Hi, my name is webkevin80!

webkevin80

Hi there!

I'm new to this group and am a full-time carer for my disabled wife.

I was wondering whether anyone can advise me regarding free disabled car tax.

My wife has just been awarded Enhanced Rate Mobility on PIP and we received information on free disabled car tax along with the award letter.

I would be nominated as her main driver as she cannot drive. Apart from driving my wife around to medical appointments etc., I would only use the car for the occasional school run (both children get the bus) if there was a need and filling up with petrol and servicing etc. 

Would this use of the car breach the rules and be classed as "personal use" or would this be deemed as acceptable?

Many thanks to anyone who can advise me.

Kindest regards  

Kevin

Alex_Alumni

Hello and welcome to the community @webkevin80 and thanks for posting on the community today and explaining your query

I'm pleased to hear about your wife's recent PIP award, that must've been a relief for you both. As the rules are written I would say that it would breach the rules, for school runs in this case. But I would also strongly encourage you to contact Motability directly and run through things with them to make sure.

I gather when they talk about not using it for the disabled person's benefit, they mean that the disabled person wouldn't have access to it, which would of course be misuse. See below: 

Do not forget to make sure

• The disabled person uses the car, or it’s used for their benefit
• Only named drivers on your Certificate of Motor Insurance drive the car
• You only have one named driver under the age of 21
• You let us know about any changes that might affect your lease

How you cannot use your car

We take misuse of your car very seriously. This means things like:

• Not using it for the disabled person’s benefit
• You or someone else driving without insurance or while you’re banned
• Using it in a criminal act
• Lending, sub-leasing or selling it
• Using it for business reasons we haven’t agreed with you, like as a taxi or for deliveries
• Not taking good care of it

If we find you’re misusing your car, we might terminate your lease, stop you from getting another Scheme vehicle, and send you the bill for any repairs or estimated loss in its sale value.

If any of that doesn't make sense, please let us know, or if you have any other questions, just ask

If you'd like to have a look at the rest of the forum, you can find all the latest conversations in our recent discussions category, all the different topics in our categories page, and you can meet and chat with other members over in our virtual coffee lounge too.

Alex

Cartini

Hi Kevin,

Alex is correct.  If you look at these two sites (one a Gov and one a disability), they verify what Alex has said.

The government site allows you to download information on a "free" tax disc, the disability site explains it on a page:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ins216-how-to-apply-for-free-disabled-tax 

https://www.disabledmotoring.org/motoring/road-tax-exemption

Andy

poppy123456

This was the issue i had when i was first awarded standard mobility. I could have had 50% reduction in my road tax but because my daughter couldn't use the car unless it was for my purpose, i decided not to use it. I now have Enhanced mobility and use the mobility scheme so my daughter is a named driver but she also has her own car.

webkevin80

Thank you, both Alex and Andy. Getting this award was such a relief and beyond our expectations.

We suspected that school runs, however infrequent,  might breach the rules, but thank you for advising I clarify this further with Motability.

We weren't aware that free disabled tax even existed prior to receiving the information, so won't be disappointed if we can't claim it - we'd rather use the car legally and know we can do school runs if necessary. 

I'll keep you posted on what Motobility advise.

Regards,

Kevin 

poppy123456

webkevin80 said:

We suspected that school runs, however infrequent,  might breach the rules, but thank you for advising I clarify this further with Motability.

Motability will not be able to advise you with the free road tax. They only deal with motability vehicles.

webkevin80

Hi Poppy!

Thank you for your comments. In our case, we live in a rural area and both my children use school buses to travel to their respective school and college. 

I mainly use the car to drive my wife to medical appointments (most of the time she is housebound anyway), but occasionally, particularly during bad weather, may need to do a school run when the buses fail to show or are cancelled at last minute.

To be honest, we weren't aware of this free disabled tax scheme until we received the PIP award letter and would rather not apply than risk breaching the rules, however infrequently they may have occurred.

Regards, 

Kevin

Alex_Alumni

You're very welcome @webkevin80 I look forward to hearing more from you as and when