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This Disability Alliance factsheet is a basic introduction to the Motability Scheme. You can find out more detailed information about help for disabled people in Disability Rights UK's Disability Rights Handbook.
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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).
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
Motability has announced the following changes to the Scheme. From December 2011:
From January 2012
For more information see the Statement by Lord Sterling, Chairman of Motability at http://tinyurl.com/6zkhev5.
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
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.
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/
This Disability Alliance factsheet is a basic introduction to the Motability Scheme. You can find out more detailed information about help for disabled people in Disability Rights UK's Disability Rights Handbook.
All our publications are available at www.disabilityalliance.org/shop.htm. You can also place an order by contacting Disability Rights UK on 020 7247 8776 (this is not an advice line) or by fax on 020 7247 8765. All our factsheets are available at www.disabilityalliance.org/fact.htm.
13 December 2011
