New car smell

After everything that’s happened over the last 5 weeks not many days have been good days but today was. I will write a blog post about everything that happened but that’s for another day! 

Today I went to pick up my new motability car and got to breathe in that new car smell. I am now the proud lease holder of this lovely Volvo XC40. 

To be honest, part of me wasn’t sure whether to write a blog post about getting the new car with everything that’s been going on with the disability benefit reforms. There’s been so much written about motability cars on social media but a lot of it is misinformation and hate and that made me nervous to write this post. But I figured that most people reading it are friends and family and understand my need for the car. But for those that don’t let me explain a bit about how the motability scheme works. 

I am lucky enough (or unlucky enough depending on how you look at it) to claim PIP- personal independence payment. This benefit is designed to help with the extra costs of living with a long term health condition or disability. It’s not means tested, affected by savings and you can be in work and receive it too. If you receive the higher rate for mobility of £75.75 a week, as I do, then you can effectively swop the monetary payment for a motability car. So the car isn’t free; it costs me just under £4000 a year. But for that I get a brand new car every 3 years, fully comprehensive insurance for me and 2 named drivers, roadside recovery if I break down and all repairs and servicing carried out on the car for free. Now I think that’s a pretty good deal but I will never own the car and will continue to pay my £75.75 a week for as long as I stay in the scheme. 

And quite a few cars require an advanced payment, which is a one off, upfront payment that you don’t get back. I had to pay £1500 on this new Volvo, whereas 3 years ago there was no advance payment on the Kia Nero I had. When I was looking at new cars earlier in the year I noticed that nearly all the cars had some advance payment ranging from a few hundred pounds right up to £3000/4000 but in previous years most cars didn’t. Maybe it’s to help cover the fact that new cars are more expensive than ever- like everything else the price in the last couple of years has just gone up and up. 

Reading what people have written on social media about the motability scheme you’d think people were just turning up to new car showrooms telling the salespeople they’re not well and then just driving away with a brand new car that day. It doesn’t work like that. You can only join the motability scheme if you have already been assessed through the PIP or DLA (disability living allowance) assessment process. And let me tell you getting either of these benefits is not easy. 

Making a claim for PIP is difficult. The form you have to complete is long and arduous to fill in. When I did mine it took me weeks to fill in it. The sheer number of questions asked, the detail required for each answer and the supporting evidence that you have to supply makes it a difficult process. I also find it emotionally and mentally draining to have to detail all of my health issues and the effects they have on me. My way of coping is to shove all my feelings deep down and try not to think about how shitty my life can be. Seeing it all written down in black and white makes it real and once you take the lid off the box it’s hard to put it back on again. 

Now I’m not saying that the process should be easy. There does need to be rigorous checks done to make sure that only those with genuine health issues or disabilities gets the benefits. But the way the system is currently set up is so messed up. For example I have a friend with cancer that was turned down for PIP and is currently going through the appeals process. I have another friend that had multiple health issues including bowel disease and a brain tumour and was turned down for PIP and had to go to a tribunal to get it paid to them. And I have another friend who had MS that has submitted their application and been waiting almost a year to be assessed. He desperately needs a wheelchair accessible vehicle but cannot join the motability scheme until his PIP assessment is done. And I am reassessed every couple of years despite the fact that my doctors have told them that I will never get better and my condition will only deteriorate. 

The current benefit reforms really scare me. I know I’m genuine but I still worry that I could end up losing my benefits. If I lost my PIP then I would lose my motability car. And without the car I would effectively be trapped in the house. The car is a lifeline and gives me my independence meaning that on good days I can drive myself to the shops or to hospital appointments but on bad days then Hubby or my Dad (who are my 2 named drivers) are able to use it to drive me about or do things like go and pick up my repeat prescriptions. The peace of mind of knowing we have a new, reliable car sat on the drive is priceless. But if I could I would exchange the car for being well I would in heartbeat. Nobody chooses to be disabled or have a chronic health condition. This is not a life I ever dreamed of. I would love to be well enough to work and not need to claim benefits. But this is this is the life I have and I have to make the best of it. 

Instead of coming after the disabled the government should be getting the likes of Amazon and Starbucks to pay their taxes and closing the tax loopholes. It should be taxing the super rich, the millionaires and billionaires that can afford to pay more.