Use Of Car

[cockatiel1]

My husband is disabled. We have a parking space outside our house and he uses a blue badge.We have our own car which is taxed disabled so we don't pay anything.
As we can only afford to run one car I do use it for my personal use as well as take my husband to appointments or go shopping for him. He drives too but I am the main driver. Our daughter lives in another town about 4 hrs drive away.My husband doesn't want to visit her for a weekend as he would get bored,but is happy to visit for a day if he feels up to it. My other relations live some distance from us and I like to see them once or twice a year. Socially my husband doesn't want to go out much,but I have a good social life and sometimes need the car. We think our council want to limit the amount of disabled spaces in our area as parking is difficult. They have confirmed that my husband is entitled to keep his space,but we have begun to wonder if I'm allowed to use the car for my own personal use as long as I don't use the badge. We are concerned that the space could be removed and we'd have to park further away than my husband can walk.I would like to hear from anyone in a similar position

[woofgang]

indeed hc, it would be a brave council indeed who removed spaces allocated for parking for disabled people.....but can I point out again that no individual disabled person “owns” the space and that any blue badge user can park there...its not “his” space.
So far as Motability goes, people in receipt of a mobility benefit do not need to use them to have a car...indeed they don’t need to use the benefit for any kind of owned or leased transport if another solution will meet their needs.

[EDDIE51]

I fail to see that using the Motability car to collect my wife's relative from Scotland to come and visit her can be classed as anything other than 'of benefit' to her. As I said the rules for 'the designated driver' are a lot less strict than the rules for 'additional drivers' . If I was just an additional driver I would not have been allowed to collect a relative from Scotland.
hc4361 was your neighbor's husband the 'designated driver ' or just an 'additional driver?' If he was just an additional driver it is correct he was not allowed to use the car to go to work, if he was the 'designated driver' it was OK.

[TWR]

No, only for the Badge Holder.

[EDDIE51]

You can only have one 'designated driver' for a motability car, but you can have two more permanent drivers as 'additional drivers' so each car can have 3 'permanent' drivers. In addition you can have more drivers added as temporary drivers for up to 30 days. We had an additional temporary driver, my Uncle, when we went to Scotland for a family funeral ( we have a lot of relatives in Scotland so go there 2 or 3 times a year) This was all arranged with Motability themselves via their 'help line', so all above board and pre approved.

[hc4361]

I wish you would stop referring to designated and allocated drivers, Eddie.

The car cannot be used by anyone, designated or allocated, unless it is for the benefit of the disabled person.
Don't forget a car on the motability scheme has exactly the same tax exemption as a car privately owned by a qualifying disabled person.

It is true that any blue badge holder can park in the disabled home outside cockatiel's home. In fact if there is no blue badge sign on a pole alongside the bay, it is discretionary only and anyone can park there, blue badge or not.

[Mamyalynne]

Having dealt with this on various levels, I agree with hc and Woofgang - you need to change back the taxation class and pay.

That way Cockatiel you'll be able to have a good social life with use of the car without worry.

[EDDIE51]

I am not suggesting anything other than the car being used for the benefit of the disabled person.
I am pointing out that the definition of ' benefit of the disabled person' can extend to situations that I mentioned, like going to collect a friend or relative of the disabled person so that they can come to visit and taking them home again afterwards.
For Motability cars there is a difference as to what the 'designated driver' can do against what an 'additional driver' can do. Basically the designated driver can do anything that the disabled person asks them to do including giving friends/relatives a lift even if the disabled person him/herself is not actually in the car. If my wife asks me to use her Motability car to collect her relative and bring them to our house for a visit then that IS 'for her benefit' . If she was able to drive herself she would do it, but as she can't drive she gets me, her designated driver, to do it on her behalf. Any other arrangement would put a non driving disabled person at a disadvantage to a disabled person with a driving licence. A designated driver is basically a chauffeur for the disabled person.