Disabled campaigners brand Motability changes ‘a penalty for living a full and necessary life’

Disabled campaigners are set to meet with the CEO of Motability Operations, after calling out how the programme of proposed changes to the scheme will profoundly impact disabled people’s lives.

In a letter sent to Motability Operations CEO Andrew Miller on 31 March, Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), voices how it is “appalled at some of the planned restrictions on Motability leases”.

DPAC told Miller in its letter how it is “being inundated with concerns” from its members and supporters.

It says this already shows the “level of fear” the planned changes are causing for disabled people.

Linda Burnip, co-founder of DPAC, told DNS on Monday (6 April) that in response to the letter, Miller has agreed to meet with campaigners.

She said: “We’re pleased to say Andrew Miller has offered to meet with us to explain why they are planning to bring in these changes which would effectively rob disabled people of any independence if implemented and possibly explain why Motability feel they should bring in changes that support a right wing Reform agenda.”

The letter warns that the upcoming halving of the mileage allowance to 10,000 miles a year could prevent disabled people getting to “life-saving medical appointments” because it effectively limits travel to 27 miles a day on average.

DPAC points out that for disabled people living in rural locations poorly served by public transport, “independent transport” enabled by the scheme is a “lifeline”.

The DPO underscores that “People with specific disabilities often have to travel to hospitals far away for their treatments and they can’t get the necessary treatments locally.”

The letter also flagged how corresponding alarming changes to the scheme will create barriers to disabled people living independently, leading full social lives, and accessing employment.

It says that the mileage limit would “force” disabled individuals to “choose between maintaining employment and staying within mileage limits”.

And it says that this would have the effect of “pushing some out of work altogether.”

But, it highlights that the 25p per mile excess mileage charge for new leases would “compound the issue” further.

Towards the end of March, the Motability Scheme announced this five-fold excess mileage charge increase alongside the halved mileage limit for new leases.

Motability Operations, the company that operates the scheme, said this was “as part of wider steps to manage rising costs, including tax changes from the UK Government.”

During its Autumn budget in November, chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that the government would impose 20 per cent VAT on advance payments for scheme leases.

In tandem with this, the government would also remove the scheme’s 12 per cent insurance premium tax (IPT) exemption.

Motability Operations previously confirmed to Disability News Service (DNS) that these VAT measures alone would increase the advanced cost of a three-year lease by a minimum of £3,000 for disabled people accessing the scheme.

This would be on top of disabled claimants already contributing their enhanced mobility component of personal independence payment (PIP) to pay for leases.

New leases for vehicles with “significant adaptations” for wheelchair and stretcher users are exempt from the tax changes.

But in its letter, DPAC points out that the new 25p excess mileage charge could additionally run into the hundreds, if not thousands of pounds across the course of a lease and make travel to work, healthcare, and social events unaffordable for many disabled people.

DPAC says this “places a price on independence” and that the cost acts “as a penalty for living a full and necessary life.”

The DPO also raises “particular concern” over Motability’s roll-out of its black box system that monitors the driving of disabled people leasing vehicles through the scheme.

In August last year (2025), it launched its Drive Smart scheme – making black box fittings compulsory for drivers under 30 leasing Motability vehicles.

The device and accompanying mobile app measures certain driving metrics, tracking driver habits like speed, braking, and distances travelled.

It also monitors how many times drivers utilise their vehicles – and whether they drive for over an hour without taking rest breaks.

This data then confers a weekly red, amber, or green rating.

Motability can remove drivers from the scheme if they rack up two consecutive red weeks, or four over the course of the year, and bar them from future access.

From 13 April, it is bringing this in for all those taking out a first lease through the scheme.

But the letter from DPAC questions how many of these ‘red flags’ would actually work in practice and if they would in fact encourage safe driving.

The group says that a red flag for driving after 10pm acts as a curfew that would penalise disabled people working in industries that “often require people to work at late times.”

The letter also highlights how this shuts disabled people out from participating in full social lives, asking how they can “go to the theatre, or cinema if their vehicle can’t be driven after 10pm?”

And it questions how a driver is meant to stop after an hour if they find themselves somewhere they “can’t just suddenly pull over and stop safely”, such as in traffic, on dual carriageways, and motorways.

DPAC warns that the threat that Motability could repossess the vehicle based on red weekly driving scores “would be enormously and continually stressful for disabled people and likely to exacerbate any existing Mental and Physical Health issues.”

A spokesperson for Motability Operations said:

“We recognise how important the Motability Scheme is in supporting disabled people’s independence, and we understand that some of these changes have caused concern. We have responded to the letter from Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC).

“We are making changes following the UK government Budget announcement in November about new taxes for the Motability Scheme, which would mean an average £1,100 increase to lease prices from July. We know how important a vehicle is for our customers to live independently, which is why we’ve made changes to new leases from July to reduce the increase to £400 on average. Existing leases are not affected. We’re have responded to the letter from Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) and would welcome an opportunity to meet and discuss the changes to the Motability Scheme.

The spokesperson added: “Changing the mileage allowance of future leases lowers insurance and maintenance costs and increases the vehicle’s resale cost, which reduces the cost of a lease. Around 3 in 4 people who use the Scheme travel within the mileage allowance from July. We understand that, in some circumstances, people may need to drive more than the mileage allowance. Any additional mileage is charged at a rate that reflects the real cost of higher use, including maintenance, insurance and wear and tear. We will be introducing an exceptions process for very limited situations before July.

“Separate to the changes announced in response to the Budget, we also want to reduce the rising cost of insurance on the Scheme. The Motability Scheme operates a shared insurance model, and managing these costs is essential to keeping it affordable and fair. Drive Smart is one of the ways we are tackling rising insurance costs. It uses industry-standard telematics technology to provide feedback on driving behaviour – such as acceleration and breaking – helping to support safer driving and reduce accidents. We are focusing the introduction of Drive Smart on customer groups where data shows accident rates are higher, including drivers under 30 – an approach that is now standard across most fleet insurance programmes.”