Motability finances in the news......OBSCENE???

Yadnad · July 2018

Gaina said:

Thanks for the reply.

I noticed that only one third of people eligible for the scheme use it. That's an awful lot of people potentially missing out on being productive members of society and I'd like to know why this is the case.

The stats that are out there showing the lengths of PIP Mobility award are in the main between 1 and 4 years.
The average is about 2 years
Knowing that, it is extremely likely that people are never going to see the end of the lease in the first place and given the high risk of being re-assessed and losing the award will have no car until the award is reinstated.

PIP is far too volatile to chance taking on a Motability lease and having the car repossessed every 2 years or so.

More are now buying cheap runabouts knowing that the car will always be there despite what there PIP awards are.

Topkitten · August 2018

Motability have always provided an excellent service for people who are unable to sort things out for themselves and, despite the poor second hand value of cars now, still continue to provide the same assistance. This has become even more apparent with the stupidity of the constantly changing PIP review standards. If any company wants to continue providing a good service then they MUST have someone holding the reins who knows what they are doing and for that you have to pay the going rate. I have certainly heard of much higher pay rates for people far less competent, such as the NHS put in charge on even more than that only for them to fail miserably and leave with golden handshakes,

The trouble with buying a car of your own is that you become responsible for maintaining it in roadworthy condition and getting valid MOT certificates, arranging your own insurance and also recovery. You also lose the perks of the special insurance set up that Motability have of additional drivers which is not available to most people under ANY circumstances. You also have to deal with having any special alterations made to the car yourself and finding people to do the work. In addition to this, at some point, you have to dispose of the car and take the loss in value which, in today's car market, is significant. Then there is the worry about getting NCB when you switch and the worry about losing it should you have an accident. Motability will provide an alternative vehicle, most insurers charge considerably more for the privilege.

Whilst some figures may sound a lot I think you will find that it isn't really a great deal should car prices drop significantly and lease car prices are higher still and don't provide the additional support.

TK.

Gaina · August 2018

Yadnad said:

Gaina said:

Thanks for the reply.

I noticed that only one third of people eligible for the scheme use it. That's an awful lot of people potentially missing out on being productive members of society and I'd like to know why this is the case.

The stats that are out there showing the lengths of PIP Mobility award are in the main between 1 and 4 years.
The average is about 2 years
Knowing that, it is extremely likely that people are never going to see the end of the lease in the first place and given the high risk of being re-assessed and losing the award will have no car until the award is reinstated.

PIP is far too volatile to chance taking on a Motability lease and having the car repossessed every 2 years or so.

More are now buying cheap runabouts knowing that the car will always be there despite what there PIP awards are.

I was worried I wasn't going to be awarded PIP so I investigated buying a second hand WAV outright. As it turned out my award is for 10 years (by which time the system may well have changed again!) but I can completely understand why most people don't want to make that kind of layout when as you say, you might have to give the car back after a few years. I would also like to bet that with such a large % of disabled people unemployed, ALL their DLA/PIP has to be spent on daily living.

Gaina · August 2018

Yes, I can see what you're saying TK. I had to pay over 10k in deposit for my last motability WAV and it was such a poor conversation it spent more time being fixed than I spent driving it. In the end I sent it back as it made no sense to keep paying out DLA on a car that was ultimately unfixable, so that whole experience coloured my view significantly.

Gaina · August 2018

Geoark said:

Gaina said:

If the mobility component goes up, THEY pocket the difference AND they expect us to go and buy the car at auction if we want to keep it after the lease is up, which means you've paid way more that the car was worth to buy (trust me, I've done the maths). That's not a non story to me.

Hi @Gaina

If the mobility component goes up they do not pocket the difference. First you have a choice of cars, you select one that is less than your mobility component you keep the difference. Similarly if the mobility component goes up of course they do not pocket the difference, for no other reason you have already entered into a contract with them and the payments are already set.

I am not sure what your second point is, the car alway belong to Motobility you are simply leasing it. Motobility has a responsibility to manage their assets athis including getting the best price for their vehicles, either through auction or through second hand dealership. It is always going to cost more to lease a car and then buy it at the end of the lease period than to buy a new car, as you say a non story.

,

Personally, I've NEVER haf a choice of cars and I've been using the scheme over 20 years.

Even when I was able to put my wheelchair in car myself, the cars that met my needs where always 100% of my mobility component and frankly I think they need to investigate what they could be doing to with their 'idle funds' to make more cars available that don't swallow 100% of your mobility component for people whose disability means they don't have a choice.

Also if payments are already fixed and what DWP are paying me goes up then why aren't I getting it? Let's pick a round figure for the sake of argument, £50. If, come April I get a raise to £55, or as has happend with my move to PIP the mobility component has gone up why aren't I getting that £5 because I only agreed to pay £50 per month when I entered the contract?

Genuinely, I'd like motability to answer that.

Geoark · August 2018

Hi @Gaina

You should have a copy of the lease and what was agreed to be paid. As I have never used Motobility I do not know what their leases look like. If it states how much you will pay for each month for the period of the lease than any extra money you get should be going to you. In which case it would be for the DWP to explain where the additional money has gone. As far as I am aware the way it works is that the costs of the car, insurance etc are covered over the period of the lease and this may include some interest or profit. It is why some cars require an upfront cost to keep payments low. There may however be some provision for increased payments later ie annually but these should be clearly set out.

I have already covered the 'idle funds' and why I don't believe them to be excessive and necessary.

Motobility have continued to increase the range of cars they have on offer, inlcuding those that do not consume 100% of the mobility allowance. Obviously if your needs are only going to be matched with high end cars than that comes at a cost.

Motability finances in the news......OBSCENE???

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