We may fund the modifications that have already been made to a second hand car you’re buying or plan to buy.
This is not a payment towards the purchase of the car.
It recognises the costs of the disability related vehicle modifications already in place.
We’ll need to know:
- the vehicle is, or can be, registered in your state or territory
- how long ago the modifications were made and how much longer they are likely to last
- whether there’s a manufacturer’s warranty in place for the vehicle and modifications, and how long this will last
- whether the vehicle modifications will need repairs to meet your needs
- whether the modifications meet the relevant Australian standards and rules
- the cost of the original changes, where available, compared to the cost of making new changes.
You’ll need to give us:
- evidence or an assessment from your occupational therapist. This will need to tell us the changes already made to the vehicle are safe for you and will suit your needs. Your occupational therapist can complete our vehicle modification assessment template to give us the information we need
- an engineering certificate or authorisation report from a licensed vehicle modifier or certifier that provides information about the condition of the changes made. The certificate or report must tell us the changes are safe, legal, in good working order, and meet the Australian standards and rules relevant in your state or territory
- a vehicle condition report, if the vehicle is older than 5 years and no longer under warranty.
For more information, go to How old is your vehicle and is it under warranty?
Once we have the information outlined above, we’ll work out the current value of the modifications.
We don’t pay the full cost of the modifications, because they’ve already been used by someone else, are older and have lost value.
We calculate funding depending on how long ago the modifications were made, and how much the value of the modifications has reduced since this time.
This is called depreciation.
We will fund the depreciated modification value in your capital – assistive technology budget.
Remember, everything we fund needs to meet all the NDIS funding criteria.
Just because a second hand vehicle with modifications may be cheaper, it may not always be good value for money or meet the other criteria.