Last week I picked up my second Motability car, and I just wanted to make a post about the scheme to share how much it has helped me.

Motability is a charity that helps disabled people get out and about in lease cars for an affordable price. You must have the enhanced mobility component from PIP in order to qualify. You then pay that portion of your PIP to lease the car you have chosen; some are the full amount, some are less. For a higher spec car you may have to pay some money in advance, but there are cars that do not require a down payment at all. In your lease you get to have 2 names drivers, both of whom are covered by insurance of a company who work with Motability. The car is taxed, serviced and MOT’d by Motability, so you don’t have to worry about anything. You keep your car for 3 years, then choose a new one.

I first heard of the Motability scheme a few years ago, I’m pretty sure my mum is the one that found it and thought it would be a good idea as we were struggling with getting the wheelchair in our car. Not really knowing much about it, we traded in our car for a Seat Alhambra with all the bells and whistles: electric doors electric boot, heated seats, parking sensors and a little camera when in reverse. It was lovely, and has served us well the last 3 years.

There were a couple of things that weren’t quite practical, for example, although the boot is really big, my wheelchair didn’t stand up in it because the roof just wasn’t quite high enough. That meant we had to lie my wheelchair down, and then couldn’t get anything else in the boot. So it was a huge boot, but the space was just wasted.

This time when it came to getting a car, we had an idea of what we were looking for. We went to Motability’s event at the NEC to have a look at the cars that were available (as the list is being updated all the time) and had a short list of cars we liked, and ones that would work with my wheelchair and what-not. The was of course cut down by the down-payments required, with my PIP running out in a couple of years (and me being concerned I won’t get the higher rate for mobility when it’s renewed) we didn’t want to be spending a fortune on a car we may not be able to keep for the full 3 year period.

In the end, the list came down to 2, and once we saw the Jeep Renegade, we were sold. With only one in the country at the time we were ordering, we had that one! The guy at the garage was very helpful, answered all the questions we had and gave us more information on Motability. When you return your car to pick up the new one, the sales person will do a check over, basically make sure the car is in good condition; and if that’s the case, then Motability give you some money to say thank you for keeping the car in good condition. The payment could be anything from £250 to £500! With that in mind, we did get a higher spec model of the Jeep, just because we could use that money back to pay for it, as we were assured the Seat would at least get the lower payment, if not more!

All in all, we are now proud owners of a Jeep Renegade that stores my wheelchair upright in the boot with room to spare for shopping or hold alls and what-not. It’s a fabulous car, and only has a 1 litre engine so my younger sister can be a named driver on it. She has a little go-cart of a car, and it’s always a challenge getting my wheelchair in. When we do, you can only really have 1 other passenger in the car which isn’t ideal. Now we can swap cars with my mum for the day and head out in the jeep with no worries.

From talking to Jeep’s Motability sales person, our concern of me not getting the higher rate for mobility with PIP is less of a concern than it was before. He reassured us that, if the worst should happen and Motability take the car back, they won’t just leave us without a vehicle, they give you some money towards sorting out a car of our own. That was a massive relief for me, as my parents obviously traded in their car for our first Motability car, and I wouldn’t want to be the one responsible for them not having a vehicle to use. It also gives me peace of mind, because although I might not qualify for PIP’s higher rate for mobility (though I can’t see that I wouldn’t, but it is Capita that assesses me so I’m not getting my hopes up. Had a rough time with them before) I’ll still be able to have a vehicle that gets me out and about.

Anyway, that’s enough waffling for now. Sorry I haven’t been posting a lot; been quite busy again… got a feeling I’m going to pay for it over the next week or so but I’ll just have to take it easy. I’ve got lots of ideas for posts, just got to get them typed up and onto my blog. Below I will link the Motability website, just in case you want to know more!

https://motability.co.uk