Lost my motability car — Scope | Disability forum
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Lost my motability car

Salamka101
Salamka101 Community member Posts: 40 Courageous
edited June 2019 in Transport and travel
Disabled as a result of polio in infancy. Despite an unusual and fraught childhood I was among the first recipients of Mobility Allowance. Thanks to Motability I never looked back rising eventually to senior management where I contributed more in Tax and NI than the allowance cost the Taxman. I am married with 3 children and 3 grand-children. Sadly PiP took my vehicle from me in January leaving me virtually housebound. I am campaigning for a simple change to PiP that would give me back my mobility. This is simply to remove the restriction that limits access to Motability only to recipients of the highest rate ion the mobility section of PiP and allow the entire PiP award to qualify if the recipients so wish. 

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Comments

  • CockneyRebel
    CockneyRebel Community member Posts: 5,209 Disability Gamechanger
    Hello Salamka and welcome

    I am so sorry you have lost you Mobility car and wish you well with your campaign.

    Did you challenge the decision ?

    CR
    Be all you can be, make  every day count. Namaste
  • Pippa_Alumni
    Pippa_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 5,793 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi @Salamka101, and welcome to the community!

    Losing your car must have been tough, I'm so sorry. Best of luck with your campaign: if you require any support or advice for any queries you may have, just let us know! 
  • Topkitten
    Topkitten Community member Posts: 1,285 Pioneering
    Even with DLA you needed to be on high rate mobility to be able to use Motability for help. You say little about your actual issues but do you not earn enough to get yourself something sorted out? There is a period, I believe, for people to switch from Motability to an alternative before it is taken away. I know there are lots of complaints about the PIP system but if you qualified for high rate DLA then you must have disputed the low assessment.

    TK
    "I'm on the wrong side of heaven and the righteous side of hell" - from Wrong side of heaven by Five Finger Death Punch.
  • Matilda
    Matilda Community member Posts: 2,593 Disability Gamechanger
    @Salamka101

    Did you appeal against the DWP decision not to award you enhanced mobility PIP?

    DWP reduced my higher rate DLA mobility to standard rate mobility PIP, based on incompetent Atos report.  Tribunal awarded me enhanced rate mobility PIP.

    However, my car was my own, not Motability's.  I would advise anyone, if they possibly can, to buy their own car rather than lease one from Motability, now that the DWP is going out of its way to reduce the disability benefits bill any way it can.

    Some dealers will give five years interest-free credit on new cars.
  • Topkitten
    Topkitten Community member Posts: 1,285 Pioneering
    @Salamka101 If I was able to work I would ofc have bought my own car. Even not working I might be able to sort something out.

    I am a little confused though. Initially you said you lost a Motability vehicle and were stuck indoors, Now you say your car is your own so presumably you are not stuck indoors. I don't understand the problem other than the quite common ATOS mistreatment.

    Motability is a charity. Whilst they are very helpful their funds are limited. I do not see how expanding their assistance range would help and may even cause them financial issues or the need to disappoint some people because they simply cannot help everyone. If someone believed they would get help and then didn't get it could be very disheartening for them.

    TK
    "I'm on the wrong side of heaven and the righteous side of hell" - from Wrong side of heaven by Five Finger Death Punch.
  • Salamka101
    Salamka101 Community member Posts: 40 Courageous
    Just to clarify, I lost my Motability vehicle on the grounds that I can walk between 20 and 40 metres with calipers on both legs. That gave me only 10 points in the Mobility section of PiP. Because I don't have any mental issues it meant there was no way I could gain the extra 2 points I needed to keep the vehicle. Buying my own vehicle is not an option now I am retired  and when I was working I remained loyal to Motability because I was one of the original campaigners that persuaded the government to introduce it 40 years ago. I did appeal on the grounds that I could not walk safely or at anything like a normal pace but the DWP were adamant. Living alone now is not easy, a trip to the nearest Supermarket costs me £6.40 in Taxi Fare, a trip to the Doctor the same, Hospital visits £15, to visit my daughter and 2 grand-daughters £20. All other relatives too far away to get to, which is particularly galling in the case of my 5 remaining siblings.
    as I only found them 20 years ago
  • Matilda
    Matilda Community member Posts: 2,593 Disability Gamechanger
    It sounds as though you didn't appeal to a Tribunal.  Many people, myself included, awarded only 10 points mobility by DWP after assessment, have their award increased to 12 points by a Tribunal.
  • CockneyRebel
    CockneyRebel Community member Posts: 5,209 Disability Gamechanger
    What was the date of your last decision letter ?
    You may still have time to appeal to the tribunal and depending on your age it may be your last opportunity to get back your mobility car

    CR
    Be all you can be, make  every day count. Namaste
  • Salamka101
    Salamka101 Community member Posts: 40 Courageous
    The problems most of us experience with PiP stem from the fact that it looks only at physical manifestations of disability as noted by unqualified assessors and completely ignores circumstances. As a result many of the results are at best arbitrary, at worst grossly unfair. To give a simple example -, who needs access to a vehicle more, someone who can only walk 19 metres but has a bust stop 18 metres from his home, or someone who can walk 1 metre more but has no bus stop within a mile of his home? Such is the arbitrary nature of PiP. The system itself needs to be changed.
       My own circumstances are irrelevant here, 40 years ago I campaigned for a disability benefit that would break the impass between being mobile and finding work that would enable disabled people to work and in effect pay their own way. That was what the old DLA and Motability provided.
       As a pensioner now that no longer applies to me directly, I can cope with being housebound especially as one of the quirks of PiP is that I now receive a 50% higher benefit than my old DLA. What I do miss is the voluntary work I used to do for Age Concern and the Scouts.,being able to visit my family, especially my grandchildren and the freedom to go where I want when I want.
       My purpose here is to persuade the government to rethink PiP, introduce some simple humanity into the way all disabled people are treated and that requires more attention to circumstances than simply point scoring of physical manifestations..














  • wildlife
    wildlife Community member Posts: 1,293 Pioneering
    @Salamka101 I've been reading this discussion with interest. You still haven't told us why you didn't apply for a Tribunal hearing when you would have very likely been awarded higher rate mobility on the reliability factor you mention in an earlier post. Have you ever fallen or stumbled whilst walking and does it take you more than twice as long as a fit person to walk the same distance?While I agree with PIP needing to be changed and that it needs to be more humane I also see that there has to be a system where 2 people with the same limitations and need for help should be awarded the same rate of benefit. A person who needs a car to do voluntary work or visit family and friends shouldn't be awarded more points than someone who has no family or friends and rarely leaves the house. The housebound person if awarded higher rate mobility and is then able to get a Motability car may then start to venture out improving their quality of life. Or if they stay indoors they may wish to pay for carers or help family members with fuel costs to come and visit them. DWP couldn't possibly take all the many different circumstances of each disabled person's life into account even how far away the nearest bus stop is. What if they could get to the bus stop but couldn't get on the bus on their own. 
  • Salamka101
    Salamka101 Community member Posts: 40 Courageous
    The example I gave was simply to illustrate the arbitrary nature of PiP as kit is presently interpreted, 1 metre, 1 more step for a normal person should not in and of itself determine the level of help a disabled person gets. I did not pursue my claim all the way to a Tribunal partly because I no longer had my car but mainly because my disability is a result of polio. I have lived with it all my life. All that the medical profession can do for me was done more than 50 years ago so I have had no cause to see a specialist or even a GP for years.
       Yes I stumble and fall but I always have and, as a close friend commented, I bounce, take a brief rest and push on..Many years ago I did the the 14 mile hike for my First Class Scout Badge. It took 14 hours and my calipers rubbed my legs raw but I made it.For my Queens Scout award a few years later I faced the prospect of a 30 mile Journey on foot or by boat. I took up canoeing. In 1969 I was National Canoeing champion twice over, Long Distance and White water racing.This is not about me getting the higher rate of mobility under PiP. On the contrary I would be perfectly happy if the DWP simply allowed access to Motability for any Disabled person in receipt of PiP who chose personal mobility as their best option. It's the whole PiP process I contest. How could the assessor calculate my walking ability simply by watching me take two or 3 steps in my living room? How could he give me a clean bill of mental health simply by asking me to remember 3 simple words for a couple of minutes? There is so much wrong with the PiP process, it is long-winded, arbitrary and callous. I want to see it changed  
  • wildlife
    wildlife Community member Posts: 1,293 Pioneering
    @Salamka101 Agreed. I couldn't remember the 3 words but my assessor said I could in her report. My whole story is on here in different posts so I can definitely say I too want it changed. Lies are not on in my book, especially when they affect so many people. We need a car but have had to purchase a better one as our last 3 old bangers were scrapped for peanuts leaving us unable to buy anything road worthy outright. So I am very grateful for PIP in that respect but will still keep fighting for the incorrect data on my report to be changed before my next assessment.   
  • Matilda
    Matilda Community member Posts: 2,593 Disability Gamechanger
    @Salamka101

    I still don't understand why you didn't appeal to a Tribunal.  Assessments are extremely flawed, conducted by incompetents and downright liars - but Tribunals are impartial with experts on the panel.
  • Salamka101
    Salamka101 Community member Posts: 40 Courageous
    Very simple Matilda, I'm old school. I was brought up never to give in to my disability. The idea of going before a panel, expert or not, and begging was not for me.
  • Topkitten
    Topkitten Community member Posts: 1,285 Pioneering
    Ok, well I still think that lowering the standard for assistance would cause Motability funding issues. Help might then be not available for those that are desperate for help.

    I will agree that the rule of not being available after retirement is wrong and I will also agree that the PIP assessment system is massively flawed by lack of staff and the unqualified staff standing in having no conception of what they are trying to deal with, they just following the guide lines given to them.

    I do not agree about the 'old school' comment of trying to keep going. I am 61 and always told that, even for my age, I am old fashioned and anachronistic. But I struggled for years making 3 applications and attending 4 tribunals before I was given DLA despite being effectively housebound the entire time and only going out with assistance.

    However, and do not take this personally as I do not know you, the largest portion of the population that has been given blue badges and motability support are old people who, even if only on a good day, can quite happily traipse around the larger Tesco's pushing a heavily laden trolley at almost normal walking speed. I regularly see an old couple park in my town, pull out their sticks, walk off at almost normal speed, climb up a staircase for which I have to use the supplied lift and then they happily wander off into town for a couple of hours. All this from parking in a disabled space. I have seen this couple vociferously complain to a young healthy woman for using a disabled space. A lady who then had to try to get her 10 year old out of the car and into a wheelchair.

    The system is not fair and certainly not implemented well but to try to extend the support before getting what is there working correctly is not the way forward.

    I apologise to anyone who finds any of this offensive but I sometimes just have to get what I see as "taking advantage" of a system designed to help those in the worst of situations by people who maybe do not deserve it, who just feel it is their right regardless.

    TK
    "I'm on the wrong side of heaven and the righteous side of hell" - from Wrong side of heaven by Five Finger Death Punch.
  • simonprice
    simonprice Community member Posts: 1 Listener
    If u are able to work ur way up to management then buy ya own car
  • wildlife
    wildlife Community member Posts: 1,293 Pioneering
    There are many ways of getting a car these days without paying up front. We lost everything when a family business in France went into liquidation some years ago and naturally being 67 and 70 now we have never recovered. We bought a car off a friend after scraping every last penny together but it failed the MOT and had to be scrapped. We managed to get a Tesco credit card with 0% interest for 4 years to get another which lasted a bit longer but recently failed the MOT needing too much work to get fixed. So once bitten twice shy my hubby went to a garage and arranged finance through them with a monthly payment we can just about afford. But at least we've got a decent car that should last long enough to pay back both the credit card and the car finance. This is the first time in our lives we've had to borrow money. But there's no need to go without transport specially if you're disabled. There are X Motability cars being sold off which we didn't investigate but hey ho. Where's there's a will there's a way...  
  • Matilda
    Matilda Community member Posts: 2,593 Disability Gamechanger
    @Salamka101

    Appellants to not have to 'beg' at PIP appeals.  At my appeal I was asked a great many questions but I did not have to give any kind of 'presentation', any kind of supplication, about why my appeal should be allowed.
  • Matilda
    Matilda Community member Posts: 2,593 Disability Gamechanger
    Some dealers will give five years' 0% finance on new cars.
  • wildlife
    wildlife Community member Posts: 1,293 Pioneering
    @Matilda Yes but we live in a village and had to get a car the easiest way we could. But you don't have to go without unless it's not top of your priority list. I agree about appeal even though I didn't apply. I'm hoping ICE will come up trumps next year and declare my assessment report not fit for use in the future. If someone had an illness in childhood that affects them for the rest of their lives it doesn't matter how old your evidence is. DWP saw that my mental health problems went back 40 odd years therefore longstanding so more likely to not get any better. It's the assessors who need to take more notice of medical evidence but thank goodness tribunal panels do.   

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