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