Motability operations
The Motability Scheme was established to provide disabled people with safe, reliable and affordable cars. Cars account for 99% of the Scheme's activities, with powered wheelchairs and scooters making up the balance.
In the UK, over 1.5 million disabled people qualify for the Higher Rate Mobility Component of Disability Living Allowance and over 17,000 qualify for the War Pensioners' Mobility Supplement. What a disabled person chooses to do with that money is entirely up to them. Currently, 400,000 disabled people have chosen to have their allowances paid to the Scheme to meet the cost of having a car, powered wheelchair or scooter through a contract hire or hire purchase arrangement.
Cars are supplied new from Motability accredited dealerships and customers can choose from over 20 car brands. There are more than 3,500 Motability accredited car dealerships across the UK and a national network of accredited retailers of powered wheelchairs and scooters. The Motability Scheme also provides a small number of used cars through hire purchase.
The Motability Scheme began in 1978 and since then it has changed the lives of almost 700,000 disabled people and their families in the UK.
By the mid -1970s almost every household in the country owned a car, but disabled people were missing out. As a result, many people were housebound for long periods and often dependent on others for their mobility.
Before the introduction of the Mobility Allowance in 1976, only disabled people who could drive themselves got any government help with personal transport.
It was usually in the form of a small car provided to disabled couples, to people responsible for the sole care of a disabled child and to a category called "war disabled". An allowance was paid to disabled people who actually owned a car. But most people were supplied with a small, blue, single-seat, three wheeled, motorised "invalid trike", which was incapable of carrying passengers.
The Mobility Allowance broke the mould in giving help regardless of ability to drive. It also signalled the government's commitment to help in the form of cash, rather than imposing types of vehicles on disabled people, thus giving individuals choice in using their allowance. The Mobility Allowance was a positive advance. But it became increasingly clear the cash involved was not enough to buy and run even the smallest car. The disabled community, most of whom were excluded from reliable, affordable and convenient mobility, needed to be much better served if the Mobility Allowance were to benefit their lives
Thus Motability was born. For the first time, disabled people, many on limited incomes, could afford a good quality car - a car that came fully insured, serviced, and with breakdown assistance.
Motability also gave customers real status as consumers, as they were free to choose from any participating manufacturer's range, and to enjoy the pleasure of being a valued customer in a dealer's showroom.
New horizons opened up and things that were once hard to accomplish became easier for many more - shopping, undertaking voluntary work, visiting friends, getting to the doctor, going swimming, giving a family member a lift to work or enjoying a family driving holiday. For some, enhanced opportunities for further and higher education and profitable full-time employment became a reality for the first time.