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Hi Guys I wonder if anyone can offer some advice.
My 83yr old MIL is disabled and has had a nasty fall in her garden which has resulted in her breaking her shoulder and being admitted to Hospital last Sunday.
She has a mobility car which we drive for her as she does not drive herself. The likelihood is she will be in hospital/rehab for a few weeks. I understand that we should contact DWP and Motability at some point to let them know. I have read it is 28 days but do we let them know now or when the 28 days is up as it’s early days and don’t know if she will be out within 28 days or for a few more weeks after that.
I believe she will still be entitled to her pension etc but that her DLA and higher level Mobility component part might get suspended after the 28 days but when she comes out that would resume.
First can someone advise when we should get in touch with DWP and Motability and also if Motability stop getting the £64.50 a week benefit will they expect the car to be returned and the lease cancelled if we don’t know how long it will be before she is out of rehab.
The problem is this is our only form of transport and we would need the car to be able to make daily visits to see her whilst in rehab.
Any advice appreciated.
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You are correct @kbfern it is 28 days you are allowed, there after you “should” notify the DWP and I guess motability. You should get in touch with DWP when she went into hospital. if you are in hospital for more than 28 days, you or somebody acting on your behalf should also contact us so we can discuss the next steps with you depending on the expected length of your hospital stay. Please discuss asap with motability. if its only a week or so maybe they can help. “The problem is this is our only form of transport and we would need the car to be able to make daily visits to see her whilst in rehab.”
What happens to my lease if I’m in hospital for more than 28 days?
In general, DWP do not make payments of PIP or DLA care and mobility components after a disabled person has been in hospital for 28 days or more. Payments will instead resume once the disabled person comes out of hospital. However, if the disabled person is aged under 18 when they go in to hospital, payments of PIP or DLA will continue as normal even if they turn 18 whilst in hospital. It does not matter how long they are in hospital for, just that they were aged 18 or under when they entered hospital.
Please be advised you must notify DWP as soon as you are admitted to hospital, and if you are in hospital for more than 28 days, you or somebody acting on your behalf should also contact us so we can discuss the next steps with you depending on the expected length of your hospital stay.
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.Thank you Joss.
Initially last Sunday she was taken to A&E and after about 24hrs was put on an elderly care unit after having scans xray etc. Today after being on the elderly care ward she has been assessed and needs to go onto a rehab ward when they can find a bed as near as possible to our address.
This may take a few days and once she gets transferred and seen the specialists their we might get an indication as to how long rehab will be.
It may be back to her home after rehab but maybe into a care facility more long term we don.t know that yet though.
Our prime concern is obviously for Mom and her long term health but it is also important to find out what happens to the car and how quick that would be dealt with.
If the car lease had to be ended due to a longer stay in hospital (over 28 days and say up to 2-3 months) are Motability likely to want to end the lease. If so that would leave us in a pickle as this is our only car and we would need to visit Mom regularly till she is back home.
We do have the finances available to buy another vehicle but that could take sometime to find one. Other than that we could maybe buy our vehicle from Motorbility if it was not too expensive. It is only 5 months old with less than 2k miles. I guess they would want something close to what it cost (£34k) and we paid nearly £3k AP which most of that should come back to us to put towards buying a new vehicle.
If the lease was cancelled and she was back on DLA allowance in a few weeks/months we would not get another Motability car as the wait for new cars is 12 months+.
I suppose MB won’t let us pay them the DLA money on a monthly basis in order to retain vehicle whilst Mom is out of action then DWP start paying again once she is discharged.
do not tell them unless they contact you and if they do which they will not , just say you were busy dealing with your mum
im saying bend to rules iv known lots of elderly people went into hospital for a while and their bills still need paid rent gas electricity council tax ect
just my thoughts
@kbfern have you thought of asking if rehab could be done as out patient ?
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.@martinod She has her pension and funds to pay her bills no problem it’s the car that is the issue. If we were to loose it we could not support her without a car. Worse case scenario we would offer to buy the motability car so we had continuation of transport. We don’t want to be touring round dealers trying to get a replacement with all this going on and with shortage of cars and the extra high prices they are going for these days.
Our hope is that MB will let us keep the car till she is out of hospital/rehab even if we had to pay the £64.50 a week to MB ourselves that DLA pay normally.
Joss I doubt if that can be done as till she has rehab there is no way we could get her in and out of the car to take her there. She is still in agony due to the broken shoulder and they can’t set it as it is a certain type of fracture.
The ward say she is fit enough for transfer to rehab but they still have to find a bed for her and transport her there.
Sorry to hear about your MIL @kbfern. I do hope she makes a full recvery soon.
My BIL was in hospital (ic) just under 9 weeks and no one even thought t inform anyone and his money was still paid and no one ever questioned it. If they had we would have just said we were that worried and busy to even think about it. The chances anyone will find out is none from our expierence.
Worth considering before you inform anyone.
Apologies, I may have missed something but isn’t the cut off date of the Mobility allowance the state pension age e.g. 65 or 66 years old.
Maybe the car isn’t one from Motability ?
No @steve, if you already have it at SPA it continues. You get attendance allowance after SPA for new claims.
If you’re over State Pension age, you can apply for Attendance Allowance instead. Or if you’ve received PIP before, you can still make a new claim if you were eligible for it in the year before you reached State Pension age.
Skoda Enyaq Race Blue
Should have said to the OP, hope your MIL is okay and soon back to her usual self.
Skoda Enyaq Race Blue
Sorry to hear about your MIL @kbfern. I do hope she makes a full recvery soon. My BIL was in hospital (ic) just under 9 weeks and no one even thought t inform anyone and his money was still paid and no one ever questioned it. If they had we would have just said we were that worried and busy to even think about it. The chances anyone will find out is none from our expierence. Worth considering before you inform anyone.
Just be a bit careful with that situation.
When I was in hospital about 3 years ago, as part of the hospital’s procedure, I was visited by the hospital busy-body (aka their embedded local authority Social Worker) at one point.
As part of her ‘check list’ I was asked if I had a Motability vehicle (which I did at the time) and I was informed that as I had been in hospital for over 28 days, they had a duty to inform the DWP as DLA/PIP ceases after 28 days in hospital.
I told her she could inform who the hell she liked at the DWP and they would be most confused as I claimed absolutely nothing from them. Also, that being a War Pensioner on WPMS, it is paid continuously no matter how long I was in hospital (or anywhere else for that matter)!
I never saw her again I was pleased to say.
However, do be wary of the hospital’s embedded social workers informing the DWP.
Thank you guys for your best wishes for MIL and to @BigDave for that info regarding hospital social worker.
Mom has a lifetime DLA award so has not had to go over to PIP and this is her 4th car under the scheme.
I imagine we will be contacting the various parties to inform on Mom’s situation in the coming days and whilst the financial loss of any benefits other than her pension which I understand will continue is not of concern, the main problem will be the car.
If we loose it due to her (we hope) temp hospitalisation/rehab means we will not be able to visit and provide support on a daily basis and my wife is her main carer (unpaid). We just don’t want to have the hassle of racing around to find a replacement vehicle while all this is going on.
If all else fails we will have to see if we can buy her MB car and just hope we don’t get held to ransom by MB in purchasing it. That at least would be preferable to spending days and weeks finding a car that will be suitable for her use once she is back home.
the 4 week rule is rediculous and should be extended to 3 months as 4 weeks is nothing in the way of an accident, especially for old, frail or disabled folk.
sorry to hear your mum is in agony, and hope she can be helped in rehab… alas i think unless the stay is only just over by a week or so the car will likely be returned. dont hold your breath for a good price from motability.
Current Car: Hyundai Kona Premium EV...2 way 40kg hoist
Last Car: Toyota C-HR Excel Hybrid...4 way 80kg hoistthe 4 week rule is ridiculous and should be extended to 3 months as 4 weeks is nothing in the way of an accident, especially for old, frail or disabled folk.
Yes I agree with you @struth but that’s DWP’s rule I suspect.
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.I have been searching round the internet and found a site with a possible piece of useful information, it is a site that is in Northern Ireland so not sure it applies here also.
https://www.rights4seniors.net/content/after-28-days
below is quoted from the link:
“Below are certain benefits that will be affected by a stay of more than 28 days.
Attendance Allowance (AA) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
AA and DLA (care component) are suspended after 28 days in hospital.The mobility component of DLA will also stop after 28 days unless you have a motability agreement. In this case, the mobility component will continue to be paid for the full term of the agreement.
Payment of AA or DLA can begin again from the payday following discharge from hospital. If you are awarded AA or DLA while an inpatient, payment cannot begin until you are discharged.
It is important that you inform the Disability and Carer’s Service of the date that you are going to be discharged so that benefits can be reinstated.”
What I am taking from this is that the DLA middle rate care component of £61 per week would be stopped and also if you were getting the higher rate mobility part £64.50 per week paid to you direct to spend on taxi fares etc would also stop until you were out of hospital. If however you have a MB lease they would continue to pay that even after a 28 day stay in hospital.
We are going to contact MB on Tuesday to see if the above is correct or if it’s not to find out where we go from here.
I will let you know how I get on.
I am thinking that to stop the care component and mobility component payments while in hospital is the logical thing to do by DWP as you won’t need any taxis etc or care as that will be supplied by the NHS whilst you are in their charge.
But if you have an MB lease car, them stopping the payments would be breaking a lease you have signed with MB without your or MB consent.
Lets hope that’s the case.
But if you have an MB lease car, them stopping the payments would be breaking a lease you have signed with MB without your or MB consent.
Its no different really to someone loosing their DLA/PIP award at an assessment. MB won’t get anymore moneyfrom DWP regardless how much you have on your lease.
Speak to MB and explain the situation and if you know a rough idea MIL will be in hospital and say you don’t want to loose the car as it would be needed the moment she comes out. They are friendly to speak to and may offer an option, given your MIL’s payment will be reinstated when she comes out.
You could also ask for a price to buy the car if you felt the need. I believe circumstances like tis or someone loosing their award MB are likely to let you have it at a better rate.
But if you have an MB lease car, them stopping the payments would be breaking a lease you have signed with MB without your or MB consent. Lets hope that’s the case.
The following is taken from the Motability website:
The last paragraph may indicate there maybe a little forebearance from Motability depending on the expected stay in hospital. However you will need to speak with them as indicated in Kezo’s post above.
Thanks Dave
I had already seen that before on the MB website, it is open to interpretation but I am hopeful that with seeing that NI link I posted above that MB may work with us.
We are going to see MIL today and tomorrow we are going to call MB with the latest info we can get and see what they say.
Regarding Kezzo’s post where he said “Its no different really to someone loosing their DLA/PIP award at an assessment. MB won’t get anymore money from DWP regardless how much you have on your lease.”
I would agree with that if someone lost MB component at an assessment but in MIL case she has a lifetime award so I am assuming only death should stop her getting her DWP money for the mobility component I would have thought.
I would agree with that if someone lost MB component at an assessment but in MIL case she has a lifetime award so I am assuming only death should stop her getting her DWP money for the mobility component I would have thought.
Try not to over think what I said. It was an example of a similar situation of when you said “it would be breaking the lease when payments were stopped” Its worth remembering mb frequently deal with these situations.
Your MILs lifetime allowance will only cease on her death, however the DWP could suspend her money if she is in hospital longer than 28days. Her DLA will then be reinstated from the day she comes home (you will need to contact the DWP to get it reinstated).
Ok so we called MB today and spoke with the support team and gave them details so far on Mom’s hospital admission and that we did not know yet when she would be discharged form hospital/rehab but that it will most probably be over a month.
They were very helpful and explained for us not to worry and just to let them know when Mom is discharged. They explained that under these sort of circumstances they can give the MB customer up to 3 months after the 28 days for the resumption of DWP payments before the vehicle would have to be returned. This is great news as that in effect gives 4 months for Mom to recover. They have made on her account to show the 3 months from when the first 28 days has expired.
They don’t allow for anyone else to make the DWP payments, if you wanted to cover them yourselves so a no no on that point.
We can give them a call in a week or so and they will give us an option to purchase price that will be good till the end of the 3 months grace should we wish to purchase the vehicle if she has not been discharged from NHS care.
So we can now at least breathe easy and concentrate on Mom’s recovery knowing we have almost 4 months and an option to buy the lease out depending on what value they put on it.
I hope this info is of help to anyone that unfortunately finds themselves in a similar situation as it certainly takes the pressure away at very trying time.
Good news and as you say you can now concentrate on what matters the most your mom.
I have always found MB fair when there is a genuine problem and would recomend anyone to give them a call. DWP well thats a different matter altogether.
Hope you MIL makes a full recovery soon 🙂
Good news.. hope mum does well too.
Current Car: Hyundai Kona Premium EV...2 way 40kg hoist
Last Car: Toyota C-HR Excel Hybrid...4 way 80kg hoistThank you Kezo & struth for best wishes to Mom she is brighter yesterday than when we saw her on Saturday so hopeful that all will be well if we have 4 months grace.
Called up The DWP and informed them today too. The lady we spoke with was very nice and was falling over herself to help us and made it an easy call in the end. She was trying to guide us in ways to get some additional benefits but as we are retired and are in a decent financial situation would not qualify for anything really, however there was a few useful tips she passed on to us.
Bit of an update:
Mom has been in hospital 5 weeks now and recovered to the stage where she is being moved to a rehab unit to see if they can get some mobility back for her as she has been virtually bed bound since she was admitted.
We are not sure yet how long rehab will last but hopefully she will be back to somewhere near what she was before being admitted although whether that will be back to her own home or into a more permanent care facility (self funding) we don’t know yet.
Whether she will be out of rehab or not before the expiry of the 3 months grace on her Motabilty payments we have asked Motability to give us a quote on the cost of purchasing her Motability car outright should we need to give the car up.
The car is only 6 months old and cost MB about £30900 net to buy, the car has done less than 2k miles and they have given us a purchase price of £38995. We have asked them why is the price so high and they have told us we work on “market value”. I have looked at the same vehicles on Autotrader and the same model and mileage car (VW ID4 pure model) is available for £41-42k.
So while I don’t feel they are ripping us off they certainly aren’t doing us any favours as if we had bought the vehicle new ourselves it would have cost £34k and we would have had a £2500 EV discount applied (£31500 net).
I am including the above info in case it is of use to others in a similar situation where you may need to buy your MB car and what value they apply to the price they put on it. Our’s being so new and very low mileage is working against us. If the vehicle was a couple of years old with 20k miles it would have been much less. Also at the moment “market values” are rather skewed due to Covid/Putin etc, making vehicles scarce and overpriced compared to usual valuations.
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