But her total benefits actually total significantly more – £3,100 or £37,200 annually – because they include free school meals, prescriptions and her cut-price car.
She was awarded the car in January 2022 and chose her specific one because it’s “iconic”.
“It includes automatic high-beam adjustment, rear passenger seat ventilation, heated door mirrors, 19-inch alloys, front and rear parking sensors, and rear parking camera as well as a seven-inch infotainment screen offering touchscreen display and connectivity options such as Bluetooth, app accessibility and USB,” she says. “It also includes a DAB radio. “I wanted the best for my kids and a car which was easy to drive.
Trolled by ‘jealous working mums’
“The kids love the car, and it makes shopping so much easier.”
As well as not paying for the car, Chelsea doesn’t have to “fork out for insurance or repairs.” She continues: “It means I can focus on the kids, not the car.”
Chelsea, who has been trolled by “jealous working mums” says the car is a big reason she’s “not going back to work anytime soon.”
“People might slam me but I won’t be criticised for driving a car most working Brits can’t afford,” she says. “I was allowed to apply for it and, yes, I got it.
“Working people with disabilities can do the same. I understand why some people might be annoyed but I urge them to research the scheme and understand why it is there and who can apply.
How to claim Child Benefit
Child benefit is worth up to £1,331 a year for your first or only child and up to £881 a year for additional children.
This works out at £102.40 every four weeks or £25.60 a week for your first child and £67.80 every 4 weeks or £16.95 a week for their siblings.
There is no limit on the number of children that can be claimed for.
Applying is straightforward and can be done in minutes at gov.uk or through the HMRC app.
Parents with a newborn baby should make a claim online as soon as possible and could then receive their first payment in as little as three days.
You can also backdate claims for up to three months.
Parents can make a claim and then choose to opt out of receiving Child Benefit payments can still receive National Insurance credits if one parent is not working.
National Insurance credits build up your entitlement to the state pension.
“I am planning to get an even posher one when I upgrade. I am due an upgrade this year.
“Under the scheme the car cannot be any older than three years old. So after the car is three years old you get a new one for the next three years.”
She also thinks Motability vehicles should be available to all single mums on Universal Credit – despite the extortionate impact this would have on Britain’s already bloated budget.
“Many single mums have no transport and cannot juggle two or three kids on public transport,” she says. “Cars for single parents on Universal Credit would mean less isolation, less depression and anxiety and encourage mums and dads to have easy access to job interviews.
“I won’t have anyone complain I shouldn’t have one. I will not give it up. It’s my right. The car has been a lifeline. For many people buying a new car often comes after months of savings and involves expensive loans.
Sick of ‘benefits trolls’
“People on Universal Credit don’t have the expendable income to save for a car or to fund the loan repayments.
“A car under £1,000 would require a lot more repairs and cause claimants to fall deeper into debt.
“The cheap deals are available to those who work but can claim PIP too. I refuse to be taken down by the benefits trolls. They’re just jealous of my car.
“No one is stopping you from applying for a freebie car if you or one of your family qualifies.
“It’s not my job to keep other people happy or balance the government’s budget.”
Chelsea’s case is not unique. In the past six years the number of people claiming either PIP (PIP) or Disability Living Allowance (DLA) has risen by 194%. 1.3 million people or 44 per cent of all claimants suffered mental health or behavioural conditions as their primary reason for claiming disability benefits.
And almost 815,000 Brits are benefiting from the Motability Scheme.
“The fact I can get a car is actually helping the British economy,” says Chelsea. “I looked it up. The Motability scheme helps the car industry because one in four cars on the road are from the scheme. Without it and my car the economy would suffer.
“I do not know why people are moaning.”
The scheme allows drivers access to a range of vehicles including a Fiat 500 to a Land Rover or a high end Tesla.
Could it be the end of the road for Motability?
By Martina Bet
MOTABILITY allows people with serious disabilities to lease a car using their benefits.
Customer numbers have surged 30 per cent in five years, with many joining for non-physical conditions such as anxiety, depression and ADHD.
But the firm’s tracking systems have uncovered late-night runs and non-disabled relatives regularly using the vehicles.
Motability said it will now review how many people can use each vehicle — currently set at three to allow for carers.
Chief executive Andrew Miller warned tougher checks are coming.
He added: “Are we perhaps being too generous on the insurance criteria?
“We’re having to look at that quite heavily at the moment.”
Around 815,000 people now use the Motability scheme, with more than 700,000 vehicles on the road.
“If I had to work there is no way I could make almost £2,500 net a month, especially working around my children’s school schedules,” says Chelsea. “The jobs are not there. I would have to pay full council tax, pay for prescriptions and lose a raft of other discounts. I cannot work because I would be worse off financially and end up back on benefits.
“It doesn’t make me work shy or lazy, it’s a simple maths equation. Labelling me a scrounger is wrong because I won’t work. I am not broken. I am simply outspoken and brazen about stating the reality of life.
“The government has created a system which permits people to get financial aid, the cost of living means people are spending less on services like hairdressers and the jobs are not out there.
“I am a grafter. I have to be as I look after three kids day and night. It’s a full-time job. But I am just not daft. It’s more financially viable for me to be on benefits. Better solutions are needed and labelling people lazy isn’t one of them.
“I am dead sick of people telling me not to be a single mum or have kids so young.
“It’s no one’s business and I won’t work until I can be assured the work will earn me more than Universal Credit.
“As to Motability Scheme haters they can p*** off. My posh wheels are staying. I need my car.”
Chelsea says people who don’t have as fancy as cars are jealous of her[/caption]
She quit her job as she says she was taking home £8 a day[/caption]
