Support for using your own car as a disabled person

Various ways of supporting the use of a disabled person's own car enable the person's moving about outside their home especially in situations, that involve a great necessity for getting around.

Among the forms of support for using your own car are:

• Financial support for purchasing a new or a used car.
• Necessary changes to a standard type of car, for example, manual controls, shifting the pedals, heating equipment.
• Fixed disability aid devices, for example, wheelchair lifts.

The wellbeing services county of South-West Finland will provide this service from 1.1.2023 onwards.

Requirements

Support will be granted based on a service need assessment. To assess the service need, a personal meeting will be organised with the client.

A written application is always necessary to deal with the matter. The application itself, or its attachments to be later requested, should contain at least the following:

• an itemised list of the costs of the service and the service itself the client is applying for
• the applicant's grounds for the service need
• the healthcare documents stating the disability or sickness contributing to the granting of the support, the long-term nature of the disability/sickness, and the current capacity to act.

The client may apply for the service before purchasing the car, or have the expenses reimbursed afterwards. If the client wants to be sure of getting financial support before the purchase decision is made, it's best to apply in advance.

User instruction

Contact the services for the disabled in your town of residence.