Motability Scheme vs Keeping Your Mobility Allowance

If you get the higher rate mobility part of Disability Living Allowance, the enhanced rate mobility part of Personal Independence Payment or Adult Disability Payment, or one of the other qualifying mobility benefits, you have a choice. You can hand that money to the Motability Scheme and lease a new car, wheelchair-accessible vehicle, scooter or powered wheelchair, or you can keep the cash and make your own transport arrangements.

The Scheme is not a benefit in itself. It is a lease: you exchange all or most of the higher rate mobility part of your weekly disability allowance for the course of a three year lease¹. The lease payment goes straight from government to Motability each month, and some more expensive cars also need a one-off Advance Payment². Standard scooters and powered wheelchairs cost less than the weekly allowance, while some cars cost less, some the same, and some need that extra payment¹.

For 2026/27 the higher rate mobility component of DLA is £80.00 a week and the lower rate is £30.30³. In Scotland, Adult Disability Payment mobility awards accounted for 31% of payments by value, £2.5 billion, in the year to 31 July 2026⁴. Whether the Scheme is worth it depends on what you would otherwise spend on a car, insurance, tax, servicing and repairs, and on how secure your award is.

How the Motability Scheme works

The Scheme helps disabled people hire a car, powered wheelchair or scooter, and customers might qualify for a driving lessons grant⁸. It offers an affordable way to lease a new car, wheelchair-accessible vehicle, scooter or powered wheelchair⁹. The Motability Foundation oversees the delivery of the Scheme by Motability Operations, a separate company that runs it⁹.

Eligibility turns on the benefit you receive, not on your condition in the abstract. The qualifying awards are PIP enhanced rate mobility, DLA higher rate mobility, Scottish Adult DLA higher rate mobility, Adult Disability Payment enhanced rate mobility, Child Disability Payment higher rate mobility, War Pensioners' Mobility Supplement and Armed Forces Independence Payment⁵. You must have at least 12 months remaining on your award⁶. If the Department for Work and Pensions decides you are not eligible for the enhanced rate mobility component of PIP, you are no longer eligible to use the Scheme¹.

There are limits on what you can hold at once. You cannot have more than one lease agreement, so you cannot lease a car and a powered wheelchair or scooter at the same time¹. Serious driving endorsements, convictions or disqualifications in the past five years may also disqualify you¹⁰. People aged 65 and over can apply if they receive a qualifying allowance, but Attendance Allowance or Pension Age Disability Payment in Scotland cannot be used to lease a car through the Scheme¹.

The Scheme began in 1978 and has since helped millions of disabled people and their families⁹. It has been reviewed independently: the National Audit Office published a review in December 2018, after a May 2018 report by the Commons Work and Pensions and Treasury select committees raised questions about structures, governance, government support, reserves, senior staff remuneration and the relationship with the DWP, and recommended an NAO review. The NAO concluded the Scheme provides an excellent service but raised concerns over executive reward and governance.

What a Motability lease includes and what it costs

A car lease through the Scheme includes insurance, breakdown cover, servicing and maintenance, and tyre and windscreen replacement¹. Insurance covers up to three named drivers¹. Under the Scheme your vehicle tax is paid each year⁵. If your child has the higher rate mobility component of DLA, you can lease a car using the mobility component with no payment for insurance, tax, breakdown cover, servicing or MOTs¹¹.

The cost is the allowance itself. You exchange all or most of the higher rate mobility part of your weekly disability allowance for the course of a three year lease¹. Standard scooters and powered wheelchairs cost less than the weekly allowance; some cars cost less, some the same, and some require an Advance Payment¹. The Scheme announced its latest prices in March 2025⁹.

Adaptations are a separate question. The Scheme offers around 500 different vehicle adaptations to tailor a new car to specific needs¹⁰. But the cost of adaptations, plus fitting and removal, may not be included in your lease, and you may have to pay for these yourself⁵. The Motability Foundation's Cars and Vehicle Adaptations grant can fund new adaptations during your lease if your needs change, and can help if the car or adaptations you need cost more than you can afford¹². All applications are means tested to make sure the grant goes to people most in need of financial help¹².

If your car remains suitable at the end of your lease, the Foundation may recommend you keep it for another two years¹². The Scheme can also arrange a lease extension if the vehicle remains in good condition and the mileage is not excessive, with insurance, roadside recovery, service, maintenance and repairs included¹.

Extra taxes on Scheme leases: what changes for you

Extra taxes will be added to cars leased through the Motability Scheme, along with restrictions on certain car brands¹⁴. From 1 July 2026, Insurance Premium Tax will be applied at the standard rate of 12% to insurance contracts relating to vehicles on the Scheme, for new leases⁷. The same date brings the standard rate of VAT on top-up payments on leases of motor vehicles through qualifying schemes for the use of disabled people⁷.

The practical effect is that the amount of allowance a lease absorbs can rise, and the range of vehicles available on terms that fit the allowance can narrow. Because the changes are tied to new leases, the timing of an order matters. The Scheme's own published prices are the place to check what a particular vehicle costs under the new rules.

Mileage limits and additional mileage support for high travel needs

Mileage up to a certain limit is included in the price of a Scheme lease¹⁵. Beyond that, the terms of the agreement apply. In July 2026 the Scheme introduced additional support for customers with the highest travel needs, for orders placed after 1 July 2026.

If you drive for work, note that the tax treatment of business mileage is separate from the Scheme. The mileage allowance only covers journeys which are wholly, or partly, for business, where this can be proven through a record of business mileage¹⁶. That is a tax rule, not a Scheme rule, and it does not change what your lease includes.

Leasing through Motability or keeping your allowance: how each one works

The two routes are genuinely different products, and the right comparison is between a leased vehicle with its running costs covered and a cash sum you control.

The lease route suits someone who wants predictable costs and does not want to arrange insurance, servicing and repairs separately. Keeping the allowance suits someone whose transport needs are met another way, who needs the cash for other costs, or who wants to keep control of a vehicle they own. The Scheme's own terms are the authority on what a particular lease includes.

What happens if you lose your award at reassessment

If you do not qualify for the enhanced rate mobility component of PIP when your award is reviewed or renewed, you may have to return your Motability vehicle¹⁷. The same applies in Scotland: if you do not qualify for the Adult Disability Payment enhanced rate mobility component, for example when your award is reviewed or renewed or you transfer from PIP, you may have to return your vehicle¹⁸.

There is support for people in this position, and it is worth knowing the names.

• Transitional Support grant: for customers who leave the Scheme following an unsuccessful DLA to PIP reassessment, where they lose their qualifying benefits and meet the grant criteria¹³. You do not need to apply, because Motability Operations will contact you if they are notified you have not been awarded PIP¹⁹.
• Additional Transitional Support: for a Scheme customer who cannot continue with their lease because of a DWP reassessment and cannot meet the costs of a replacement vehicle or the adaptations they need²⁰. If you have adaptations, Motability Operations will help with the costs of fitting similar adaptations to a non-Scheme vehicle¹⁹. The Foundation may offer increased support for the additional cost of buying a large vehicle, and may provide a grant enabling purchase of a leased highly adapted vehicle²⁰.
• Compensation payment: if you were previously on Motability but lost it when you were moved from DLA to PIP or Adult Disability Payment, you may be entitled to a compensation payment⁵.

The amounts paid under transitional support depend on when you joined the Scheme. For leavers who joined before 2013, the choice is £2,000 for keeping the vehicle eight weeks, or £500 for keeping it 26 weeks¹⁸. For those who joined during 2013, it is £1,000 for eight weeks, or £250 for 26 weeks¹⁸.

Reassessment is not always imminent. If your child has a condition that is not expected to improve, there will not be a reassessment for at least 5 years²¹. Pension Age Disability Payment can be given as an indefinite award if your needs are highly unlikely to change, meaning it will not be reviewed unless you tell them something has changed²². Adult Disability Payment under the Special Rules for Terminal Illness is automatically the highest award for daily living and the highest rate for mobility, ongoing without review unless circumstances change, regardless of how long the person has been ill²³.

If a decision goes against you, the decision can be looked at again through a mandatory reconsideration, and you will be sent a letter explaining whether the original decision has been changed²⁴. There is more on this in challenging a decision and what happens to payments during mandatory reconsideration.

Grants for wheelchair-accessible vehicles: Bespoke Passenger Solutions

The Bespoke Passenger Solutions grant is for disabled people who need additional adaptations or facilities in order to travel in their vehicle¹³. It may help to pay for the extra costs of a vehicle specially adapted for your needs as a passenger⁶. These are large wheelchair-accessible vehicles including personal care facilities, such as personal hoisting, a changing surface, privacy and storage⁶. The wheelchair is secured with a four-point manual tie-down system in the floor and a personal seat belt for the person seated in their wheelchair⁶.

The grant covers the Advance Payment for a suitable Bespoke Passenger Solution, including the cost of the vehicle and the adaptations⁶. To qualify you must be a disabled person, or the appointee for a disabled person, on the Motability Scheme or applying to join, and you must not be planning to change your wheelchair in the next 12 months⁶. An Up-Front Passenger position for the wheelchair passenger is excluded⁶. One of the Foundation's Mobility and Driving Advisors will visit you in person, and the Foundation assesses your needs with its own advisors rather than requiring a Driving Mobility assessment first⁶.

The programme was first launched in April 2022. In June 2024 the Foundation approved £10 million to continue a shorter version for two years, and in September 2026 it announced the scheme will continue until 2029 following an evaluation of its impact on disabled people, their families and carers. The Foundation states the programme is currently funded until March 2029⁶. New Bespoke Passenger Solutions and all new accessible vehicles are leased over five years, and Nearly New ones over three years⁶. You can only have one grant at a time, but the Foundation will help you apply for the right one⁶.

Related grants include the Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle grant, which can only fund WAVs available through the Scheme, built to strict safety standards and approved by the Scheme²⁵, and the Independent Driving Solutions grant, for independent drivers who need to transfer inside the vehicle, drive while staying in their wheelchair, or need hi-tech controls in a standard car¹³. The Foundation lists 8 grants in total¹³.

Where to get independent help

The Scheme's own pages are the authority on its terms, prices and grant criteria, but they are not independent. For free, impartial advice on benefits and money, MoneyHelper is the government-backed service. Independent Age runs a free helpline²⁶. Charities that publish guidance on the Scheme and on disability benefits include Scope, Disability Rights UK, Turn2us and Contact⁵.

If a decision about your benefit goes against you, the route is a mandatory reconsideration and then, if needed, a tribunal appeal. There is guidance on appealing to a tribunal and on complaining to the DWP and the Ombudsman. If you are struggling with debt, StepChange notes that your Motability agreement can continue throughout your bankruptcy²⁷.

For help with the wider costs of disability, see benefits and funding for the extra costs of being disabled and checking what you are entitled to. If you are moving between nations, disability and carer payments when moving between Scotland and the rest of the UK explains how awards transfer.