencing? 

OverlyAnxious

Adrian_Scope said:

I know it's slightly off-topic but you've raised a really interesting and valid point here @OverlyAnxious. 

OverlyAnxious said:

I know I haven't done myself any favours with this screenname, but I really don't believe anxiety is my most debilitating issue.  Yet it's the one everyone seems to latch on to, on here, family members, and health professionals.  I was managing the OCD, anxiety and agoraphobia for years and still able to do some (admittedly limited) things.  I'm now at the point where I can't really do anything even in my own home, let alone trying to do anything outside of home.

My partner went for years with an undiagnosed heart condition because any time she raised the problems she was having it was dismissed as just being related to her anxiety. Obviously some of these things can be related and certainly in her case, her anxiety exacerbated her heart condition and other symptoms, but as we eventually found it, the anxiety wasn't the cause. So I'm really sorry if you feel that we've done the same thing to you.
Equally, it is important to remember how powerful the mind is and the impact of anxiety shouldn't be minimised, my understanding is that it can have all sorts of physical manifestations and the way anxiety is portrayed in the media and on TV can be very misleading.

Have you ever spoken to a professional about the stomach/bowel issues you're experiencing? 

I've asked GP's about it a few times but they all just want to prescribe an SSRI for anxiety...  Common side effects of SSRIs include stomach & bowel issues though.  I've tried to reach a point where I could risk it but even short term I couldn't cope with them being any worse right now.  Eventually I got my GP to suggest something else, but then he just prescribed an antacid.  The problem isn't excess acid though, if anything I'd say it's possibly too little acid!  But the main issue is that nothing seems to stay where it should. I was told it's just weak stomach muscle and would be like that permanently now*.  If that's the case I'd rather just go than have to try and get through the rest of life without bending, laying, driving, etc.  

(*In order to get through a school day I used to have awful diahorrea every morning, then not be able to eat or drink for the rest of the day until I got home in the evening - I fully expected stomach issues, teeth problems, kidney stones etc but wasn't intending to finish school, let alone still have to be here at nearly 30!  I'm still in no better to position to cope with bodies or medical stuff now.)

I've also seen 2 dieticians (one private, one NHS) - but again, they ignored the main problems and just focussed on my low weight and tried to increase my calorie intake.  I mean, I might be able to put on weight if I could stop going to the loo and feeling nauseous all the time...    Seriously though, I was able to maintain my weight, despite the OCD fears (around food making me ill), up until 2018 when the physical issues got worse.  They in turn made the OCD worse so my diet is now much more restricted than it was back then and I'm now losing weight which I can't afford to lose.

The private one did say that it's not really her area, and sounds like a 'medical' problem that would need alternative diagnosis.  But I don't know what sort of specialist I'd need to ask...  I can't get to a surgery or hospital, I couldn't get inside, I couldn't be in close proximity with a person, I couldn't have any physical tests done, and if I was to need any treatment, wouldn't be able to deal with that either.  So then it seems futile asking, knowing I couldn't follow through even if there was a solution.

realestate

You can spend it as you want, but the only problem is  that PIP is never guaranteed to continue like many other benefits. Maybe you should learn mora about this on google or can visit my https://www.leaseholdvaluations.com/making-alterations-to-a-leasehold-property/. I hope can solve all your douts.

realestate

I don't know what to say but maybe you could try to email a car dealership to ask some advice