logo
Government-backed motability scheme that could get you a free car

Government-backed motability scheme that could get you a free car

Daily Mail​15 hours ago
By
Taxpayers are funding cars for people with conditions including 'constipation', 'tennis elbow' and 'anxiety'. New figures reveal the government-backed Motability scheme is also being used to provide vehicles for drivers who have abused alcohol or drugs. Motability was set up to help those with serious physical disabilities get around. But the bloated scheme is now being used by people with a wide variety of ailments.
A table shows they include over 32,000 new motors for people suffering anxiety or other depressive disorders, while 40 cars went to people with 'tennis elbow', a condition which the NHS advises 'usually goes away with rest'. A further 20 people suffering from constipation made use of Motability, along with 190 who had 'social phobia', the official figures show. Ten people struggling with a 'failure to thrive' got a taxpayer-funded car, and so did another 20 with a 'food intolerance'. A full breakdown of the figures was released in response to a Parliamentary Question and published by the Guido Fawkes website which said some £600million was funnelled from the Department for Work and Pensions into the scheme in 2024, and, as of April, some 589,000 benefits claimants in England and Wales have the publicly-subsidised cars.
The way the scheme works, eligible benefit claimants – meaning those who receive an enhanced rate for qualifying mobility difficulties - can choose to swap a portion of their payments for a new car, scooter or powered wheelchair. The figures show that 800 cars have gone to people with obesity and 230 to those with Tourette's syndrome. Some 770 people with 'alcohol misuse' conditions and another 220 with drug misuse issues lease cars from Motability. The campaign group Crush Crime claims it is 'easier for a drunk-driver to get a free car than a lifetime driving ban', adding: 'Yes, they can get a car BECAUSE they have an alcohol problem.' Motability stressed that 'anyone with an unspent drink-driving conviction cannot drive our vehicles'. Motability came under fire recently as it emerged people online boasted of gaming the system to get new cars 'basically free'.
Incredibly, the publicly-funded private company is now so big it buys one in five new cars sold in Britain – and friends or relatives of Motability customers can drive them too. The boss earns £750,000 and – as the Mail revealed earlier this year – Motability is sitting on a £4billion stockpile. Meanwhile TikTok 'influencers' are fuelling the Motability scandal by encouraging Britons to cash in on brand new cars. A non-refundable advance payment based on the value of the vehicle due at the outset is required, but at a significantly lower cost. The scheme has been coming under fire for months amid fears the system is being abused.
The boom in claimants, who must be in receipt of benefits in the form of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or the Disability Living Allowance (DLA), has proved lucrative for Motability, whose turnover soared to £7billion last year. Meanwhile Motability Operations, the company behind the Motability charity, is sitting on a surplus of £4billion - all of which is stemming from taxpayers' money. One TikTok 'influencer', masking his full face with a red balaclava, handed out tips to claim a £31,000 car for 'essentially free'. He tells his 25,000 followers the best way to obtain PIP and Motability, even advising people to take the Government to court if they are turned down. In one video, he reveals the best way to cash in on an Abarth 695 Sport, worth around £31,000, saying: 'To get this car, all you have to do is pay £599... but there's a catch. You have to be in the Motability scheme, meaning you have to be getting PIP, more specifically the Motability aspect of it. You need to get 12 points of that, however if you have a family member on PIP or if you are on PIP yourself you can exchange your allowance to get this car.'
In other videos, first reported by The Sun, he advises his followers how to find out if they are eligible for the Motability scheme and reveals how he acquired his Seat Arona, worth up to £29,850, 'for free'. Filming a video while driving around in the car, he says: 'A question I get asked a lot is how did I get my car completely free? I've got this car completely free, so the way I got this car was through the Motability scheme. 'The way I got this car was going into a dealership, giving them the letter, them confirming the benefit and just getting the car ordered... it came within four days.' Another user shared a video boasting how her four-year-old autistic daughter can be 'driven around in style' after the family replaced their Vauxhall Zafira with a flash new Skoda Kodiaq. The vehicle is usually worth around £36,000 but can be leased for £3,299 on the Motability scheme.
Motability claimants are supposed to prove they struggle to leave their home or cannot plan and follow a journey route without help to get the required '12 points'. John O'Connell, at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'The Government must look at the criteria before this situation gets worse.' Motability Operations, which runs the Motability scheme, said: 'To use the Motability Scheme, you must receive a higher rate mobility allowance. Eligibility for the allowance is determined and awarded by the Government.' The Department for Work and Pensions, which makes the decisions on who is eligible for disability benefit claims, said: 'People in receipt of an eligible benefit can choose to join the Motability Scheme. Any misuse of the scheme is a matter for Motability and, where appropriate, the police.'
One of the most notorious incidents involving a Motability recipient hit the headlines in May last year when a couple called Bernard (pictured) and Ann McDonagh were convicted of a string of 'dine and dash' offences. When the McDonaghs and their children went to the Bella Ciao restaurant in Swansea one day last April, they were clearly in the mood to splash out.
Their main courses included the two most expensive items on the menu – T-bone and fillet steaks – and when it came to pudding they ordered 'double desserts'. 'They wanted two brownies on a plate,' the owner of the restaurant said later. But when the time came to settle the £329 bill for her party of five, Mrs McDonagh tried to pay with a savings account card. After this had been declined twice, she told the proprietor: 'I'm going to go to the car to get another card, I'll leave my son here as proof that you can trust me.' Unfortunately, for Bella Ciao's bottom line, McDonagh Jr made a run for it shortly afterwards and the family made their escape in a blue Ford Transit van. It later emerged that the McDonaghs had been given the brand-new vehicle by Motability on a three-year lease but, far from putting them on the road to productive employment, it became their getaway vehicle.
Their choice of a Ford Transit is illustrative of the range of models that are available to Motability's clients, who are presented with an eye-catching catalogue of gleaming new vehicles. By handing over £60 of their weekly PIP mobility benefit, a claimant can find themselves driving away with an all-electric Dacia Spring – retail price £15,000 – for no upfront cost . In exchange for the full £75.75 weekly allowance, a claimant can 'purchase' a petrol Nissan Juke SUV – retail price £23,000. For people in dire need of assistance with transportation owing to a disability, these vehicles can be essential to their physical and mental wellbeing. But it becomes less clear as to the immediate benefits to the taxpayer when you look further down the list of vehicles purchased by Motability – which enjoys zero VAT on the hire and resale of its vehicles.
For an upfront payment of £7,999, customers can walk away with a brand-new BMW i4 M Sport, which retails at £50,000 and accelerates from 0-60mph in five seconds, or, for the same upfront price, a Mercedes-Benz CLA Coupe. Once the lease on a vehicle is up, Motability sells it on the open market, with the profits going back into the company. Labour peer John Mann (pictured), who has previously raised concerns about the company, says: 'Motability is making too much money. It needs tighter criteria. There needs to be a return of some of this money they have accrued to the exchequer. I also question why it is necessary for its customers to change to a new vehicle so regularly. Cars last a long time and the whole point of Motability must be to help people live a normal life. Three years per car is too short a time-frame.'
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

US woes slam brakes on Jaguar Land Rover as carmaker blames phasing out of older models
US woes slam brakes on Jaguar Land Rover as carmaker blames phasing out of older models

Daily Mail​

timean hour ago

  • Daily Mail​

US woes slam brakes on Jaguar Land Rover as carmaker blames phasing out of older models

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) sales have slid sharply over the past three months. A temporary pause in exports to the US and the planned wind-down of older Jaguar models have been blamed. The car maker revealed that retail sales slid by 15.1 per cent to 94,420 units over the three months to June. Meanwhile, wholesale sales dropped by 10.7 per cent to 87,286 units compared with a year earlier. The company said the significant fall in sales was partly driven by the pause in shipments to the US in April after Donald Trump's administration introduced tariff plans. Wholesale sales in North America dropped by 12.2 per cent year-on-year after the pause, JLR said. They plunged by 25.5 per cent in the UK after the market was particularly hit by the 'planned cessation of the legacy Jaguar models'.

Patients will suffer most if doctor strikes resume, NHS bosses warn
Patients will suffer most if doctor strikes resume, NHS bosses warn

Times

timean hour ago

  • Times

Patients will suffer most if doctor strikes resume, NHS bosses warn

NHS bosses have warned that patients will be the ones to 'suffer most' from another wave of doctors' strikes as they nervously await the results of a ballot. The British Medical Association is expected to announce results of its ballot of about 50,000 resident doctors, who were formerly known as junior doctors, on Tuesday. The ballot closed at 12pm on Monday and if passed, would give resident doctors a six-month mandate to call strike action until the New Year, with strikes held from July 21 at the earliest. The result is expected to be close, with NHS bosses hopeful that turnout may not pass the 50 per cent threshold required for industrial action. However, BMA leaders have said that they are confident it will pass and that doctors are 'excited to go again'.

Swinney an ‘analogue politician in a digital age' says Streeting
Swinney an ‘analogue politician in a digital age' says Streeting

Telegraph

timean hour ago

  • Telegraph

Swinney an ‘analogue politician in a digital age' says Streeting

John Swinney, the First Minister, has been described by the UK Health Secretary as an 'analogue politician in a digital age' in a row over the Scottish Government's failure to create an NHS app. Wes Streeting said there was 'no excuse' for the devolved government not to have introduced an app that allows patients to book appointments with their GP, order prescriptions and manage hospital appointments. A similar app was rolled out in England six years ago. Plans to create an NHS Scotland app are underway but are currently limited to a trial for dermatology patients in NHS Lanarkshire. A national rollout is not expected before the end of the decade. Mr Streeting warned patients in Scotland are 'missing out' and said it showed why Scotland 'can't afford a third decade of the SNP'. He is the first senior Westminster politician to publicly criticise the running of Scotland's NHS, which has been under fire for lengthy waits. Mr Streeting said: 'The UK Labour Government is embracing technology to deliver a better NHS for patients and their families, giving them more control and transparency over their treatment. 'In John Swinney, the SNP have an analogue politician in a digital age, and patients in Scotland are missing out. 'The SNP have record funding and complete control of the NHS in Scotland, there's no excuse for this, and it just shows why Scotland can't afford a third decade of the SNP and needs a new direction with Anas Sarwar as first minister.' It is not the first time that Scotland's First Minister has been accused of being slow to bring the Scottish NHS into the 21st century. Earlier this year, Ian Murray, the Scottish Secretary, made similar remarks after GPs said they looked 'on with frustration' at the digital health tech divide between England and Scotland, citing the delay in launching tools such as the NHS Scotland app. Mr Streeting has pledged to improve the use of technology in the NHS south of the border and last week announced improvements to the country's NHS app, which already has 35 million users. Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, said the app would 'become, as technology develops, like having a doctor in your pocket, providing you with 24-hour advice, seven days a week'. The 'supercharged' version of the app is promised to be delivered by 2028 and is expected to allow patients to book and check hospital appointments, interact with specialists or visit an 'AI doctor' for advice. An app for the Scottish health service, announced in 2021, is not expected to launch on a trial basis until December. Its functionality will initially be severely restricted, with its only practical purpose being to allow dermatology patients served by one health board, NHS Lanarkshire, to be notified of appointments. If successful, rollouts will continue in other areas until its full introduction in five years. 'Sustained improvements for patients' According to the latest official health statistics, the number of patients waiting more than 78 weeks for treatment in Scotland has increased to 38,070, while in England the figure has halved to 1,154. Cancer treatment waiting time standards are also being missed. A spokesperson for Neil Gray, the Scottish Health Secretary said: 'Scotland's planned online app is for both health and social care and we will launch it in Lanarkshire by the end of 2025. 'National rollout will commence through 2026 and we will publish a national rollout plan later this summer. 'We will leave Labour to carry out personal attacks – the SNP Government's focus is on putting in place the lasting solutions which will deliver sustained improvements for patients. 'As Wes Streeting knows, Scotland's core A&E performance has been the best in the UK for the last 10 years, we have more GPs per head than south of the border, and we are building on this with record funding for health and social care this year.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store