If you have any concerns about a car or vehicle you have under the Motability Scheme please call them on : 0845 456 4566 (8.30 a.m. till 5.30 p.m. Monday to Friday).
The Motability website is found at http://www.motability.co.uk/main.cfm
Supplementary information can be found by clicking here
There are two components to the Disability Living Allowance. Disability Living Allowance is awarded at three rates for personal care.
The other component is, the Mobility component awarded at two rates, lower & Higher. Where you are awarded the "Higher Rate". You can use your allowance to take part in the Motability Car Scheme.
I do not know how the review is impacting the Mobility component. Please email me
- If you have any experience to share. If your Mobility component is reviewed. And you awarded the "medium" or "lower rate". The DWP will inform you & Motability of the case.
- You then have the right to appeal that decision. An appeal can take up to three months. Inform Motability that you have made an appeal. During the appeal period you retain your car. The cost is met by Motability. You incur no extra charge.
- The DWP will write to you & Motability with the decision of the appeal.
- If your appeal is successful. You continue your contract with your car as normal.
- If your appeal is not successful. Motability will make arrangements with you to collect your car. You contract for your car ends. You will not be charged for any period of your contract that is outstanding.
I hope this answers some of the worries people have raised. I would encourage you to call Motability if you need any further reassurance.
PDF version
Introduction
Motability was established to provide disabled people with safe, reliable and affordable cars. You can use this scheme to hire or buy a car or powered wheelchair or scooter if you have been awarded disability living allowance (DLA) high rate mobility component (or war pensioners’ mobility supplement).
The award must usually be for long enough to complete the full length of the chosen agreement (see ‘Disability living allowance - Length of award’ below).
Where more than one person is eligible to apply, it may be possible to use both allowances towards the cost of one vehicle.
You can apply for a car as a passenger if you are eligible but don’t drive. A parent or carer can apply on behalf of a child who is receiving an award. Proposed drivers must not have any serious driving convictions, disqualifications, or endorsements within the last five years. There are also some restrictions on drivers under 25 and those with provisional licences.
Motability also provides grants for driving lessons.
Motability offers a choice of:
- A new car on a three-year contract hire lease.
- A new or used car on hire purchase, over a term of two to five years.
- A new or used powered wheelchair, or scooter on hire purchase, over a term of one to three years.
- Once you have chosen which scheme you wish to join, you must then agree to pay over all, or part, of your allowance to it.
By far the most popular choice is the contract hire scheme, which offers customers a new car from a list of approved manufacturers, on a three-year lease. All maintenance and servicing costs are included, together with comprehensive insurance and breakdown assistance.
You do not have to be the driver of the car. You can instead apply for a car as a passenger and nominate two other people as your drivers. You can also apply to the scheme if you have a child aged three or older, who is entitled to DLA high rate mobility component.
In order to help you choose a scheme that suits you Motability publish information about the pros and cons of different schemes, price guides, lists of dealers and guidance on choosing a car.
Driving Lessons
If you are aged between 16 and 24, and in receipt of the higher rate mobility component, you may be eligible for help towards the cost of driving lessons. Motability will not pay for either the theory or practical driving test.
Adaptations to cars
There is a range of car adaptations available including steering wheel knobs, hand controls for brakes and accelerators and wheelchair hoists. It is important to choose a car suitable for the adaptations you require so check with a Motability accredited specialist before ordering your car.
Motability also runs a Specialised Vehicles Fund which helps the most severely disabled people to lease a suitable vehicle. These leases are typically for five years for wheelchair accessible vehicles or heavily adapted cars.
The cost of adaptations, plus fitting and removal, may not be included in your lease. You will have to pay for these yourself.
You may have to pay more if you need a larger car due to your circumstances or your disability needs . If so, you will be asked to make an additional up-front payment known as an Advance Payment to cover the additional costs over a more basic model.
If you cannot afford the car or the adaptations, Motability may be able to provide help towards the cost of the least expensive solution that would meet your mobility needs.
A Motability accredited specialist must carry out adaptations fitted to a Motability car. Your Motability supplier and their insurers need to be informed before you go ahead with the fittings.
Fuel
You will have to pay for the fuel you use, so it is worth calculating likely fuel costs before making a decision on which car to have. Car manufacturers publish details to guide you. The higher the miles per gallon figure, the further you can drive on the same amount of fuel.
Excess mileage cost
If you opt for a three-year contract hire lease, you are entitled to drive 60,000 miles over the three-year period of your agreement – 20,000 each year. When the car is returned, you will have to pay 5p per mile for any extra mileage used.
Road tax (Vehicle Excise Duty) and insurance
All vehicles on the road are liable to Vehicle Excise Duty, better known as road tax. You will be sent a tax disc each year (unless you are in Northern Ireland or the Isle of Man) as part of your agreement.
As part of your contract hire lease you should also receive insurance cover and free replacement tyres and windscreens when needed.
Disability living allowance – Length of Award
To hire a new car, your high rate mobility component should usually run for at least 3 years. However, from October 2004, Motability adjusted the requirement of the scheme so that it is accessible to people whose award length falls short of the 3 year requirement for hiring a car. Motability can allow access to those in receipt of awards with 12 months or more remaining. If a DLA award is not renewed to cover the full length of the chosen scheme, the car will need to be returned to Motability. This gives customers around three months between the cancellation of the allowance and the return-by date, during which the lease can be paid privately, so that there is time available to arrange an alternative car.
To buy on hire purchase, the mobility component needs to run for at least 2 years if you buy a used car, or at least 4 years if you buy a new car.
If you go into hospital, the general rule is that payment of both the care component and the mobility component stops after you’ve been in hospital for 28 days for adults or 84 days for children under 16. However, the mobility component can continue to be paid in hospital while you have a Motability agreement in force. You cannot renew a Motability agreement if you are in hospital, except under the wheelchair scheme provided the new agreement is entered into the day after the old one ends.
Requesting an extension of your mobility component award
The Department for Work and Pensions is responsible for awarding DLA. If you are unable to access the Motability Scheme because your award of the mobility component is not long enough and your mobility problems are unlikely to change or may get worse, you can ask for your award to be extended.
Great care needs to be taken when considering this option because it is always possible that an award may be reduced or lost altogether. If you receive the care component, a decision-maker could also decide to question your entitlement to that component as well. If you decide to ask for your award to be extended seek specialist advice from an advice agency or law centre first (see factsheet F15 Finding a local advice agency).
Changes to Motability from December 2011
Motability has announced the following changes to the Scheme. From December 2011:
- The Scheme will only offer only cars with an Advance Payment of £2,000 or less (this potentially affects 5% of new customers). You will still be able to get help above this level if your disability-related needs require it.
- Nominated driver must live within 5 miles of you.
- Motability will require a Statement of Responsibilities to be signed at the beginning of each lease by you, the nominated drivers and the supplying motor dealer.
From January 2012
- Motability will not accept nominated drivers under the age of 21 unless they live with you.
- Motability will restrict young drivers under the age of 25 to cars in ABI Insurance Group 16 or lower which also have a power output of 115 BHP or less.
For more information see the Statement by Lord Sterling, Chairman of Motability at http://tinyurl.com/6zkhev5.
Useful contacts
For general enquiries about all Motability schemes:
Motability Operations
City Gate House
22 Southwark Bridge Road
London SE1 9HB
Telephone: 0845 456 4566 textphone: 0845 675 0009
Lines are open 8.30am-5.30pm, Monday to Friday. You can also send an email from the Motability site at www.motability.co.uk
Direct Gov and NI Direct
Visit these for more information including financial help and VAT relief at http://www.direct.gov.uk and http://www.nidirect.gov.uk/index.htm.
DVLA
Vehicle Customer Services (VCS)
DVLA
Swansea
SA99 1AR
Telephone 0300 790 6802
www.dft.gov.uk/dvla/
Driver Vehicle and Licensing Agency (DVLA) Northern Ireland
County Hall
Castlerock Road
Coleraine
BT51 3TA
Telephone 0845 402 4000
www.dvani.gov.uk/
i cannot find a copy of the Motability Statement of Responsibilities anywhere online can you help me find one please?
Scot, I couldn't find a dowloadable blank copy either. It is however covered on the Motability website here with some additional information here. The explaination covers the detail on the forms very well.
Can I ask if there was a particular issue you had in mind as that may be a better way of providing the information you want?
If you require a copy of the 'statement' just call Motability they are usually very helpful.
Motability Chairman Announces Scheme Changes
Summary
A number of changes to the Scheme have been announced in a statement from Motability’s Chairman, Lord Sterling. Key changes include:
The changes are designed to ensure that Motability provides clear policies, focused on the needs of the vast majority of customers. They will also help avoid misuse and misrepresentation of the Scheme.
The changes to car selection take place immediately, although Motability will honour all existing orders and commitments. Other changes will take effect from 1 January 2012.
There is no change for existing contracts, or nominated drivers named on current insurance certificates, for the remainder of existing leases.
Statement by Lord Sterling, Chairman of Motability
Having celebrated the 3 millionth car on the Motability Scheme with an event last Friday (14 October 2011) in Westminster Hall at which Her Majesty The Queen, accompanied by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, handed over car keys to a number of Paralympic athletes, it is timely to look back at the history of the Scheme, look forward to its future and announce a number of changes which we intend to make.
Following a number of recent press articles, I would first like to clarify the relationship between Motability and the Disability Living Allowance (“DLA”). DLA is a Government benefit to help with the extra costs arising from disability. The Department for Work and Pensions (“DWP”) determine who is eligible for DLA, based on an application completed by a disabled person. Motability is an independent charity and is not part of Government. It has no role in determining who should receive DLA; that is solely the responsibility of the DWP. Once in receipt of the Higher Rate Mobility Component (“HRMC”) of DLA, the disabled person is able to join the Motability Scheme. When a customer applies to lease a car from the Motability Scheme, we confirm with the DWP that they are in receipt of the allowance for at least 12 months and therefore eligible to join the Scheme.
Motability has close to 600,000 cars on the road today. As the DWP recently stated, Motability plays a key role in ensuring that disabled people who most need help getting around and living a normal life can do so. At present, DWP is reforming DLA to ensure that those disabled people who most need this vital support continue to receive it. As we have done with every Government over the last 33 years, we are working closely with the current Government to ensure that Motability supports those disabled people with the greatest need.
In 1977, Government was moving away from providing vehicles - such as the ubiquitous but unsocial and possibly even unsafe “blue trike” - to disabled drivers and introduced a cash “mobility allowance” which disabled people could spend on their disability needs, in whatever way best suited themselves and their families. Following meetings with the late David Ennals, then Secretary of State for Health, the late Lord Goodman and I founded Motability at that time, with all party support, to offer disabled people the opportunity to lease cars, including any adaptations or conversions required, using their mobility allowance, now the Higher Rate Mobility Component of DLA, for that purpose.
In 1983, Motability took on the responsibility from BLESMA (the British Limbless Ex Service Men's Association) to provide vehicles to ex service veterans, a responsibility we still have today and, sadly, we are supporting many young war wounded from the more recent conflicts in Iraq, and in particular, Afghanistan.
Today, the Motability Scheme is available to those disabled people receiving either the Higher Rate Mobility Component (“HRMC”) of DLA or the War Pensioners’ Mobility Supplement (“WPMS”) from the Government, but it is entirely up to the recipient whether they wish to spend their allowance joining the Motability Scheme or in some other way. Approximately one third of eligible recipients (i.e. of those receiving the HRMC of DLA or WPMS) choose to spend their allowance to lease a car through Motability. Unlike the days when disabled people had to use blue trikes or any old banger they could afford, eligible disabled people today benefit from a wide choice of manufacturers and vehicles available through Motability, with expert advice and support available, especially when specialised adaptations or conversions are required.
The 3 millionth celebration last week with Her Majesty The Queen also gave us the opportunity to honour our inspiring Paralympian athletes, many of whom have Motability cars which help them to sustain their gruelling training and competition schedules. More generally, Motability supports many hundreds of thousands of disabled people across the United Kingdom who are unable or virtually unable to walk, for whom an affordable new car provides levels of freedom and independence that would otherwise be beyond their reach.
I would emphasise that the cars available to disabled people under the Motability Scheme are not "free" cars; they are paid for by disabled people using their DLA allowance. Once a disabled person chooses to join Motability, they ask the DWP to pay the HRMC of their DLA directly to Motability for the duration of their agreement. In this way, customers benefit from the purchasing power and economies of scale of the Scheme. As the Scheme operates on a not-for-profit basis, customers benefit directly from these savings and efficiencies. At the end of the lease which is typically three years for cars, the disabled person returns the car for resale.
Many customers need a larger car due to their circumstances (e.g. family size) and disability needs (e.g. if they need to travel with a wheelchair, oxygen cylinder or other disability-related equipment). For these cars, customers make an additional up-front payment known as an Advance Payment to cover the additional costs over a more basic model. If the customer is unable to afford the car or adaptations, Motability is often able to help using its charitable funds derived from its fundraising activities.
Motability also administers the Specialised Vehicles Fund on behalf of the DWP, as it has done for over 20 years. This fund helps the most severely disabled people to lease a suitable vehicle. These leases are typically for five years for wheelchair accessible vehicles or heavily adapted cars.
Although recent press comments have focused on cars from “prestige” brands, 95% of cars on the Scheme have a Recommended Retail Price of £25,000 or less. The most popular cars on the Scheme today are the Ford Focus, Vauxhall Astra, and Nissan Qashqai. The average car on the Scheme has a Recommended Retail Price of £19,500, significantly less than the UK average of over £28,000.
Like any organisation with close to 600,000 customers, there are a small minority of customers who will try to abuse the Scheme. Motability works with a range of partners, including for example motor dealers, the DVLA and the Police, to ensure that effective procedures are in place to protect the Scheme and to ensure that we respond effectively to all allegations of Scheme misuse. During our last financial year, a number of steps were taken to further improve liaison with the Police, including a Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO). Over this period, we dealt with 7,144 allegations relating to fraud or abuse of the Scheme. These included cases of uninsured driving, unauthorised use of Scheme cars, drink-driving and even criminal activity, many of which led to prosecution by the Police. Enforcement action was taken by Motability in 2,139 cases, including 829 customers who had their agreements terminated and their cars withdrawn. In addition, 486 applicants were suspended or permanently excluded from the Scheme. We will continue to invest in this activity to protect the reputation of the Scheme and of the vast majority of our disabled customers.
Despite meeting the mobility needs of disabled people for over 33 years, it is very important that we are not complacent. We must continuously strive for excellence by examining and refining all aspects of the Scheme. During 2011, we have reviewed a number of issues including the range of cars available on the Scheme and the clarity of our policies on how the cars are used and by whom. We are today announcing a number of changes following this review, specifically:
We will, of course, ensure that customers whose disability-related needs require a car above this level can be accommodated. This will simplify the Scheme and focus on those who most need our help but it must be remembered that the quality of the backup service required by disabled people is key to the success of the Scheme.
At the event last Friday (14 October 2011) in Westminster Hall, one of our leading Paralympians, Sascha Kindred OBE, spoke about the importance of the Motability car to his freedom, independence and ability to train and compete at the highest levels. We were reminded that it is a privilege for us to be able to help so many of our disabled customers but, with that privilege, comes a responsibility to ensure the Scheme remains strong and robust, to weather all economic cycles and to meet the mobility needs of disabled people for decades to come. We recognise this responsibility and will continue to meet that challenge in the years ahead, as we have done over the last 33 years.
Lord Sterling
Chairman, Motability
20 October 2011