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Use Of Car

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cockatiel1 | 16:08 Wed 12th Oct 2016 | Motoring
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My husband is disabled. We have a parking space outside our house and he uses a blue badge.We have our own car which is taxed disabled so we don't pay anything.
As we can only afford to run one car I do use it for my personal use as well as take my husband to appointments or go shopping for him. He drives too but I am the main driver. Our daughter lives in another town about 4 hrs drive away.My husband doesn't want to visit her for a weekend as he would get bored,but is happy to visit for a day if he feels up to it. My other relations live some distance from us and I like to see them once or twice a year. Socially my husband doesn't want to go out much,but I have a good social life and sometimes need the car. We think our council want to limit the amount of disabled spaces in our area as parking is difficult. They have confirmed that my husband is entitled to keep his space,but we have begun to wonder if I'm allowed to use the car for my own personal use as long as I don't use the badge. We are concerned that the space could be removed and we'd have to park further away than my husband can walk.I would like to hear from anyone in a similar position
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You can't use the car for your own needs:

It must be only be used for the disabled person’s personal needs. That means the vehicle can’t be used by the nominated driver for their own personal use.

http://www.disabledmotoring.org/motoring/road-tax-exemption

I suggest you reclassify the car to PLG and pay the road tax.
well sadly it doesn’t look like you are entitled to the road tax advantage.
http://www.disabledmotoring.org/motoring/road-tax-exemption
"It must be only be used for the disabled person’s personal needs. That means the vehicle can’t be used by the nominated driver for their own personal use.”

The parking space is not HIS space. Any Blue badge holder is entitled to use it and I guess, as such, if the council decide that there are too many in any one street, they would be entitled to remove some.
cochatiel1 says it is her own car NOT a motability car. So yes she can use it for her own personal use. Even with a Motability car ( we have had one for 5 years) the 'designated driver' can use the car for their own use as long as it is not business use. A Motability car just has to be 'principally' for the use of the disabled person it does not rule out the car being used for the rest of the family ( Know this as I have asked the Motability advisor)
I think you are getting confused between The Designated driver and an 'additional driver'. A additional driver can ONLY use the car with the disabled person in it or 'for their benefit'.
But as I said at first, in this car it is a private car with free road tax NOT a Motability car.
Sorry hc4361 but you are wrong! It is as I said, I have checked this with Motability.
She can't use the car for her own personal use when the car is tax freem whether it is on motability car or not.

The government website that I linked to makes this very clear.
Another link for you, Eddie:

"The registered keeper can apply for free tax. The vehicle’s registered keeper
could be:
• the person with the illness or disability
• someone who uses their vehicle only for the ill or disabled person"

"Using the vehicle in the disabled tax class
The vehicle must either be used by the disabled person or someone else who
only uses their vehicle to help them, for example, to get prescriptions or go
shopping for the disabled person"

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/533763/INS216-how-to-apply-for-free-disabled-tax.pdf
^ OK but the disabled person's 'personal needs' can include collecting shopping,delivering collecting goods, or making visits to family / friends to pass on news or information on behalf of the disabled person.The disabled person DOES NOT have to actually be in the car. We had a tax free car before we got the Motability car. The fact that it is a disability registered car does not show on the police database so no one is going to be able to check, it only shows if it is insured and taxed and the named of the insured driver.
Visiting family/friends for a weekend without the disabled person is pushing it, Eddie, also the OP uses the car for her own 'social life'.

The tax class does show on the police database, Eddie. Anyone can see the tax class by using a free app on their phone or a website on the pc.

EDDIE I think the “visiting other people to pass on news” is pushing it a bit.....
plus the OP says "wonder if I'm allowed to use the car for my own personal use”
and also "I do use it for my personal use”
and the answer is yes she is but may not be entitled therefore to the tax exemption.
...also EDDIE you say first of all its allowed (which I don’t think it is) and then
"The fact that it is a disability registered car does not show on the police database so no one is going to be able to check, it only shows if it is insured and taxed and the named of the insured driver.” which says to me that you don’t really think its allowed but no one will find out.....
No one else has addressed the parking space issue......
ha ha HC, same opinion, same phrase!
Re the disabled parking space. It will make no difference whether the car is taxed as PLG or disabled, the disabled person's need remains the same, so don't worry about that.

What makes you think your council is limiting the number of disabled spaces? It has always been the case that the council takes in to account the existing number of disabled spaces on a residential street and the council has always removed them when there is no longer a need for them. However, I'll be extremely surprised if the council is prepared to remove a space where the qualifying need hasn't changed. The local paper would love that story!

This is from the Motability website, for Eddie's benefit:


We’ll ask you to make sure:
The car is used by, or for the benefit of, the disabled person. This does not mean that the disabled person needs to be in the car for every journey. In practice, this means other named drivers in the household can use the car for shopping and other routine activities, as long as the disabled customer will benefit

http://www.motability.co.uk/about-the-scheme/how-your-car-can-be-used/

So you see, the designated driver cannot use the motability car for his own use.


//..as long as the disabled customer will benefit //

It would be interesting to see that phrase tested in a court of law ; given it's subjectivity
I can only assume the rules for 'tax free' cars are tougher than for the 'designated driver' of a Motability car. I was specifically told that 'family' use was fine for the designated driver. But the rule for an 'additional driver' is as you say , only with the disabled person present or for their benefit.
I know one person who had their motability car removed from them for abusing the terms.
Eddie, if the law states that the car can only be used for the benefit of the disabled person (as it does) then the person you spoke to was clearly wrong.

Did you read the quote I posted from the Motability site?
"During the last financial year, the charity took enforcement action in 2,139 cases, including 829 customers who had had their agreements terminated and their cars withdrawn."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/8842236/Motability-car-charity-moves-to-stop-abuse-of-benefits.html
I use the Motability car to travel to work if I have to go outside the local area. The motability adviser told us that it was perfectly acceptable to do this as earning money is 'of benefit ' to the disabled person ( in this case my wife)
I to would be interested to see what a court decision on this would be , I have often wondered just what could be included in 'of benefit to the disabled person'
Another example, I drove alone to Scotland to pick up a friend of my wife so she could come and stay with us for a visit, and then the same again to take her home. I have no doubt in my mind that this would be 'of benefit ' to my wife. But it was over 2,000 miles without her in the car. I stayed overnight on each trip as it is too far to drive in one go.
You really are taking liberties, Eddie. That is a concession every tax payer pays for and if the motability expert was the dealer you got the car from, it is clear why he misled you.

You just need one neighbour to blow the whistle on you, or have an accident when you are 200 miles away from home without your wife.

My neighbour had her car taken off her and she was banned from the scheme because her husband used the car to drive to work.

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