Brotherwood Automobility Limited

Choosing Your Wheelchair Accessible vehicle

At Brotherwood Automobility we put great emphasis on helping you choose the right Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle. We have a tried and tested approach which we have developed over many years, putting us in good stead to assist you with your choice.

We have a variety of different methods for you to make your initial contact.  This includes by Telephone, Email, our website Forum, Post, the numerous Exhibitions we attend or a visit to our factory in Beer Hackett.  Whichever way you choose, we will endeavour to cover all of the important points we have found are essential over the years.

General Requirements

The first objective is to identify your requirements. some of which could be unique, but we we pride ourselves at being able to meet in most cases.  Several obvious questions come to mind.  For example:

• Is the vehicle for a disabled passenger or disabled driver?
• Is the vehicle to transport a scooter or wheelchair?
• Can the user transfer at all?
• Does the user have a Manual or Motorised Wheelchair?
• If manual, is a winch required?
• If motorised, what weight?
• Minimum number of passenger seats required?
• Any additional equipment to transport?
• If for a wheelchair passenger, is the requirement to travel up front or central behind the two front seats?
• From the driver's perspective, is the need for a manual or automatic gearbox?

Identify the best option

With the answers to the previous questions in mind, other considerations are:

• The size of the vehicle
• Its appearance
• Its cost
• The 'Seated Height' of the Wheelchair Passenger
• The eye level of the Wheelchair Passenger

(see our Buyers Guide for more detail)

Buying versus Motability

Motability is the national charity responsible for the Motability Car Scheme.  This scheme allows disabled people to exchange either their Higher Rate Mobility Component of the Disability Living Allowance or their War Pensioner's Mobility Supplement, to obtain a new car, power wheelchair or scooter.  Disabled individuals (male or female) may apply for the allowance provided they are under 65 years of age.  Currently, once obtained it continues beyond the age of 65.

For enquiries about the Disability Living Allowance (DLA), you can contact the Pensions, Disability & Carers Service on 08457 123456 or visit the Directgov website.

For enquiries about the War Pensioners' Mobility Supplement (WPMS), you can contact the Service Personnel & Veterans Agency on 0800 169 2277 or visit the Veterans UK website.

The Mobility scheme offers a Contract Hire for a fully converted vehicle.  An advance payment is required and the mobility allowance subsequently covers the monthly lease rental. The usual lease term is 5 years, or 3 years for nearly new vehicles.

For those who are unfortunately not eligible for the Motability Scheme the alternative is buying a New, Ex-Demonstration or Used Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle either outright or on a five year hire purchase arrangement (subject to credit rating).  In fact, under certain circumstances this route may be more cost affective than the Motability Scheme.  We have included a cost comparison here as an example.  

Wheelchair Vehicle Demonstration

We have a very strong principle that no vehicle should be decided upon without a demonstration involving all intended users. This can take place at our factory, at home or a hospital / nursing home.

One advantage of visiting us in Beer Hackett is that we are able to show you our complete range of Wheelchair Cars and you also have an opportunity to tour our factory and see how we carry out our conversions.  We cover the whole of the United Kingdom; if you are located in the North of the country we have an agent in Gretna who can be contacted on 01461 800651

Brotherwood demonstrations are carried out by experienced personnel able to make recommendations or suggest adjustments to suit individual requirements.