Mobility Car

[Shell101010]

Hi all, we have received higher rate DLA for our disable daughter for many years and I’ve never really paid attention to the mobility section as thought it wasn’t applicable to us as she is only young. I’ve now been thinking about a mobility car and understand she needs to be in the higher bracket for this?? What would this be considered to look like please? Also does my daughter need to be 16 before we could even apply for mobility? Many thanks 😊

[parasiticworm]

I think you can claim and use high mobility allowance and use this payment towards a car irrespective of age. As long as they get high rate mobility. Also you don't need to be psychically disabled to claim it.

[Shell101010 in reply to parasiticworm]

Thanks so much for replying. We’ve only just had her DLA re assessment and approved. So might have to wait another 2 years for them to consider higher rate then.

[Marmar56 in reply to Shell101010]

On your pip paperwork it should say in the mobility bit if she got 12 points or more she will get the higher rate for mobility and therefore you can get a mobility Car. Also it doesn’t matter what age they are we have been getting a mobility car since my son was 5. Hope this helps

[Jofisher]

Hi my sons had a mobility car since he was a toddler so you could apply for your daughter she needs to be on the highest component of mobility. That benefit would then be paid for the mobility car and the tax is also covered and insurance you only pay for the fuel. The only stipulation is you have been awarded if for over three years as the lease would be for that time. Sometimes you need to pay extra to get the car you want but any car dealer doing motability will talk you through everything. I hope that helps. When the lease car is returned if it’s in good condition then you get money back for looking after it well.

[Shell101010]

Thanks so much for your help again Jo. I was very naive and didn’t complete the mobility section as I’d misunderstand who it was relevant for 😢 it was only renewed recently but surely I can ask them to reassess that part? Just worried they may alter her normal DLA or say wait for the 2 year review…

[SpeedyH in reply to Shell101010]

When you ask for a reassessment they look at all parts and your current award can be reassessed down as well as up.

[Shell101010 in reply to SpeedyH]

Yes that’s what is putting me off 😭 thank you for replying

[DrSarahmac]

I recently moved my 37yr old daughter from DLA to PIP. She was on open ended DLA since childhood. It is time consuming and slow and a lot of paperwork but I found them to be very fair at the assessment stage (we had a telephone assessment with a qualified doctor).

she went from low rate for care on DLA to enhanced rates for care and mobility. We don’t use it to pay for a car as the car can only be used for my daughter and would leave us without a car for ourselves.

I used the following website to make sure if worded our answers so as to get the points she was entitled to. Hope it helps I should have done it years ago !!!

benefitsandwork.co.uk/perso...

[Shell101010 in reply to DrSarahmac]

DrSarahmac thank you so much for this. I’ve just checked and we aren’t up for review till 2025. Will definitely incorporate this into my application for it. So glad yours was a successful meeting 😊

[SBDBJB]

Hi I hope I can help you and others through my experience with getting a car on motability.

My son is 30 now but has had a motability car since he was 5. All those 25 years ago 5 was the youngest age to qualify but I believe this has been lowered to 2 years old now.. My son is on his 8th vehicle through the scheme. He now has a team of carers who drive him around.

A child or adult qualifies to join motability if they have at least 1 year of the highest rate of either Dla or Pip mobility remaining - this use to be 3 years as the vehicle are on at least a 3 year lease, but this has been lowered to 1 year.

If you apply for a vehicle for a child the paperwork comes in the parents name who is the main driver. If an adult is applying for motability and will not be driving themselves as in my sons case then the paperwork is still in my name on his behalf as I deal with everything for my son.

In my own case I also receive mobility pip at the highest rate and have my own motability car which is in my own name.

When I applied to motability I only had 1 year left of pip highest rate mobility before renewal date.When it was up for renewal which was in the February but due to dwp pips back log it didn’t get renewed until the November. If I had not been awarded pip at the highest level again then I would have had to return my car. Luckily I was successfully award a further 3 years.

A vehicle leased through motability is paid for with the pip payment of mobility payments. This is automatically paid from dwp and any remainder paid as usual. So if you receive care component of pip this will continue to be paid into the nominated bank account as usual.

If you decide you would like a vehicle, it is very important to find one that suits yours and your families needs. You would need to visit dealerships until you find the ideal vehicle.

Motability have a list of vehicles which are covered on the scheme and each vehicle has a unique deposit ranging from nil upwards. This has to be paid on day of collection.

Now anyone who has ordered a motability vehicle will also receive a one off payment from motability of £750 which will be received after/on collection. If you were to choose a car that was ie a £1050 deposit- motability will pay the one off payment to cover the deposit so therefore leaving ie £300 for you to pay on collection day.If you choose a vehicle at ie a nil deposit then £750 would be paid to you directly

Once you choose your vehicle the dealership motability specialist will take you through the process of ordering, how long you will have to wait for delivery etc.

Something you have got be aware of when ordering because due to back log of ordered (during covid) it could take many months for manufacture to delivered, in which case you may wish to consider a different model which has a shorter wait time.

If you decide on an electric vehicle then motability will arrange to have the charger fitted with cost covered by motability.The dealership will also talk you through this.

Having a car on motability all costs are covered except fuel costs. So insurance ,servicing, new tires, Rac cover, all parts and repairs are also covered.

I hope this will help you decide whether a motability lease car is for you. Motability website has all the information you would need including the price lists with all the vehicles to choose from on the scheme and the deposits due. Of course if you decide it is not what you want then you would just continue to receive the pip allowance into your bank account via dwp.

If I can answer any other questions you have don’t hesitate to ask and I’ll try my best to help.

Sharon

[Picklebum1946 in reply to SBDBJB]

When you pick up new car how long does it take for payment of 750 to come through to the person and is there a letter confirmation sent many thanks

[Shell101010]

SBDBJB thanks so much for your informative reply, I now understand it completely so thank you 😊 We are new to getting DLA and our second renewal was last month. We’d had it for 2 years and just looked at our renewal and it is up until 2028 now! I had only realised we could apply for mobility and now I’m so scared to ask them to review it, given the length of time they have agreed. As I’ve heard they could even reduce what we currently have. Our daughter will be 17.5 years old then and I believe we would then be in the PIP world?? Thanks

[SBDBJB in reply to Shell101010]

Glad to be of help. That’s great that your daughters award is covered until 2028. Dwp will get in touch with you when it’s time for review. I’m just sorry that you didn’t realise you could have applied for a car on motability before now as your daughter already qualified two years previously. This is assuming the award is for the highest rate for mobility. Just to clarify if someone is awarded dla or pip at the highest rate this entitles them to apply for motability which can be for a vehicle to meet their needs so this might be a car/van /wheelchair accessible or could also be a motability scooter.

You do not have to have been awarded the care component of dla or pip at any level as this has nothing to do with mobility part. Also when you decide to take a car etc via motability you only use the mobility part of the award ie if you get both care and mobility you would still receive the care amount awarded as it is only mobility component which is paid to motability.

Of course if you do not need a vehicle that’s fine and then you would receive the award in full. A motability car is for the person who’s awarded the benefit but as long as it is used for that person they do not necessarily have to be in the car at all times ie if you needed to collect their medication, or going to do their shopping etc just as a couple of examples and motability website covers this.

Again hope this is helpful for people considering applying to motability.

Wish you well.

Kindest regards

Sharon

[SBDBJB in reply to Shell101010]

Sorry I forgot to comment on the issue around the mobility component of dla. You need to get in touch with dla and explain to them that you misunderstood. You need for them to reassess it again including the mobility part. If your daughter has only just been assessed for care component until 2028 it is highly unlikely that will change. Unfortunately you need to ask dla dwp to look at the claim again to be awarded mobility component to then go on to applying for motability to cover a vehicle.It’s a pain but necessary. X