Benefits claimants can still get subsidised BMWs despite welfare cuts

Telegraph

19-03-2025

Benefits claimants can still apply for subsidised top-of-the-range BMWs worth more than £50,000 despite the Government's welfare cuts.
The controversial Motability scheme, which was handed a record £2.8 billion of taxpayer cash last year to fund new cars for people on mobility benefits, will not be cut back in Labour's welfare reforms.
The leasing scheme allows successful claimants to exchange part of their disability payments for brand new cars – including BMWs and Ford Mustangs that would otherwise cost as much as £54,000 – if they also pay a down payment.
It has been branded out of control by critics who fear the broad range of conditions under which recipients may qualify – such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism and anxiety – leaves it vulnerable to exploitation. Applicants must prove that such conditions affect their mobility to be eligible for Motability.
A series of benefit fraud cases have seen claimants exaggerate illnesses to acquire Motability cars, including a mother who exaggerated her arthritis to obtain seven cars on the scheme.
The Government's changes to personal independence payments (PIP) – the benefit required to qualify for Motability – are only changing its 'daily living' component.
It means anyone who receives the enhanced level of 'mobility' PIP, worth £3,939 annually, can continue to exchange it for a Motability car worth up to 12 times as much.
The most expensive cars available on the scheme retail for up to £54,000 and include the BMW i4, BMW iX1 SUV and Ford Mustang Mach-E. Other options include a £36,000 Abarth 600e, £33,000 Audi Q3 and £32,000 Mercedes A-class.
These high-end cars require recipients to pay a down payment of at least £2,999 but the total cost still comes in at a fraction of what ordinary members of the public would pay.
On TikTok, claimants boast of 'driving in style' thanks to the taxpayer-funded car scheme as they pick up cars including a £37,000 Skoda Karoq, £30,000 Nissan Qashqai and £29,000 Kia Sportage.
One says, 'thank you Government' in the video, adding: 'Me and the girls will be driving in style.'
Car dealerships are now advertising specifically to benefits claimants on the platform, showing off the features of the £46,000 Audi Q4 e-tron, £36,000 Mercedes A-class and £24,000 Audi A1 that can be acquired on the scheme.
The soaring popularity of Motability has seen the number of users balloon from 635,000 in 2020 to a record 815,000 last year.
Over the same period, the scheme's income from benefits payments – paid for by the taxpayer – has increased by £800 million, rising by 41 per cent from £1.99 billion to £2.81 billion.
Motability was first designed in the 1970s for those with physical disabilities but welfare recipients can now get onto the scheme with conditions like ADHD, autism and anxiety if these conditions affect their mobility.
Since 2016, the number of those eligible with ADHD has increased by 1,400 per cent, up from 2,348 people to 35,115.
Andrew Miller, its chief executive, received £748,000 in total remuneration last year.
According to an analysis by the TaxPayers' Alliance (TPA), the number of those eligible who have autism has also increased by 703 per cent, from 3,509 to 28,225.
John O'Connell, the TPA's chief executive, said it was 'beyond doubt that honest taxpayers are being taken for a ride by those who have worked out how to game the system'.
On Wednesday, Sir Stephen Timms, the social security minister, said Labour's welfare reforms would not tighten PIP to stop payments to people with conditions like anxiety.
'No,' he told Times Radio. 'It depends what the effect of the condition is on people's well-being, and the indicators are all published and set out. So if you have difficulties doing certain things, then you get points on the PIP assessment.'
However, there is evidence that the assessment can be exploited by benefits fraudsters aiming to take advantage of the scheme.
These include mother of four Linda Hoey, who faked her way to seven Motability cars between 2001 and 2015 by claiming arthritis left her barely able to walk.
She was given an 18-month suspended sentence in 2017 after photographs were uncovered showing her scuba diving on holiday in the Maldives.
Carer Colette Udall took £21,000 in handouts – including a Motability car – by claiming she could not get out of bed unaided, only to be filmed taking out the bins at the care home where she worked. She was handed a community order in 2019 and told to pay it all back at Minshull Street Crown Court.
In 2021, it emerged that Aaron Hooper, a supposedly wheelchair-bound man from Axminster, Somerset, had appeared in a video on Instagram pulling his Motability car through a car park on a rope. His mother Ann, who claimed the benefits on his behalf, was jailed for nine months at Exeter Crown Court in September 2021.
Helen Whately, the shadow work and pensions secretary, said: 'The Motability scheme is a textbook example of a well-intentioned idea that has got way out of hand. It is symptomatic of the country's spiralling welfare costs which Labour are failing to grasp.
'This week the Government had an opportunity to step up on welfare, but they failed. Their announcement fell short on savings but has left disabled people terrified.
'What Britain needs is a government which is both willing and able to make fundamental reforms to welfare. Sadly, we have the opposite.'
Richard Tice, the deputy leader of Reform UK, vowed that his party would 'cut the waste' if it formed the next government.
'This is yet another example where successive Tory and Labour governments have failed to get a grip on the misuse of public funds, squandering exorbitant amounts with very few checks and balances,' he told The Telegraph.
'Only Reform will cut the waste, crack down on fraud and reinvest in Britain.'
'No additional cost to the taxpayer'
A spokesman for Motability Operations said the DWP was solely responsible for determining who received disability benefits.
'To use the Motability scheme, someone must receive one of a number of Government-funded higher rate mobility benefits which are defined in legislation,' the spokesman said.
'The Motability scheme gives 815,000 disabled people the freedom to get to work, school, and medical appointments – helping them live independently and play an active role in society. The scheme isn't just life-changing for individuals – it also boosts the UK economy.'
A DWP spokesman said: 'The Motability scheme helps people with significant mobility issues participate in society. People claiming benefits must sacrifice some of their existing payments to lease a car, so this comes at no additional cost to the taxpayer.
'But we are determined to stamp out benefit fraud in all its forms with our crackdown due to save the taxpayer £1.5 billion over the next five years, part of wider plans that will save £8.6 billion by 2030.
'This comes alongside our plans for the largest welfare reforms in a generation – backed by a £1 billion investment – to support those who can work to do so while protecting those who cannot, putting welfare on a fairer, more sustainable footing, to unlock growth as part of the Plan for Change.'