Motability rule change means disabled people must drive cheaper cars

Disabled people have reacted angrily after they were told they will no longer be able to drive vehicles worth over £25,000 through the Motability car scheme.

The announcement of tighter new rules by Motability follows a series of inaccurate, hostile and disablist media reports attacking the disabled people’s car scheme.

Earlier this month, campaigners complained to the press watchdog after the Mail on Sunday suggested there was widespread abuse of the scheme.

The paper claimed that more than 3,000 families of people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder – which it called “naughty child syndrome” – were “abusing” the benefits system by receiving “free” cars through the scheme.

It claimed that work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith was “determined to stop what he regards as abuse of free cars for the disabled”, and said the Motability website “openly advises claimants how to use the benefit to get luxury cars”. The newspaper later published a series of corrections to its story.

Duncan Smith is attempting to force through a controversial package of welfare reforms, including proposals to cut spending on disability living allowance (DLA) by a fifth.

In a statement announcing the rule changes, Motability’s chair, Lord Sterling, mentioned “recent press comments” which had focused on customers obtaining “prestige” cars through the scheme.

He stressed that only five per cent of cars leased through the scheme had a recommended retail price of more than £25,000 – those available only with an advance payment of more than £2,000.

The average car obtained through the Motability scheme is worth £19,500, far less than the UK average of over £28,000. Motability vehicles can only be obtained by disabled people claiming the higher rate mobility component of DLA.

Helen Dolphin, director of policy and campaigns for the user-led charity Disabled Motoring UK, said she was “angry” and “disappointed” with the new rule, and accused Motability of bowing to media pressure.

She said: “I feel they have listened too much to the negative press reports and reacted to them in this way.

“I am saddened by it because it is restricting the choice of the car for disabled people.”

Dolphin also pointed out that the new rule would not save the government any money on its benefits bill.

She said: “It is not going to save a penny. It is going to limit people who have chosen to drive a slightly more expensive car.

“If the government think that restricting vehicles for disabled people is going to save money, they have clearly misunderstood what the scheme is about.”

She said there was a “gross misunderstanding” about the scheme in the media and among the public, who failed to realise that if a disabled person wants to obtain a prestige car they have to pay a much higher advance payment.

She said she would not in future be able to lease the Motability car she currently drives, because it was worth more than £25,000.

She said: “It was a completely personal choice because I do a lot of mileage and I wanted a car that could reach reasonable speeds and was safe to drive.

“Is it outrageous for me to want to have a nice car? I work full-time and I put my money towards it. What is outrageous about it? I don’t get it.”

But Dolphin said she did agree with some of the other changes introduced by Motability, such as only accepting named drivers – people the disabled customer can choose to drive their car – who live within five miles of the DLA claimant. Previously this was set at 25 miles.

Motability also said that from January 2012 it would no longer accept named drivers under the age of 21, unless they lived with the disabled customer.

And Lord Sterling said Motability would “invest further in our capacity to investigate and act on allegations of abuse, as well as piloting new vehicle technologies to monitor how cars are used where we perceive the greatest risk of abuse”.

Asked whether Motability had bowed to government and media pressure, a spokeswoman declined to comment.

She also declined to comment when asked whether Motability believed the new maximum price would actually cut government spending on disability benefits.

News provided by John Pring at www.disabilitynewsservice.com

Tabloid’s Motability story leads to fresh watchdog complaints

Disabled people and disability charities have complained to the press watchdog after a national newspaper suggested there was widespread abuse of the Motability car scheme.

The Mail on Sunday (MoS) claimed that more than 3,000 families of people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) – which it called “naughty child syndrome” – were “abusing” the benefits system by receiving “free” cars through the scheme.

The Motability scheme allows disabled people claiming the higher rate mobility component of disability living allowance (DLA) to use that benefit to lease an accessible vehicle.

The Mail on Sunday’s sister paper, The Daily Mail, has run a series of stories over the last year alleging widespread fraud and abuse of disability benefits, at least four of which have led to complaints to the Press Complaints Commission (PCC).

The PCC has received at least 34 complaints about the new MoS story, including one from Disability Alliance (DA), which described the article as “misleading and inaccurate”.

DA said the paper had exaggerated the number of people with ADHD using the Motability scheme, and accused it of a “potentially discriminatory” use of language.

DA said it was “very concerned that a leading national newspaper has used misleading and inaccurate figures on what, for many disabled people and their families, is essential support”.

The charity added: “DLA does not cover the full, higher costs of living disabled people and their families experience but makes a significant contribution – often described as a ‘lifeline’ by recipients.”

The PCC said the article was now being assessed against clauses one and 12 of its code of practice, those relating to accuracy and discrimination.

So far this year, the PCC has found that the Mail did not breach the code with three articles about disability benefits, while a fourth complaint – from Neil Coyle, director of policy for DA – was “resolved” when the paper published a letter from DA and other organisations detailing why the paper’s story was “misleading”.

The Full Fact website, which promotes “accuracy in public debate”, analysed the figures used by the Mail on Sunday and discovered that just 100 people for whom ADHD (or hyperkinetic syndrome) was their “main disabling condition” claimed the higher mobility rate of DLA.

It believes that the MoS then added this to the 3,100 people whose main disabling condition was a “behavioural disorder”.

But Full Fact points out that even this total figure of 3,200 would be misleading, as only 30 per cent of those who are eligible actually lease a car from Motability.

The MoS also claimed that disabled people who need “guidance or supervision most of the time from another person when walking out of doors in unfamiliar places” can obtain a Motability vehicle, when in fact this is the criteria for claiming DLA lower rate mobility.

The Mail on Sunday declined to comment.

News provided by John Pring at www.disabilitynewsservice.com