Yesterday Adrian Ashton raised some questions about Carer’s Allowance.

Today I want to focus on another anomaly that affects people with disabilities and their carers, relating to access to adapted vehicles.

People of working age can apply for Personal Independence Payment (PIP). We know that the eligibility criteria for PIP is controversially under scrutiny by the Government at the moment but that is not my issue in this post. PIP is not means tested, is tax free and is meant to cover the additional expenses that a person may have because of their disability. The PIP Daily Living Allowance is paid at one of two levels depending on the needs of the applicants. The lower level is £73.90 pw and the higher level is £110.40 pw.

When someone on PIP reaches retirement age they continue to receive PIP. However if someone becomes disabled for the first time after reaching retirement age they are instead paid Attendance Allowance. Now Attendance Allowance is also not means tested, is tax free and is paid at the same rates as the PIP Daily Living Allowance.

So what’s the problem? Well it is crucially something that I have not yet mentioned. People receiving PIP get a further top-up known as the Mobility Allowance. This is paid at £29.90 at the lower level and £77.05 at the higher level, and the higher level opens access to the Motability scheme. Under the Motability scheme the higher Mobility Allowance can be used to lease a customised vehicle.

The key thing to note is that people on Attendance Allowance do not receive the Mobility Allowance so cannot access the Motability Scheme.

For example, consider two people who each suffered major injuries in a car accident which left them using a wheelchair with considerable care needs. The first was 64 at the time and was eligible for higher level PIP and could lease a wheelchair accessible vehicle through Motability at no extra cost to themselves. They can continue with PIP and Motability into old age. The second was 68 at the time of the accident and became eligible for Attendance Allowance, but did not get a vehicle and did not get an allowance towards one.

This anomaly affects fulltime carers as well as people with disabilities. If the cared-for person falls into the second category and cannot be left alone then the carer is also stuck at home without a suitable vehicle.

My husband has fallen into this mobility trap. (And that’s without mentioning the fact that there is a twelve month wait for an NHS wheelchair). He can’t transfer from his wheelchair to a normal seat in a car so needs to travel in a wheelchair adapted vehicle.  If he needs to go to an appointment at any distance from our home, or just wants to go out socially, we have to book a car from a local specialist agency. They are wonderful but expensive – typically around £70 return for a 3 mile journey into the town centre.

Of course, we could buy or lease a wheelchair adapted vehicle ourselves, but they are very expensive, and completely out of the question for many pensioners. If he had become disabled some years earlier we would now be driving around in a Motability vehicle.

I should add a further complication. NHS England has recently changed its criteria for offering hospital transport for disabled patients attending appointments, and each hospital trust can add its own criteria. My local hospital only provides hospital transport for people who cannot get there by any means at all, no matter what the cost. I have challenged it a couple of times but the fact that we can use the agency disbars us. So each hospital appointment (and he has many) costs us a minimum of £65.

This is clearly not fair. Why should some people be made virtually housebound simply because of the age when they first became disabled?

This discrimination has been challenged in the courts and there are ongoing campaigns on the grounds that access to suitable vehicles should be based on need, not age. Last year a petition was submitted to the Government asking for Mobility Allowance to be added to Attendance Allowance. This was the arrogant and insensitive response from the last Tory Government:

1.4 million people are receiving Attendance Allowance worth £6 billion a year. Those who develop mobility needs in later life are able to spend this benefit on mobility aids if they wish.

* Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active with the local party, and is the Hon President of Kingston Lib Dems.