Can I appeal to keep my motability car?

Q. I was claiming Disability Living Allowance, but was recently migrated to Personal Independence Payment.
Our Benefits Expert answers your questions.Our Benefits Expert answers your questions.
Our Benefits Expert answers your questions.

I was awarded standard rate mobility and daily living, but I used to get high rate mobility; so I have a motability car.

I am going to appeal the decision as I think I should have got enhanced rate mobility, but what will happen to my motability car?

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A. The DWP will notify motability of the decision on your Personal Independence Payment claim and that you no longer qualify for a motability car.

You will be able to keep the car for 8 weeks following the latest decision and may qualify for a one off payment of up to £2,000 if you had a motability car in 2012 or £1,000 if you have been part of the scheme since 2014.

You can choose to keep the car for up to 26 weeks and take a reduced payment which may give you time to appeal the decision.

If you appeal successfully and your Personal Independence Payment mobility is increased then you will be entitled to a motability car again and would be able to continue on the scheme.

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Q: I was transferred from Disability Living Allowance onto Personal Independence Payment and I got standard rate mobility and standard rate daily living, but I have had high rate care for a lot of years as I have a lot of night time needs, can I ask for the night time part to be reassessed?

A. You can request a mandatory reconsideration of the decision not to award a higher rate of Personal Independence Payment, however, the test for Personal Independence Payment is different to that for Disability Living Allowance and there is no longer a ‘night time needs’ test.

The assessment for Personal Independence Payment looks at a number of different activities such as getting dressed, using the toilet, taking your medication or dealing with treatments and getting washed.

It looks at how you cope with these activities and whether or not you need assistance with them, whether that is during the day or night.

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If you request a mandatory reconsideration of the decision then you are inviting the DWP to reassess the whole award, including the mobility element.

It may be helpful to look at the assessment for Personal Independence Payment so that you can see what activities you are being assessed against before deciding whether or not to appeal.