Motability

[geeks]

yme402 said:

geeks said:

Let see, you posted, then posted again to reinforce your staggering lack of understanding of what the Motability scheme is and now this where you have made yourself the victim.

There was apparently context we all missed, I don't think we did, your context was jealousy pure unfiltered envy of "Waaahhhh someone has a new car and I don't!" I am guessing your neighbour has just had their new Motability car turn up or something. You can't imagine some of the challenges behind most disabilities things you completely take for granted. It's been explained to you, yet we are still the bad ones. Christ no wonder the world is such a clusterfk

You sound a lovely person..

Maybe, maybe not. I'll grant you I have gone for the nuclear approach here in my defence of Motability but that's because I have watched the most wonderful person in my life have to dust herself off over and over and over when it comes to her disability, the strength she displays belies belief, I will admit before we met I didn't "get it" I knew there were difficulties in life when living with physical disabilities but I hadn't considered what that meant, how it would effect you daily in the most simple of ways.

So no, I don't understand your position on things like this gem where you are unable to see past the end of your nose:

yme402 said:

What’s wrong with it? It’s cheap to run, meets all safety legislations, and is good for the planet.

Or this one where you double down and make it about having a new car, like somehow disabled people aren't hard working and don't deserve the chance to get around independently. Presumably you object to people on minimum wage subsidising services they don't or will never use? Where do you draw the line on that? Do you think people who don't have children should be subsidising child benefit?

yme402 said:

I don’t think it’s the existence of the Motability scheme that irks some people. It’s more down to the lack of governance and policing of the scheme that seems to allow widespread abuse. There is something wrong in 2024 where a hard working person on minimum wage subsidises a brand new car for someone else that they could never dream of owning themselves.

Do you actually understand what it is like to apply for and get the PIP mobility component? It's a pretty degrading experience, it forces you right out all of the things you miss out on in life, it forces you revisit all of the trauma you have experienced as a direct result of your disability, it forces you to relive all of that trauma, PTSD, procedures and in some cases downright humiliation that you have experienced. On top of that you have to redo it every 5 years despite the fact that you have a lifetime condition, you refer back to your last application and realise just how much further you have slid away from your independence, coupled with an interview with someone who has no experience with your (and in some cases any) disability who decides on your behalf what you are and are not capable of and then read a report where they have out and out lied about what you have said so you have to appeal and extend the humiliation and judgement further to some faceless box ticker who couldn't care less about the process or your needs. Then and only then when the benefit is granted can you make an application to exchange it for a Motability car.

The choice is not a free for all, you don't get to waltz into a dealership and hand pick what you get, there is a list you can chose from, you then top it up with an upfront payment to get a car that might just about cover your needs for the next 3 years. Also worth keeping in mind that most dealers aren't interested in Motability cars or sales, they usually have a "Special Sales Advisor" for Motability who mostly just wants you out of the way so they can go and work on a PCP deal for a member of the general public because they get to earn more commission on that sale. That's if you can actually get an appointment with them and they actually stick to it, in the last merry go round we had of choosing and ordering Mrs geeks car we had appointments at 4 different dealerships, at 2 of them we left after we had been waiting for more than 30 minutes with no sign of where the person we had the appointment was and with no apology for making us wait, the treatment of sales people giving you a look of disgust when they ask if they can help and you say you are there for a Motability car, or the other degrading experience where we arrive and are greeted on time only to have the Sales advisor talk to me like Mrs geeks wasn't even there when it was quite explicitly going to be her car.

So yeah I am a bit over protective and pretty triggered by the whole thing, but if you had seen just half of the st I have around this, you would be too!

[yme402]

Valid points, but I don’t think taxpayers should be criticised for wanting to drill down on where their hard earned money goes…especially in these current times where the tax burden seems to be ever increasing. And I don’t just mean on the higher rate component of disability living allowance, but every corner of the welfare system that they fund.

[HTP99]

It does get abused but what doesn't, in my experience the vast, vast majority of Motability users aren't abusing the scheme though.

My most recent potential abuse was a young woman ringing up enquiring about a Jogger, on behalf of her nan who lived locally to us, the enquirer didn't live locally, when I explained that the car has to be kept at the address of the disabled person, not 30 miles away, the tone of the conversation changed especially when I mentioned a tracker will likely have to be fitted to make sure that the car is used primarily for the disabled persons benefit as the address of the driver wouldn't match the address of the disabled person, the conversation stopped there

Clearly she was going to be using it for herself and her family and perhaps giving nan the £71.00 per week that nan would have been losing out on.

[page3]

Like any benefit, I'm sure there are those who know how to play the system.

Claiming isn't as easy as those who have never had to often believe. It has taken us around a year to transition from DLA to PIP for a known lifelong condition, for which DLA was already in place. 100+ pages of specialist evidence. Multiple 40+ page forms to complete, and three interviews.

We do now qualify for mobility, but are unlikely to use the scheme as we both already have vehicles (one mid-way through lease, one owned).

[Baldchap]

yme402 said:

What’s wrong with it? It’s cheap to run, meets all safety legislations, and is good for the planet.

No, it doesn't meet any safety regulations.

[AlphaDelta]

yme402 said:

I don’t think it’s the existence of the Motability scheme that irks some people. It’s more down to the lack of governance and policing of the scheme that seems to allow widespread abuse. There is something wrong in 2024 where a hard working person on minimum wage subsidises a brand new car for someone else that they could never dream of owning themselves.

The idea people on minimum wage are subsidising anybody with their tax receipts, let alone Motability users, is laughable.

Sadly this ignorant view of those with disabilities is not limited to the OP. Had complaints in the local FB group about the local Sainsburys having too many disable spaces, because walking an extra 100yds is just too much for the lazy bds.

[Sway]

page3 said:

Like any benefit, I'm sure there are those who know how to play the system.

Claiming isn't as easy as those who have never had to often believe. It has taken us around a year to transition from DLA to PIP for a known lifelong condition, for which DLA was already in place. 100+ pages of specialist evidence. Multiple 40+ page forms to complete, and three interviews.

We do now qualify for mobility, but are unlikely to use the scheme as we both already have vehicles (one mid-way through lease, one owned).

Exactly this.

I won't list out some of Mrs Sway's experiences as I've done it before - but suffice to say tonight I've had to walk for a mile with her walking stick so that she could walk to the car she'd taken to go run a Scouts session and I could drive her home - as she'd dislocated her hip.

That's not an exaggeration either.

Yet she's not eligible for motability/higher rate mobility component...

[Charlie1986]

Current choosing my next one - late 30’s and working but have life long injuries from the military that have a daily impact. Also have a blue badge that is in the drawer as I won’t use it

[KAgantua]

J4CKO said:

yme402 said:

Is this not the perfect Motability car……modern day interpretation of the Invacar?

Hmm, it is redolent of the AC Invacar, which was a government interpretation of what people with disabilities needed back then, but time has shown that however noble the intent, the execution wasnt great, or all that suitable for a lot of people.

But they did provide mobility for people who may have otherwise not had any, but things have moved on and much better options are available, i.e. mobility scooters and the motability scheme for providing a conventional vehicle.

There is no reason why someone disabled couldn't use an Ami, but would be if they wanted a tiny, plastic car, rather than someone thinks it looks suitable as it looks a bit like a modern Invacar. Think there used to be a perception that disabled people were somehow different, rather than just being like anyone else but with a disability. Its like when some see a flash car in a disabled spot and are appalled that someone would park it there, then see the badge, always assuming that it should be some high roof Berlingo or something, not a Range Rover, though a lot do use disabled spaces with no badge to be fair D:

There was a stigma with the Invacar, like an extreme version of national health specs that perpetuated that image of those with disabilities.

Same colour too. Ive honestly never seen that colour on anything else other than Invacars

[J4CKO]

KAgantua said:

J4CKO said:

yme402 said:

Is this not the perfect Motability car……modern day interpretation of the Invacar?

Hmm, it is redolent of the AC Invacar, which was a government interpretation of what people with disabilities needed back then, but time has shown that however noble the intent, the execution wasnt great, or all that suitable for a lot of people.

But they did provide mobility for people who may have otherwise not had any, but things have moved on and much better options are available, i.e. mobility scooters and the motability scheme for providing a conventional vehicle.

There is no reason why someone disabled couldn't use an Ami, but would be if they wanted a tiny, plastic car, rather than someone thinks it looks suitable as it looks a bit like a modern Invacar. Think there used to be a perception that disabled people were somehow different, rather than just being like anyone else but with a disability. Its like when some see a flash car in a disabled spot and are appalled that someone would park it there, then see the badge, always assuming that it should be some high roof Berlingo or something, not a Range Rover, though a lot do use disabled spaces with no badge to be fair D:

There was a stigma with the Invacar, like an extreme version of national health specs that perpetuated that image of those with disabilities.

Same colour too. Ive honestly never seen that colour on anything else other than Invacars

Cough...

[Sebring440]

KAgantua said:

Same colour too. Ive honestly never seen that colour on anything else other than Invacars

Edited by Sebring440 on Sunday 17th November 21:29

[Wilmslowboy]

It's an incredible scheme when you break down the numbers. It costs the government nothing in direct costs, they simply pay individuals who qualify for mobility support up to a maximum of £75 per week (which I believe they can use as they need to do).

Motability has created a business model that maximises the bang for buck these individuals can get. I believe they generate approx £500 million per year profit, most of which is reinvested. Based on some quick back-of-the-envelope calculations, it seems that for the scheme to work, Motability must be selling the used cars for more than they originally paid for them.

[blue_haddock]

Wilmslowboy said:

It's an incredible scheme when you break down the numbers. It costs the government nothing in direct costs, they simply pay individuals who qualify for mobility support up to a maximum of £75 per week (which I believe they can use as they need to do).

Motability has created a business model that maximises the bang for buck these individuals can get. I believe they generate approx £500 million per year profit, most of which is reinvested. Based on some quick back-of-the-envelope calculations, it seems that for the scheme to work, Motability must be selling the used cars for more than they originally paid for them.

Motability made a massive loss last year - £500 million so their finances arent as healthy as they once were.

[Riley Blue]

blue_haddock said:

Wilmslowboy said:

It's an incredible scheme when you break down the numbers. It costs the government nothing in direct costs, they simply pay individuals who qualify for mobility support up to a maximum of £75 per week (which I believe they can use as they need to do).

Motability has created a business model that maximises the bang for buck these individuals can get. I believe they generate approx £500 million per year profit, most of which is reinvested. Based on some quick back-of-the-envelope calculations, it seems that for the scheme to work, Motability must be selling the used cars for more than they originally paid for them.

Motability made a massive loss last year - £500 million so their finances arent as healthy as they once were.

They've a bob or two in reserve so it's not all doom and gloom: https://www.am-online.com/news/record-customer-gro...

[Sway]

Big challenges with residual value of EVs, massive increases in insurance costs - and yet they're still doing things like subsidising the initial payments for customers to the tune of £150M...

[blue_haddock]

Sway said:

Big challenges with residual value of EVs, massive increases in insurance costs - and yet they're still doing things like subsidising the initial payments for customers to the tune of £150M...

The new car payment has now ended for new customers and is only for existing customers who have yet to renew their vehicle.

[Sheepshanks]

blue_haddock said:

Motability made a massive loss last year - £500 million so their finances arent as healthy as they once were.

There’s a lot of jiggery pokery in that number - there’s been outrage about how much they were making. They got forced to give money back a couple of years ago.

They must buy the cars for absolutely buttons - especially EVs, which they were pushing really hard.

[Sway]

blue_haddock said:

Sway said:

Big challenges with residual value of EVs, massive increases in insurance costs - and yet they're still doing things like subsidising the initial payments for customers to the tune of £150M...

The new car payment has now ended for new customers and is only for existing customers who have yet to renew their vehicle.

Yes, but it's another example of how they've really worked to support customers.

[997.1]

I find the insurance pretty incredible If I understand it correctly. Basically insurance is bundled into the price being paid for the car.

A highway maintenance car hit my tesla last year, it took 12 months to settle everything by which time insurance went from £1250 to £3250. It then turned to a non fault claim and we got a partial refund when the new premium was recalculated. But have the same thing in a motability car and you are unaffected price wise. Incredible.

[David87]

Seems to be a bit of a backlash on social media against Motability recently. I’ve seen posts claiming that they are the buyers of 1 in 5 (!) new cars in the UK and that they’re being given to autistic people etc. (accompanied by an idiotic TikTok video of some idiot prancing about with their new Skoda key).

Haven’t looked into whether these claims are true, but there seems to be a lot of not very happy folk out there.