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Well the scheme comes in for a lot of criticism, sometimes, and with our renewal coming up I was half thinking of leaving and buying something privatly.
the bmw x1 we have had for nearly 3 years has been faultless, not a single problem, however over the last month it has had a new tyre at a cost of nearly £200, and needed its rear brakes changing at a cost of £491, and the dealer said it’s going to want the front ones doing in 2000 miles, so presumably same cost again. And it’s also going to need more new tyres soon as well I expect.
its easy to forget about these costs when comparing costs of getting a private vehicle, and that’s on a newish car, hate to think how things would add up on something second hand. Especially factoring a few repairs as well as what I would call routine maintenance.
car running costs have definetly increased infinitely since we last had a private car in 2008.
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I’m with a few here, not a chance in hell we would be able to afford some of these cars new and I actually balk when I see people talking about their ridiculous price X-Trails/Mercedes/etc or paying 5k+ AP’s and all the extras they load on top, it does make you wonder how the government has got away with not making pip means tested or at least put a cap on it. We can go for months and months with no income during a particularly bad flare up/crash and the all inclusive motoring is going to take such a weight off knowing we can still get to family for support.
Just as it makes you balk when people talk about paying high APs etc it irritates me when people suggest that PIP should be means tested, as I find that suggestion very mean spirited and unjust. Disability does not discriminate, so nor should PIP.
Those on very low to no incomes have access to a benefits system that those of us who pay tax fund. I have no problem with that if their needs are just and they physically cannot work, but we all know that there are many who make that a lifestyle choice (BTW I’m not suggesting for one minute that you are in the latter category).
My wife and I worked damned hard throughout our entire working lives, never drawing any benefits (other than family allowance in the years before that was means tested). Our attitude was always that we should support ourselves rather than expect other tax payers to do so. To my wife’s credit, she continued to work (with great difficulty) for some years after she started using a wheelchair. I also sacrificed a lot of my income for pensions to give us an income in retirement that would give us a good standard of living, also with the aim that we would support ourselves and not expect other tax payers to. Things don’t always work out as you plan, and we now find ourselves in a position where our retirement plans are somewhat scuppered as my wife’s condition has deteriorated and she is now very disabled (full time wheelchair user, unable to even stand unaided).
My wife’s disability necessitates us having to have adaptations around the house and the daily use of disposable items that we have to pay for ourselves. This has included over £10k of our savings used to have a bathroom converted to a wetroom. Had we not worked hard and saved hard, doubtless we could have had this paid for by our local authority, but we are penalised by having been sensible. These and other things are ALL means tested, so we qualify for no help whatsoever other than my wife’s PIP and my Carers Allowance. In the case of my carers allowance, I still pay far more in tax each month on my private pension than I receive in carers allowance and this allowance stops altogether when my state pension starts. My wife’s PIP will thankfully continue when she receives her state pension but, again, I will more than pay for that in income tax on my pension. Finally, we are getting close to needing carers support at times when I am not here all day. Yet again, we will have to fund this in its entirety, whereas others will get it paid for by their local authority. The same will happen if either of us have to go into care in later life. This can make those of us who have to fund everything ourselves quite resentful and at times wishing we had blown it all earlier in life rather than being sensible.
Hopefully this might give you pause for thought that means testing PIP would be unjust.
I just stated it makes you wonder, for years we had no idea we were entitled to it as anytime we lost income, we got nothing other than JSA for a few months, no universal credit, prescriptions etc so just assumed this would be the same.
This scheme is potentially life changing for us and not just a way of getting a third or fourth household car, and we’ve all met that type, and they are usually the ones complaining about the current powers that be not being able to balance the books, and if you believe the current disability hate train it’s due to a generation of influencers earning hundreds of thousands on their twitch or adult social websites while claiming for anxiety.
I meant no disrespect it was just genuinely surprising.
The extremities of life are what people use to divide a group, the reality is that most are in the stuck in the middle, struggling through life turned upside down by disability. Trust me GG, if the local authority came and offered to put a wet room in – you would turn them away and willingly spend your own money. Unless ‘Motorway Services Disabled toilet chic’ is your thing.
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