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The Motability Car Guide

Access to a vehicle is so important – keeping your life open and full of possibilities. But when you struggle with mobility, it can be hard to maintain an active lifestyle outside the home.

The Motability Scheme, a registered disability charity, enables you to exchange your qualifying mobility allowance for a brand-new car so you can enjoy more freedom and independence. 

Read our Motability car guide to find out more about the scheme, understand if you’re eligible, choose adaptations and how to order your new car. 

The Benefits of Motability

The Motability Scheme provides access to affordable and worry-free motoring for people with disabilities.  

  • You’ll get to choose a new vehicle every three years
  • Choice of hundreds of different cars 
  • Annual road tax included 
  • Insurance cover for up to three named drivers on the car
  • Full breakdown assistance included for peace of mind
  • Motability will cover your regular servicing and MOT 
  • Support with your electric car by covering the cost of a home chargepoint 
  • Funding for a wide range of car adaptations

Motability Eligibility 

You can apply to join the scheme if you receive a qualifying mobility allowance with a minimum of 12 months remaining on your award length.  The following allowances are accepted: 

  • Armed Forces Independence Payment (AFIP)
  • War Pensioners’ Mobility Supplement (WPMS)
  • Higher Rate Mobility Component of Disability Living Allowance (HRMC DLA)
  • Enhanced Rate Mobility Component of Personal Independence Payment (ERMC PIP)

If you’re unsure, you can use the Motability website to check your eligibility. 

Choosing a Motability Car

After establishing that you’re eligible to join the scheme, it’s time to start searching for your new car! 

Firstly in our motability car guide, we would recommend that you define your budget and decide how much of your mobility allowance you’d like to or can afford to spend. This will impact the range of cars you can lease, but it’s important that your new car works within your lifestyle and doesn’t become a financial burden.

Speaking of lifestyle, you should also consider what type of journeys you’ll be making in the car and how often, as well as, who will be travelling with you on a regular basis, whether you may require additional adaptations or what space you require to fit your mobility device into it. 

Then you can browse Motability’s car search to view what cars are currently available under the scheme and filter as per your budget and requirements. 

Speaking To a Motability Specialist 

Once you have highlighted a number of potential suitable cars, the next step in our Motability Scheme guide is to visit your local dealership and speak with their Motability Specialist. 

They will be able to book you in for test drives, showcase the different cars you’re interested in and provide helpful advice. This enables you to get a real feel for what cars are suitable for your needs and wants.

Selecting Motability Car Adaptations

With a final shortlist of the top contenders, you can then speak with a vehicle adaptation specialist to determine what driving aids or adaptations you may require in order to make the car fully accessible for your needs.

There are a wide range of products available to help with transferring in and out of the vehicle, make the driving experience safer, and loading and stowing a mobility device. 

It’s extremely important that you do this before taking the order of your new Motability car so that you receive the funding towards the adaptations, and also ensure that the products you need are compatible with the car you want. 

Ordering a Motability Car

The final step after test driving and confirming the adaptations you require, is to put in an order. You’ll need to book an appointment with a Motability specialist at your local dealership and bring with you:

  • Your driving licence
  • A proof of address (e.g. a utility bill)
  • Certificate of entitlement for your award from either DWP or Veterans UK
  • List of vehicle adaptations

Your application will then need to be checked, which will take a few days. Once you’ve passed the checks, the dealership will arrange the delivery of your new car and liaise with the vehicle adaptation installer.

By following our Motability car guide, getting your new Motability is an exciting and straight forward process. Here at Mobility In Motion, we can help you select the right adaptations for your needs and advise on obtaining them on your Motability car. Get in touch with our friendly team of mobility experts.

If you are looking to get back into driving again our blog on driving with a disability has some great recommendations to help you get back on the road.

For those with vehicles already we provide an extensive range of disability driving aids to enhance your driving experience.