I've been thinking quite a lot about disability these last few days. I'm "mobility challenged". I can walk short distances but for more than a few yards I use a mobility scooter.
This means that I need a car which has a ramp on the back so I can carry my scooter with me wherever I go. My car (which was damaged in an accident at the end of November) has to be replaced. As you might expect, suitable adapted cars are more expensive than standard models and they are more difficult to find. (I don't qualify for Motability.)
Normally when one's car is judged to be beyond economic repair it is collected very quickly by the insurer but as my car is still driveable, although bashed, my insurers have given my three weeks extra to find a new car. The law requires them to take account of my condition and make a "reasonable adjustment" to their procedures to allow me time to do the extra searching a travelling I have to do to find the car.
So far I have been to see two cars, one near Leicester (ninety miles away) and one near Manchester (115 miles away). I had each inspected by the RAC but because the car has been modified they have refused to do the basic check which is all I require. Instead I have to pay an extra £90 for a fuller inspection even though they don't check the modifications.
So I've decided to argue that to allow disabled people to have just a basic check (at £99) even though the car has been modified would be a reasonable adjustment as the law requires.
This small battle will be my first attempt at being awesome in 2018.
