Disabled people have urged the company running the Motability car scheme against drastic changes that would penalise genuine motorists.
It comes after The i Paper revealed that 6,000 cars leased to benefits claimants have been seized by police due to criminal activity in recent years. There are fears that vehicles are being abused by “rogue” friends and family members who are “exploiting” disabled people.
Some drivers have tested positive for drugs while using someone else’s Motability car. Younger drivers have been caught misusing their parent’s vehicle.
Motability Operations – which leases cars in exchange for upfront payments and personal independence payment (PIP) – is facing calls to tighten its insurance rules. The rules currently allow three people to be named on the insurance, so friends, family or carers can drive if needed.
Matt Ryder, former head of Motability policy at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), called for the company to reduce the number of named drivers.
Labour peer Lord John Mann said he was also worried that some disabled people were effectively losing control of their vehicles, claiming that insurance rules “are clearly not tight enough”.
‘Penalising genuine drivers would be unfair’
Tracey Jones, from Nantwich in Cheshire, said she would be “stuck in the house” without her Peugeot 2008, leased through Motability. She relies on her 58-year-old partner Nicky – who acts as her carer and is named on the insurance – to do most of the driving because she is often in too much pain.
squarePOLICEInvestigation6,000 Motability cars seized for crimes including drugs, drinking and no insurance
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Ms Jones, 54, has highly active multiple sclerosis, which is characterised by frequent relapses.
She thinks that she may need a third driver on the insurance in the future, and urged Motability Operations not to introduce any “unfair” restrictions.
“It would be unfair to penalise the vast majority of genuine people who rely on the scheme,” she said. “I’m reliant on my partner. If I didn’t have my partner, I couldn’t get around.
“If anything happens to my partner that prevents her driving so much, it may be very useful to have someone else on the insurance to take me to hospital or appointments.”
The number of Motability cars taken away by police has trebled over the past five years – rising from 610 seizures in 2021 to 1,932 last year. This is likely to be the tip of the iceberg, however, since only 10 of 43 police forces provided figures.
Ms Jones said she was worried by the increase in crime, but she praised Motability for “trying to tackle misuse”. She added: “I worry that a small number of people abusing the system might affect me and other genuine people in the future [if rules change]. It’s a big concern.”
Crackdown on misuse
In November, Motability Operations announced that a “special investigations unit” had been expanded to 80 staff members to crack down on misuse.
Trackers are installed in vehicles when there is a higher risk of misuse, such as when none of the drivers added to the insurance live at the disabled person’s home.
Motability chief executive Andrew Miller suggested last year that the company was reviewing its insurance policies. “Are we perhaps being too generous on the insurance criteria?” he told the Financial Times.
If you let your partner drive your shiny new motability car it’s best to make sure that they are not disqualified and on the insurance policy. Car made off from officer in Blackpool and tried to evade #MN38 & #HR91. Driver reported and car seized. #T2RPU. pic.twitter.com/Jh3aySIfI9
— Lancs Road Police (@LancsRoadPolice) June 8, 2025Motability told The i Paper some changes to insurance rules had been made last year.
Previously, scheme users were able to have an additional “temporary driver” on their insurance for up to 30 days. These drivers could be added as many times as required. The company has changed this to “emergency drivers” who can be added for only up to five days. It may be done only up to four times per year.
“In the last year, we have strengthened our temporary driver policy to improve oversight and further tackle misuse, and we have robust safeguards in place,” said a Motability spokesperson. They added that any further changes in future “will follow engagement with our customers”.
Motability estimates that the number of police seizures of its cars represents fewer than 1 per cent of its overall fleet of 890,000 vehicles.
“A very small proportion of scheme vehicles are misused, but we take strong action because any misuse undermines the scheme for disabled people who need it,” said a spokesperson.
‘It feels like disabled people have been targeted’
Disabled motorists are also worried about rising costs.Motability has said the upfront payment for a three-year lease will have to increase by an average of £400 after Chancellor Rachel Reeves imposed taxes on the scheme for the first time.
“It feels like disabled people have been targeted,” said Ms Jones. Her lease on is due to end next year, and she fears a much higher upfront payment than the £450 she paid last time. “I’m going to need an electric wheelchair before too long. Which means I’m going to need a bigger vehicle and a hoist. Adaptations are going to be very expensive.”
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She added that having to move house recently had wiped out the couple’s savings: “We’re living month to month on the breadline, so it’s difficult to see how we’ll be able to afford extra costs.”
A DWP spokesperson said the Government had made tax reforms to save the taxpayer money. They said misuse was a matter for Motability and, where appropriate, the police.
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