Cars For Disabled People
Motability is a UK charity set up to help Disabled People keep mobile. The main scheme that they operate allows DLA – High Rate Mobility Allowance recipients to swap their allowance for a new car.
The scheme works by taking your DLA (High Rate Mobility) and using it to pay the contract payments of the car that you choose. If your allowance is not enough to meet the cost of the contract, then Motability charges you an “Advance Payment” to make up the shortfall. Although it is possible to get a car with no advance payment, most of the cars on offer do involve some level of extra payment.
What’s Included
- A new car of your choice every three years
- Road Fund Licence (Car Tax) is included and arranged for you
- Servicing and Maintenance is included
- Tyres are included and changed free of charge at your home (or wherever you choose)
- Full UK Breakdown Cover
- Insurance is included (although some cars may have restrictions)
Not Covered:
- Petrol/Diesel
- Other consumables – oil, screenwash etc.
Do I Qualify?
To qualify for any vehicle through Motability you must be in receipt of the Mobility Component of Disability Living Allowance at the Higher Rate. You must have at least 12 months of award remaining when you start on the scheme.
Do I Need To Drive?
No. You can nominate two drivers one of which can be you but doesn’t have to be. The rules say that the car has to be used for your benefit but you don’t always have to be in the vehicle when it is used.
What Else Does Motability Offer?
In addition to the main Contract Hire Scheme for Cars, Motability also offers a Hire Purchase Scheme for Cars (essentially a loan scheme).
You can also use Motability to purchase a Motorised Wheelchair or Scooter. In a similar way to the Car Schemes, there is a Contract Hire or Hire Purchase Scheme.
More Information?
Visit the Motability website at: http://www.motability.co.uk
Staying With Toilets
While we’re on the subject of toilets, there are times when it’s difficult for anyone to wait but this can be a major problem if you have a bowel or bladder problem.
Whilst the RADAR scheme aims to make sure that toilets are available and usable for those that need them, there are plenty of places where there just aren’t the facilities. Sometimes it’s possible to ask for the use of a toilet, in a shop or somewhere. I know that I’ve done this with the kids and often received a friendly response.
For an adult though, it’s not so easy and often very embarrassing. It’s not easy to ask, it’s worse having to explain why and in many cases there just isn’t the time.
Just Can’t Wait Card
In an effort to help those afflicted with bowel and/or bladder problems and who may need to use a toilet in a hurry, the Bladder and Bowel Foundation offer the “Just Can’t Wait” toilet card.
The idea is that you can discretely hand over the card. It explains that the holder has a medical condition that requires the urgent use of a toilet. Hopefully this will help you get the use of the facilities you need when you need them.
The Bladder and Bowel Foundation point out that the card does not guarantee access to a toilet, most places will do what they can to help. They offer the card for free, just email them. You’ll get the email link and a little more information on their dedicated web page here.
What’s Your Experience?
Have you used or been given one of these cards? How useful or effective do you think they are? Would you try to help if an otherwise healthy looking person presented you with a card like this one? Let us know your views in the comments!
EDIT: 14/05/2010
Due to recent TV publicity, the Bladder and Bowel Foundation have been swamped with requests for their card. Unfortunately this has stretched their resources so they are now forced to request a minimum £5 donation towards covering the cost of issuing cards.
The Royal Association for Disability Rights
RADAR is a national network of disability organisations and disabled people. In the main their members are other disability organisations although you can join as an individual. They campaign for the rights of all disabled people and have lobbying access to Westminster and Whitehall. They support the campaigns of their member organisations as well as creating their own. They currently advertise a membership of over 800 disability organisations representing over 11 million disabled people in the UK.
What Can They Do For Me?
RADAR frequently pop up in the news but they are probably best known for their toilets! RADAR administrate the National Key Scheme (NKS). This is the scheme that encourages the use of a common key for all publicly available disabled toilets. They provide the locks to anyone wishing to fit them and they sell keys to disabled people wanting to use the toilets. In addition to this, they produce a regularly updated guide to all disabled toilets in the country with RADAR locks fitted.
RADAR Key
As well as their keys, RADAR produce a number of publications that are of use to disabled people generally but specifically newly disabled people.
From personal experience, I must say that I found their guide “If Only I’d Known That A Year Ago…” extremely useful. The guide is regularly updated (the current edition is 2009) and includes a lot of useful information and contact details. Bought individually, it costs £12.60 including UK delivery.
In addition to “If Only I’d Known That A Year Ago…” RADAR produces a number of other publications:
- Children First – Information on services for disabled children.
- There and Back – A guide to travelling by Air, Road, Rail and Sea.
- Get Motoring – A guide to buying and owning a car.
- Get Mobile – A guide to buying a Scooter or Motorised Wheelchair.
- Get Caravanning – Produced with help from the Caravan Club, this is a FREE guide to caravanning from a disabled person’s perspective.
- Doing IT Differently – About Computers and IT.
- Doing Money Differently – Managing money while living with ill-health, injury or disability.
- Doing Work Differently – Getting and keeping a job whilst living with ill-health, injury or disability.
Individual Membership
RADAR publications and keys are available from the shop section on their website. If you want in a key and one or more of their publications, it is worth considering their Individual Membership. They give a key to all their members and make their publications available free of charge, you just have to ask for them.
Where To Find RADAR
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