GoodBye XC90

[petrolhead69]

Sympathies for your mrs, but the point still stands that benefits should only be a safety net for those with absolutely nothing. If you have £5500 to put to it you really don't need benefits IMO. £5500 could buy tax service and insure outright an x trail or something else capable of towing a caravan so why should everyone else contribute for your luxury. I work 75-80 hours a week to get by and my car was well under £5500. My last car was £500 yet each and every month I have to pay over a grand income tax, £250 council tax, and probably at least another grand on the hidden taxes on evertything else we buy just living day to day like fuel and food, to fund a system which gives people large amounts of money who don't work for it and could get by without it. My last neighbours had a brand new motability decent spec Nissan note, their mortgage was paid for on a nice house in a nice area and they hadn't worked for years because she got headaches and he had a limp. The headaches didn't stop her babysitting the grandchild 6 days a week and the limp didn't stop hime staggering home from the pub steaming 4 nights a week so why couldn't they do some form of work? Why does each and every taxpayer have to foot the bill when we have our own families to feed?
When you add up income tax, ni, council tax, vat, fuel tax, insurance tax, stamp duty over a lifetime I bet most hardworking people end up giving away 75% of everything they make while some peole contribute very little.

[The Painter]

Originally Posted by Big Stew

Believe me guys I would much rather use a skateboard and have a wife who isn't dying. Motability is a charity which leases cars to people receiving DLA the full rate mobility componate presently £50 per week. People who choose to get a car from Motabiliy can get a small car for just their complete DLA payment or choose to pay an upfront advanced payment a get a larger vehicle I.e. a XC90, we choose to do this last time and funded this from my 40year old wife's pension which was unlocked early because she is dying. The advanced payment was £5500, we went down this route because we wished to tow a caravan, also paid for out of her unlocked pension. So up to now we have paid all the extras out of our own pocket, O how some people jump on the anti benefits band wagon. Get your bloody facts right people. If you don't know your facts then I suggest you keep you misguided views to yourself's and I honestly hope you never find yourself's in a position of needing help for loved one ! ! !

Well said Stew, this once very helpful forum is now rapidly filling up with highly opinionated imbeciles who really have no clue whatsoever on the subject.

I for one wish you all the best and hope the X1 does what you need it to and gives you all some pleasure.

[petrolhead69]

I'm Not getting at you for taking what is offered on a plate, anyone would do the same, I certainly would. I think the whole system is unfair though.
Yes painter anyone with a different opinion to you is an imbecile. Nice. Last I heard everyone was still entitled to their own opinion.
Back on the subject in hand, couldn't you take the cash alternative to the mobility component of the dla, add in the extra money out your pocket you were going to chip in anyway and get a good used xc90 with a long aftermarket warranty if an x1 doesn't suit your needs? Or even one of the less expensive full size 4x4s, they are all pretty luxurious and more than reliable enough nowadays.

[Funky Diver]

Motability is Only available on new vehicles petrolhead.

[Funky Diver]

Originally Posted by The Painter

highly opinionated imbeciles who really have no clue whatsoever on the subject

Sorry to say this, but I'm certainly not an highly opinionated imbecile without a clue on the subject.

Some facts for you,

1. I spent over 15 years working in the Care arena fighting tooth and nail for folks who REALLY need the financial support just to be able to get washed and dressed every day. Due to the bureaucratic nature of the Social Services system and the way in which budgets are allocated, these folks got a pittance. This in turn has led, in recent years, to very high profile systematic abuse issues along with recognised depravity. As a side note, they didn't have the luxury of being able to earn anything other than a state pension that they would never see.

2. I now work in a service industry, due in the main to the huge amount of stress involved in th said previous employment, and come into daily contact with folks living on the State. We are keeping these people in luxury. They want for nothing, seriously. Council housing with modern and up to date utility systems, a fully subsidised vehicle provided through DLA, as they were able to train their spawn to fake an ailment that earned them the right to higher rate DLA, having a private nursery plac paid for after the government school attached one shuts so that they can "be busy looking for a job". Sitting watching a premium TV service (Virgin, et al), surfing the net and placing bets on their new laptop, then moaning all the while that they have to go for an interview to prove they're still looking for work.

And yes, I have seen it with my own eyes from both camps.


Stew, I feel for you with your Mrs, true deserving cases should be just that, however part of me cannot help but reflect that the system allows you to over stretch our means as a nation and is reflective of how the State allows the overall payout to continue.

[Slackey]

Originally Posted by Funky Diver

Motability is Only available on new vehicles petrolhead.

Err not entirely true. My father in law is registered disabled and is on the highest rate of DLA. Instead of a new car, which he could have, he decides to make do with a 51 plate Megane auto for the tiny mileage he does. His DLA is then used to pay for the things he really needs..... Oh and he does not smoke, drink and worked right up until he was told he had to retire early.

However I can echo some of the sentiments here. I get what is being said, if you can afford to put £5500 towards a car then why do you need to have that topped up? I know many many people who can not afford to put a figure anywhere near that towards a car and they work very hard. As has been said, I do not blame anyone for taking what benefits are offered, after all you have paid into it if you were or are in work. Given the opportunity we would all do the same, lets face it anyone with kids gets family allowance or whatever it is called these days, that is a benefit but one that rarely gets picked on by the masses because most people get it.

What does really grip me is scrounges that have never done a days work and expect the world, and generally get it.

[graym]

I think people are mis-understanding what the Disability Living Allowance is for. It is to help disabled people with the extra costs that having a disability involves. For example I need to have a lift installed in my house as I cannot use stairs, this is going to cost me £9000, that is my living allowance used up for the next 3 1/2 years. (unless Petrolhead69) wants to help me out.
I work full-time, I don't receive any benefits. But I think you would be surprised how many extra costs there are being disabled. From re-working your home, to hand-controls on cars, needing bigger (and therefore more expensive) cars to fit my wheelchair and other equipment, more expensive holidays because package deals will never accommodate a wheel chair and the cheapest hotels often don't have accessible rooms. Even the wheelchair I use everyday is paid for mostly by myself. You don't receive any help for all these extra costs.
I saved for and bought a caravan to go camping in. To fit a wider door and ramp was £3000 - most people have no idea how expensive a disability can be.

The DLA does not even begin to cover most of the extra expenses.

Personally I don't like motability as I'd rather use my DLA for other things, even repayments on a second hand car are less than that and you still have a car at the end. But I do understand why some people use the service and it doesn't cost the taxpayer any more than what they would be paying through the Living Allowance.

The DLA is not a benefit - it's an allowance, most people wont see the difference (but there are also people who think wine is just grape juice). It's in place to try and ensure that disabled people can get some enjoyment out of an otherwise extremely difficult life. Most are people that don't complain about what life has dished out to them but are doing their damnedest to get the most out of it anyway.

[petrolhead69]

Originally Posted by Funky Diver

Motability is Only available on new vehicles petrolhead.

There is a cash alternative as I have a few clients who take it, they have had their cars adapted specifically for them so they don't like to change every 3 years. Maybe England is different I don't know.

[Slackey]

This is exactly how my father in law sees it Graym. He had to have a stair lift fitted to his house, admittedly he did get some of it funded by a grant but the rest he had to stump up himself. Like I said he uses the money for the things he needs, not the things he wants.....if you get my drift.

Some of the things needed to make a house suitable for a disabled person are ludicrously expensive. He had to have a shower installed with no lip on the shower tray (basically making it a wet room), different taps on the sinks so he can turn them on, a special chair so he can actually sit properly and get up without the mother in law having to play tug of war with him, a special mattress so he can sleep in relative comfort and then there is the things like special shoes so he can actually walk and not be wheel chair bound.

I have every sympathy for people that are in these situations and every one is different, but I do think the allowance should be correctly means tested. What would people say if the likes of Lord Sugar was getting it? If you don't actually need it then you should not actually get it is my opinion.

[petrolhead69]

Sorry, can't help with a lift, I do Telecare, telehealth, nursecall, smart homes and systems integration.