Higher Rate Mobilty 'Benefits'

[Jackie]

Hi all,

Havent been on here for a long time, so hope you are all doing well.

I am looking at getting Mum her Higher Mobilty rate, and looking at the information about vehciles and it states that on some types an advance payment is not required and on others the advanced payement is required.....

Has anyone claimed or claiming on this at the moment that would be able to help put all the jargon in plain english....

Thanks

 

[Margarita]

Hi all I know is that they pay for a wheelchairs, can get Adaptations to her house.

How old is you mother? is she on AA or DLA , I know if someone is under 65 and getting disability living allowance higher rate, they can give up the allowance and get a car , it all changes when they are over 65 and get attendance allowance . Hope that is of some help


My mother is on AA and is on a never ending waiting list for a wheelchaire , that I ended up paying for one myself , they is a thing that you can get Cheaper black taxies , ask social worker if you have one

 

[Nebiroth]

AFAIk if you're getting state pension then you can't get Mobility Allowance at all. The Disability and Mobility allowances all get replaced by Attendance Allowance.

I guess they don't consider that old people should be mobile at all.

 

[Jackie]

No Mum is only 57

 

[jenniferpa]

Jackie - having looked back on your posts I see your mother is 56 - is that correct? So definitely she is, in theory, eligible for this. Have you looked at the motability site? www.motability.co.uk

A quick search shows that there are several hundred vehicles that do not require an advance payment, although a lot of those may not be suitable. Shou should search for cars that have a nil advaqnce payment and which have a weekly rental rate of less than the current allowance.

 

[Jackie]

Thanks Jennifer I will have a look

 

[Jackie]

What happens if you decide that after the contract period you want to keep the car, do you then have to negoitate again?

 

[Gill W]

Hi Jackie

Thought I'd try and help out here. I am in receipt of higher rate DLA which means I can get a car with my benefit.

The business of advance payments differs with each manufacturer & also what model of car you would like to get.

Generally speaking any model of car will be nil advance payment for the basic model. You can choose to go up the range if you have money to contribute to it.

I have a Citroen C3 Desire, which is the basic model of Citroen C3, and it was available to me with nil advance payment. My mum has the same model of car, but with an Automatic gearbox. She was required to pay £250 up front because she wanted the automatic model, but it also moved her up one car from me.

Mum has had a Volkswagen Polo before now that requird nearly £1000 advance payment for an automatic gearbox, so she avoided them like the plague this time round & plumped for the Citroen like me.

You can get extras with the vehicles as long as you can pay for them, such as sun roofs, etc.

It's best to peruse all the dealers you may be interested in getting a car from, & if they're worth their salt they'll tell you all the cars that come with nil advance payment. I've found Citroen to be excellent in their service, & they've also now made the C3 available with an automatic gearbox for nil advance payment.

Also of course, you don't HAVE to take a car with the benefit, you can choose to keep the cash coming, whilst getting the tax on an already owned car paid for by Motability. You're still responsible for MOT & Insurance, but the tax is fully paid for 12 months at a time. There is a form that comes with this, and you need to change the taxation class of an already owned car to Disabled rather than Private & Light Goods.

Hope this helps?

Gill
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[Gill W]

Hi again Jackie,

You posted again before I'd finished my first reply to you! hehe

At the end of the 3 year lease of your vehicle, you are required to return that particular car but can start a lease on a brand new one, same type or different, its entirely up to you.

The cars are serviced regularly & inspected before return to make sure that the only damage to the car is wear & tear, then you just choose the dealer you'd like to lease from again, and when all the paperwork is complete, hand the car back & collect your new one. Eg: I have a Citroen renewable in August this year. If I choose to have a Ford for example this time round, I arrange what car I want and hand my Citroen in to Ford when the Ford was ready for collection.

Hope this clarifies things a bit more.

Gill
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[Jackie]

Oh Gill that is excellent, thank you, I understand it fully now, thanks for putting it in plain english and its always so much better to hear it from a person that has experience of the 'system'.

I am currently in the process of putting in a claim for the Higher Rate.

Kindest regards
Jackie

 

[Lonestray]

Mobility Allowance

Hi Nebiroth,
I think it's incorrect to say if one is getting a state pension they are not entitled to Mobility Allowance. My wife who is 72 and receives her state pension of over £60 a week, receives the lower rate 'help with getting around' of £16.50.
Had she been under 65 she would have been entitled to the higher rate.

Because I chose to lift her into the car and take her out shopping and any other place she or I require to go, I applied for a Disabled Badge. When I was informed we could not have one because she was on the lower rate, I wheeled my wife into the local Council Offices and wouldn't leave untill I was promised one.
Wheelchairs are an entitlemet as are other items of equipment, but seeing as both of us are over 70 I chose to buy her requirments. I get the messages put out, we're a drain on society, hence I do all our own care thank you.
Young ones, keep up the good fight and win before you join the band of over 65's. Best of luck and God bless. Padraig

 

[Jackie]

Young ones, keep up the good fight and win before you join the band of over 65's. Best of luck and God bless. Padraig

Dont you worry, I can assure you I have spent most of my time during my mums illness fighting the 'so called system' of which most recently it was for her Continuing Care, which I am proud to say we won....

I wheeled my wife into the local Council Offices and wouldn't leave untill I was promised one.

I do hope you won?

 

[Gill W]

Hi all,

As regards the bit about DLA changing to Attendance Allowance after the age of 65, I'm not sure.

My mum was allocated the Higher Rate DLA some years ago now 'for life'. We have always presumed that this meant for life, not that it would change when she turns 65. I do hope not, as mum would have great problems getting around if she didn't have her car. She's 64 this year, we'll have to watch & see what happens when she turns 65.

I was allocated the same benefit in 2002, initially for a period of 2 years, then for another year, then for an indefinite period, which meant I could get the car.

Quick point, Jackie, if you are allocated the Higher Rate DLA you must have at least 3 years of it ahead of you to be able to get a car as they run on 3 year leases. If you get it for 2 years, you won't be able to get a motibility vehicle, but you would be able to get the Excise Duty on a personal car paid for and would get a blue badge still. However, as explained before, the insurance, MOT etc would be your own responsibility.

Glad to be of help to others after all the help I've received.

Gill
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[jenniferpa]

According to the help the aged website, if you receive dla (with or without the mobility component) you will continue to receive it even after you reach 65.

http://www.helptheaged.org.uk/en-gb...enefits/Disability/as_disability_160106_2.htm

 

[Lonestray]

Dla

Hi Gil, I think you'll find if you were getting the higher rate before your 65 it will continue after 65. Unfortunately my wife was getting the lower rate before she was 65 as her condition worsened I failed to apply for the higher rate. When I did apply she was over 65, and was then told, had she been getting the higher rate before 65 it would have continued.
Of course I got the badge for the car. There's nothing I wouldn't do to disgrace authorities when it come to fighting for my wife. Good luck in your endevours.
Padraig

 

[Gill W]

Hello,

Great, sure mum will be relieved to hear that!

And well done you for sticking to your guns for the blue badge. Perseverance is the name of the game!

I had a devil of a fight to get the Higher Rate DLA in the first place, was refused twice & took it to a tribunal, getting Welfare Rights involved, the lot.

I went to the Tribunal, told them quite clearly I was no money grabber, all I wanted was help with getting around, the personal care bit I could manage between me, my sons & my mum. This seemed to sway them in my favour & I won!

There's something to be said for standing firm!!

Gill
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[Nebiroth]

If you are awarded Disability Allowance before you are 65, then it will be continued on after you pass that age for as long as you qualify for it.

If you are a new claimant 65 or over, then you have to claim for Attendance Allowance instead.

What bugs me about Atttendance Allowance is that there is no equivalent of the Mobility component as such. AA is, as the name suggests, all about the help that you need and - as I was told - only help within the home counts.

I was told that putting down on the claim that my Dad had had several falls in the garden, and needed someone to accompany him outside because he was (a) very fraill and likely to fall and (b) liable to become confused and lost in strange surroundings was pointless because they are discounted for AA!

Obviously, once you're over 65, you're not expected to leave your house.

Admittedly, Attendance Allowance does mostly cover the things that fall under DLA, but not the things that the lowest levels of DLA or Mobility cover. You're old so you just aren't mobile anymore. Infuriating.

It also means that AA does not automatically give you access to a Blue Badge - simply because there's no Mobility component. Which means that my Mum who is crippled with arthritis and also has Parkinsons qualifes for AA because she needs so much help with personal care, but doesn't qualify for a Blue Badge holder's parking space on the few occasions our friend takes us out in her car. Bizarre!

 

[abby]

Hiya.....

Just thought I would throw my fourpennth in....

Actually, you don't have to have the full 3 year award ahead of you to be able to make use of the Motability scheme. When I was first awarded DLA I dillied and dallied over whether to ' swop ' the money for the car and it was 6 months before I made my mind up. They sent me a declaration to fill in stating that at the end of the 3 yr lease, that should I be reawarded they would just carry it over but if not re awarded I personally would pay the 6 monthly payments to satisfy the terms of the lease.

This I signed, was reawarded and true to their word they carried it over so I didn't need to pay any money. This has continued the same ( one being 6 months outside the other ) ever since with no problems. Obviously if DLA is not reawared then you would be liable for the remaining 6 months.

As Gillw says......everything is included. Tax, Insurance, servicing, 2nd complete set of tyres ( wear and tear ) Excellent roadside rescue package giving you priority and now a £200 cash back ' thank you ' at the end of the lease providing the car is in good condition and no Insurance claims made.

The Motability site has a full list of vehicles upon request and there are many at ' Nil '. My first was a Ford.....I currently have a Renault which I paid an additional £175 for a larger engine size ( to many blooming hills around here )

Hope this helps

Abby
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[Gill W]

Hi Abby,

Thanks for that little gem. Does that mean that years back when I was awarded DLA for 2 years I could've got a car if I'd made the last year of payments myself?! That's good to find out but rather annoying too if you see what I mean?

For the two years I had the DLA I ran an old Sierra Sapphire, paid for insurance and MOT and stuff and needn't have done! Oh my word, sometimes you wish you'd just never found out, eh? Hehehe!

We live and learn huh?!

Gill
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[abby]

Hi Gill

I can't say when this arrangement started unfortunatly, all I know it was in force for me at the melleni....mullenia........millenio.....milliniam...... .....turn of the Century!

Have to say I assumed I had left it to long but it was Ford themselves that prompted the letter from Motability to me......said it was the norm in this situation and wouldn't be a prob...and it wasn't...

opps apols see I have got confused who I was replying / quoting lol....must be catching eh Dad ?

Abby
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