Campaigners are urging ministers to tighten a disability car-leasing scheme after claimants with tennis elbow and food intolerance were awarded taxpayer-funded vehicles.
Under the Motability scheme, people receiving certain mobility benefits, including the highest level of personal independence payments (PIP), are able to use part of their allowance to lease a vehicle.
But the scheme is under renewed scrutiny ahead of this month’s Budget after figures showed tennis elbow was recorded as the primary condition for 40 people who leased cars under the scheme, while 20 claimants were recorded as suffering from a food intolerance.
Other conditions listed in the data included asthma (4,870), coronavirus (900), dyslexia (320), dizziness without a specified cause (270), speech or language disorders (470), and unspecified forms of back pain (6,760), according to data released as part of a ministerial question last year.
But disability campaigners argue that public transport is often “inadequate and inaccessible”, including for those who suffer from such conditions and experts have pointed out cases of fraud on the scheme are rare.
The TaxPayers’ Alliance has called on Government to review the scheme’s eligibility criteria.
Shimeon Lee, policy analyst at the TaxPayers’ Alliance argued the scheme should be a “lifeline for people with serious mobility needs, not an open-ended perk funded by taxpayers”.
“The Motability scheme has gone far beyond its original purpose with access now being granted for highly questionable conditions,” Lee said.
“Ministers must urgently review the eligibility criteria for Motability and PIP and ensure fairness for the taxpayers footing the bill.”
But Tania Burchardt, professor of social policy at the London School of Economics, warned against presumptions about the requirements people with different conditions might have.
She told The i Paper: “I would avoid second-guessing what people’s needs are – all of which have been assessed through two eligibility checks, first for disability benefits and then for Motability – and focus instead on why public transport is still so inadequate and inaccessible in most parts of the country.”
Nigel Fletcher, chief executive of the Motability Foundation, said the company does “not set the eligibility or assess applications for Government mobility benefits” which make claimants eligible for the scheme – that is done by the Department for Work and Pensions.
“However, I find it extraordinary that someone would qualify for the enhanced mobility allowance solely because they have acne or tennis elbow,” he added. “Government does not share information with the Motability scheme about customers’ individual disabilities.”
The scheme, run by Motability Operations, currently supports 915,000 people, accounting for 14.7 per cent of all new-car registrations in the UK in the six months to September 2026.
Figures show that due users of the scheme work an additional 14 hours per week, equating to £546m in additional wages.
Leases granted under the Motability scheme cover insurance, servicing, maintenance and breakdown assistance.
Luxury car models were removed from the scheme last year following backlash over vehicle brands including Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW being available to claimants.
A series of reforms to the scheme also came into force earlier this year in a bid to save £1bn by 2030, with Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden vowing to ensure “fairness for the taxpayer”.
The reforms included the introduction of 20 per cent VAT to advance payments on new orders.
Under the changes, new Motability leases will also include a 30,000-mile cap over three years, with steeper penalties for drivers who exceed the limit.
Jonathan Portes, professor of economics and public policy at King’s College London, cast doubt on the scale of fraud among people claiming PIP or using the Motability scheme.
“As has been repeatedly pointed out, we spend about the same [percentage] of GDP on working age benefits, including incapacity and disability, as we did 15 years ago,” he told The i Paper.
Portes said that “any large government programme has some fraud”, highlighting that estimates of fraud rates for PIP and Motability are about 1 per cent.
“So while there is fraud, there is no evidence that is widespread,” he continued.
The remarks were echoed by Anna Stevenson, welfare benefits specialist at Turn2us, who warned that exaggerating fraud levels could increase stigma amongst claimants who face difficulty driving due to an underlying mental or physical condition.
“Exaggerating very low levels of fraud increases stigma, making it harder for people to receive the support they are entitled to,” Stevenson said. “We know that 1 in 5 people delay applying for benefits for over a year due to stigma.”
The DWP declined to comment on whether the Motability reformed at the Budget, saying such decisions are a “matter for the Chancellor to set out at fiscal events”.
“We are committed to ensuring the scheme continues to deliver for the people it was designed to support, and we’re reforming Motability to save the taxpayer £1bn over five years,” a spokesperson for the department said.