[Laura]

Made a complaint to Motability grants due to the case manager I been dealing with from September being dismissive, lacking empathy and anytime I said my child physically will not be able to access a large suv meaning it would be a waste of time ordering one etc and how she kept threatening me with ‘if you dont order a large suv you wont have a grant’ which would cost motability money on making a car that I would have to terminate/cancel due to my child not being able to use it. Which defeats the purpose of my child having a motability car that she cannot use.

Received a phonecall today of a manager/someone dealing with the complaint who was absolutely lovely, she informed me the case manager who was dealing with me had recently left and that she has passed it to one of her case managers she manages and she was so apologetic. Said she had listened to the calls and she was so empathetic and like i said apologetic. She said that my new case worker will be looking at small suv’s for me and asked is there anything I need a car to have as standard.

Absolutely lovely and just what type of person I been wishing to speak to this whole process. I couldn’t thank her enough for being so kind and a listening ear. I told her I rang last Friday asking for a manager and kept getting told I couldn’t speak to one and she gave her name and said if you need to ring ask to speak to me.

I think the case manager I had may have been abrupt, dismissive and rude to me because she knew she was leaving so that is probably why her attitude was so bad to not give a monkeys about what I was saying.

Feeling positive!

Topic

[joss]

@Laura Well done to you for sticking to your guns.

Joss
Current car: BMW X2 sDrive 20i M Sport 5dr Step Auto In metallic Portimão Blue. 04:10:2025
Previous car:Peugeot 308 GT Premium 1.2 Pure tech Petrol.

[Elliot]

Sounds like the initial case manager was in the wrong job.

[Laura]

I was going to let it go but the more I thought about it I thought no way!

I hope my complaint ensures another person will not have to go through such a stressful time and feeling like they are being a ‘nuisance’ or that they are ‘begging’

These grants are in place for vulnerable people/people with disabilities but the process  should be plain sailing and not so stressful and being spoken down to, but to be recognised and the points you give should be taken into account. Thank god for the phone call today

[kezo]

Morning Laura. Your absolutely right not to let it go after all the stress and worry its caused you. I am pleased to hear it sorted promtly by the grants department, to your wishes.

Did you explain, you had ordered the T Roc only for the grant to be withdrawn on the it and requested it to be put on the list?

I wish your daughter daughter all the best with her upcoming op 🙂

[Laura]

Thanks kezo!

Yes I told her everything.

She told me the car is still there and to not pick it up yet she will have the case manager sort it by next week. It was good talking to someone who listened

[Laura]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>Grants team rang today.</p>
The new case manager said that she was more than happy to grant a smaller sized suv and said that if I still wanted to Troc to go get it.

She said the original grant letter did say medium car and large suv on it (although only large suvs were listen) and she believes the troc is a medium size car so she is happy to allow the troc and allow the same grant amount I was originally given.

The original case worker I had was adamant that it was only a large suv (even when I told 1000 times the reasons for me not getting a large one) and went out of her way to contact the dealership to say if the car wasn’t on her list even though the money covered it, to cancel it.

So glad the new case worker I got went through my information I sent in and listened to why a large suv category wouldn’t be suitable. She never once said ‘I won’t grant a small suv’ nor did she say ‘if you don’t get a large suv then you don’t get a grant’ she was very lovely and I am so grateful and so lucky to get someone who was very kind and a listening ear.

She even went out of her way to ring the dealership I attended to tell the motability rep she was sorry for him being told by the original caseworker to cancel my order and told him that amount covers my troc and she is happy with me using that amount for that.

[Phaedra]

Excellent news, well done 🙂

Please excuse spelling/typos. Apart from being a clot it turns out I had one on my cerebellum that's now causing various problems!

[Laura]

Thanks I am absolutely delighted. I wish the original caseworker was as nice as she was

[on the spectrum]

I think that the Grants team has changed their policy as i was told on what you can and cannot have as even there phone message now says this. I apparently they told me in a letter that I complained too much and that I would have to now fund my own car and adaptations and that even though they never once told me or advised me on a suitable car my suggestions were not allowed and now apparently I cannot go anywhere to get help as they are a law unto themselves it seems even the Charity Commision tells me they cannot help totally hopeless even though I had many years using the grants they will not even reply to my emails.

[Laura]

Wow! That is a disgrace.
<p style=”text-align: left;”>I am so sorry this happened to you. I had applied in september and a case manager rang me in January saying in 5 days I would receive an email, I never received it so I emailed in March saying I didn’t receive it. 3 days later she rings me and says ‘you were sent the letter’ and I said no I wasnt that is why I emailed to find out if I’m being awarded one so I know if I can order a car or not. She said ‘ it was sent’ 15 minutes after I receive the letter with today’s date (the date of our call) so she obviously did forget to do the letter and send me it. She was rude, dismissive and more to me when I said your letter says medium car and large suv but you only listed large suvs which my child couldn’t access. She kept dismissing everything I said didn’t want to listen.</p>
So I logged a complaint, as I didn’t want anyone else experiencing what I did. A complaints manager rang me and I explained the situation to her, she agreed it would be silly for me to be given a grant for a large suv that my child cannot access. She assigned me a new case manager who asked me to go try a ford puma with a motability specialist, which i did and there was no head room or leg room, she said she spoke to motability at ford and they confirmed the car was not suitable.

I told her I was at volkswagen they had a cancellation of a troc so she said I could use the grant for that and she was granting the original amount I was given but to use it for a small suv as she knows a large suv isn’t suitable.

It definitely depends on what case manager you get as the original one was absolutely awful to me.

In my complaint I said the grants department was stressful and didn’t align with motability’s values. I said motability say to pick cars that are suitable and comfortable for your disability but the grants team think they know best and don’t listen to your opinions or concerns.

I am glad I put a complaint in hope it helps not put another family through such a daunting process

[on the spectrum]

Hi also update from What Motability Legal team say about having you car delivered they state that you have to go to the dealership due to you not being able to cancel your car contract if you do this at the dealership? well the FCA and under consumer credit law you can have 14 days cooling off on any finance or contract and the FCA and the ombudsman say they do not know what they are talking about you have the same rights whether you order and have car delivered at home or in the Dealership.

[Laura]

Did the grants team help you source a new car?

I thought during lockdown people were having cars delivered to home address. Courtesy cars get delivered to home address so I would assume they could do so.

I haven’t ever tried to get home delivery but I am sure it will suit a lot of motability customers

 

[kezo]

Hi @Laura have you taken delivery of the T-Roc 🙂

[Laura]

Hello kezo!

No I just got the phonecall Friday at 4 of my new case manager to say the troc fell into the original category that was on my letter and that she was happy enough to grant it and keep the original amount, she apologised for the original caseworker cancelling it. She said I could use the original grant letters but I did ask could she add troc onto It because I didn’t want the same thing happening again.

I rang the dealership Friday he said he kept hold of the car for me thank god so I pick it up Friday! Thankfully.

The case manager sent me the letters today to forward to the dealership, she kept the original letters but did type in ‘can be used for the troc’.

The dealership rang me about half hour ago to confirm it been processed and to arrange picking it up.

I cannot wait! A long time waiting from September for this. If the original case manager wasn’t so dismissive and actually read my information and listened to me it wouldn’t of took this long.

So glad the new case manager was so helpful

[kezo]

Great news Laura! You can now go forward with one less thing to worry about and hope Friday goes smoothly for you.

Wishing you and your daughter all the best and I hope your daughters upcoming op goes well 🙂

[Laura]

Thank you so much kezo! I will let you know how it goes.

Thank you hopefully this car is good luck to us and can’t wait until surgery is over with

[Sue]

I gave up on my grant application as they were pushing me to the WAV type option and not listening to the somewhat cheaper but still suitable solutions in normal cars.

I get what they were trying to achieve, complete independence but that requires a powered chair which I cannot afford and the fact remains, even if I could get myself out of the vehicle independently, it still didn’t change the fact that I need someone with me after that, so can never be truly independent.

We then got into a roundabout thing of applying for charities for a powered chair (need to have a WAV, not just one ordered and a house that is suitable), wheelchair services (had already declined due to house not meeting criteria even though my needs do meet the criteria) and I was just ping ponging between everyone. I kept saying that a normal vehicle with some tweaks would do the trick but it didn’t seem to get through.

In the end I gave up, found something on the scheme that sort of met things, cancelled that order after less than average customer service (a pleasant way to put it) and then youngest offered to help with an AP and I ordered a car that meets my needs, has all the things I had been suggesting to the grants team as standard, has one thing that would have had to be a specialised, very expensive thing on the van type vehicle and is far cheaper than anything they were suggesting (£2.2k compared to the 25-30k they were talking about at one point!).

Oh and I have space to park it too, unlike the bigger vehicle, wouldn’t have had a hope with that at home or at work.

[Laura]

Wow that is a disgrace!

I was sick of arguing with the case manager I kept saying why my child not access a large suv and how it wont fit in my drive and I live on the main road. She still kept saying its either that or no grant at all we don’t fund small sized suv’s (which others have been funded for) said there was plenty small suv’s with no ap so I told her there was only 3 and their boots were under 400 litres and I need 440 litres and above. Still kept saying no.

I went to volkswagen and the dealer said cause it said medium in my letter that should cover the troc, he put the order through the day after she rang him and not me to inform the car was to be cancelled.

From that moment I just got more frustrated, so I rang them and asked to speak to my case managers manager and kept being refused.  The person on the phone told me ‘your case manager said she googled your address and your driveway is big’ I just seen red at that point, i said ‘i told her my gates are 1825mm making my driveway very tight to access even in my hatchback i didnt say i had a non existent driveway. I told her I couldn’t make a large suv actually fit in it cause it wouldn’t get past the gates and posts’ so i did 2 complaint emails.

I believe If I didn’t complain I’d of got nowhere but I wasn’t sitting back and allowing them to put others through such stress and telling others what should suit them when they are being told it isn’t accessible and provided with proof.

Luckily someone above a case manager rang me and said she was getting a case manager in her team to have a look at it. Thankfully common sense prevailed and the new case manager did ask me to go try a puma but it was just like being in a fiesta, then she rang and said she’s gonna keep the same grant award and letter that i was given for a large suv but to just use it for a small suv that was suitable. She said cause it said medium on the original letter she believes a troc falls into that category where as the original case manager didn’t.

Did you make a complaint sue? I seen yesterday a guy said he was granted 7499 for his ap for a mazda cx60 so the grants team do have the funds it definitely depends on your case manager which is what I learned

[kezo]

@Sue if you have only recently canceled your grant, I would most definately still lodge a complaint. Its sounds like you have cancelled under duress, as they were trying to put you in a vehicle not really suitable for your needs, as your unlikely to have the funds to purchase a powered wheelchair, as they were sugesting for you freedom, therefore a normal vehicle would have been more than adequate. Also wotrth discussing with your M?P depending how far you want to push it 🙂

[Laura]

Completely agree here with kezo. Sue put in a complaint, I didn’t get my local mp involved but I did get in contact with her and she said if needed she will issue a letter to them.

I did mention that they would be hearing from my mp but I didnt even need to get a letter from her because the person who rang me dealing with the complaint actually listened to what I was saying, and said she would listen to my calls and read the rest of the info I provided. She did then assign me a case manager in her team and that case manager did mention 2 large suvs which I told her was on my original letter and weren’t suitable I need a smaller suv, so she recommended trying the puma she then spoke to the specialist I dealt with at ford confirming the car was unsuitable then she spoke to volkswagen were my original order was cancelled. Then contacted me to confirm same grant amount I got given for large suv to cover a smaller sized one.

Spoke to volkswagen yesterday he said case manager rang him and asked him is the troc a small suv he said he believes it’s medium as the tcross is smaller (boot was too small) and he said the troc was a trim down from tiguan, he said she agreed and that checking her information it says it fell under the medium category that was originally on my letter and she apologised to him for the original case manager cancelling it.

Definitely go ahead with the complaint it seems to get you further! And will probably help them change the way they do things so others don’t have such a stressful time

[Author]

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