TikTok ‘influencers’ are fuelling the Motability scandal by encouraging Brits to cash in on brand new cars for ‘free’ under the controversial taxpayer-funded scheme.
The disability scheme, which offers anyone in receipt of a ‘qualifying mobility allowance’ a free car, scooter or powered wheelchair in exchange for a portion of their benefits, has come under fire amid fears the system is being abused.
It comes amid Labour infighting over plans to cut the spiralling benefits bill as tensions continue to mount ahead of the proposals being unveiled on Tuesday.
The Mail revealed on Saturday how a record 815,000 claimants made use of the Motability scheme last year, which marks a staggering increase of more than 170,000 customers in just 12 months due to a surge in people claiming disability benefits.
The boom in claimants, who must be in receipt of benefits in the form of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or the Disability Living Allowance (DLA), has proved extremely lucrative for Motability, whose turnover soared to £7billion last year.
Meanwhile Motability Operations, the company behind the Motability charity, is sitting on a surplus of £4billion – all of which is stemming from taxpayers’ money.
After Sir Keir Starmer described Britain’s welfare crisis as ‘indefensible, economically and morally’, it has emerged how 51 per cent of PIP claimants were accepted for citing depression, 35 per cent for ‘bedwetting’ and 66 per cent for agoraphobia.
As the shocking surge in Motability claimants being accepted is laid bare, it can now be revealed how Brits are being encouraged to take advantage of the scheme by so-called influencers on TikTok.
One user, masking his full face with a red balaclava, handed out tips to claim a £31,000 car for ‘essentially free’.
One user, hiding his full face with a red balaclava, handed out tips to claim a £31,000 car for ‘essentially free’
In other videos, he advises his followers how to find out if they are eligible for the Motability scheme (left) and reveals how he acquired his Seat Arona ‘for free’ (right)
He tells his 25,000 followers the best way to obtain PIP and Motability, even advising people to take the Government to court if they are turned down.
In one video, he reveals the best way to cash in on an Abarth 695 Sport, worth around £31,000, saying: ‘To get this car, all you have to do is pay £599… but there’s a catch. You have to be in the Motability scheme, meaning you have to be getting PIP, more specifically the Motability aspect of it.
‘You need to get 12 points of that, however if you have a family member on PIP or if you are on PIP yourself you can exchange your allowance to get this car.’
In other videos, first reported by The Sun, he advises his followers how to find out if they are eligible for the Motability scheme and reveals how he acquired his Seat Arona, worth up to £29,850, ‘for free’.
Filming a video while driving around in the car, he says: ‘A question I get asked a lot is how did I get my car completely free? I’ve got this car completely free, so the way I got this car was through the Motability scheme.
‘The way I got this car was going into a dealership, giving them the letter, them confirming the benefit and just getting the car ordered… it came within four days.’
Motability claimants must prove they struggle to leave their home or cannot plan and follow a journey route without help to get the required 12 points.
In the last five years, the number of claimants has soared from 630,000 to 815,000 – an increase of nearly 30 per cent.
Another user has similarly shared a video, boasting how her four-year-old autistic daughter can be ‘driven around in style’ after the family replaced their Vauxhall Zafira with a flash new Skoda Kodiaq.
The vehicle is usually worth around £36,000 but can be acquired for £3,299 on the Motability scheme.
BEFORE AND AFTER: Another user has similarly shared a video, boasting how her four-year-old autistic daughter can be ‘driven around in style’ after swapping a Vauxhall Zafira with a flash new Skoda Kodiaq
It comes as the Department for Work and Pensions, who decide those eligible for disability benefit claims, faces a backlash over cutting controversial welfare budget cuts.
It was initially reported the Government would consider not increasing PIP payments in line with inflation for a year, but this was withdrawn after strong opposition.
The Sunday Times reported that Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, could back down on plans to freeze some disability benefits next year following the backlash from within the Labour party.
Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has warned the PM that reducing eligibility could leave people ‘trapped in poverty’.
Motability came into being in 1977 after Jim Callaghan’s Labour government introduced the Mobility Allowance to help disabled people choose and pay for their own transport.
The charity was founded as a car-leasing scheme that would not only advise disabled people on suitable cars and any necessary adaptations but offer the best value for money.
Before that, disabled people had to rely on a single-seat three-wheeler known as the ‘Invacar’ to get around.
In the almost 50 years since, Motability has undoubtedly provided a lifeline to millions who may have been otherwise unable to get around or contribute meaningfully to society.
The benefits bill has been rising and is forecast to continue going up
Bernard (left) and Ann McDonagh (right) used a vehicle provided by Motability to escape after committing ‘dine and dash’ offences
The pair used a brand new blue Ford Transit van given to them by Motability on a three-year lease (file photo)
But over the decades, it has also ballooned in size. Its customer base grew almost 15 per cent last year ‘thanks to a growth in the eligible base of recipients’ of the qualifying disability allowances.
Today, its £7 billion turnover – accrued from the state benefits it receives plus revenue from the sale of used cars on the second-hand market – dwarfs the income of household names such as ITV (£4.1 billion) or Burberry (£3 billion).
To qualify for a Motability vehicle, the prospective customer must be in receipt of benefits for a disability or illness in the form of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or the Disability Living Allowance (DLA).
Both forms of benefit have two components: assistance for those who need help looking after themselves – ‘daily living’ – and ‘mobility’.
Those who qualify for the ‘mobility’ aspect of these benefits must be receiving the ‘higher’ rate, meaning they require a greater level of assistance.
They can then choose to exchange this part of their benefit – currently £75.75 a week – for a brand-new Motability vehicle. The benefit then goes directly to Motability Operations, the private company which runs the charitable scheme.
Next month, PIP is expected to rise by 1.7 per cent, to £77.04 per week, potentially adding more than £1 million a week to Motability’s already swollen coffers.
To qualify for a Motability vehicle, the prospective customer must be in receipt of benefits for a disability or illness in the form of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or the Disability Living Allowance (DLA) (file photo)
The generous lease terms include insurance, road tax, servicing, breakdown cover and tyre and windscreen repair.
Three drivers can be named on the vehicle’s insurance – which has prompted concerns that friends and relatives of someone who is eligible may in fact be utilising the vehicle for the majority of the time.
Last year, Motability made £2.5 billion from ‘rental revenue’, the vast majority of which would have come, ultimately, from the taxpayer.
One of the most notorious incidents involving a Motability recipient hit the headlines in May last year when a couple called Bernard and Ann McDonagh were convicted of a string of ‘dine and dash’ offences.
When the McDonaghs and their children went to the Bella Ciao restaurant in Swansea one day last April, they were clearly in the mood to splash out.
Their main courses included the two most expensive items on the menu – T-bone and fillet steaks – and when it came to pudding they ordered ‘double desserts’.
‘They wanted two brownies on a plate,’ the owner of the restaurant said later. But when the time came to settle the £329 bill for her party of five, Mrs McDonagh tried to pay with a savings account card. After this had been declined twice, she told the proprietor: ‘I’m going to go to the car to get another card, I’ll leave my son here as proof that you can trust me.’
Unfortunately, for Bella Ciao’s bottom line, McDonagh Jr made a run for it shortly afterwards and the family made their escape in a blue Ford Transit van.
It later emerged that the McDonaghs had been given the brand-new vehicle by Motability on a three-year lease but, far from putting them on the road to productive employment, it became their getaway vehicle.
Their choice of a Ford Transit is illustrative of the range of models that are available to Motability’s clients, who are presented with an eye-catching catalogue of gleaming new vehicles.
In another case, 31-year-old Aaron Hooper claimed he was so disabled he didn’t have the strength to grip a knife and fork or move more than a few metres without a wheelchair.
It was only when his mother came under investigation for suspected benefit fraud that a different picture of his physical abilities emerged.
DWP staff not only observed him walking a mile unaided through the Devon town of Axminster with a guitar slung across his back but also lifting heavy weights at a local gym.
It was his exploits in the fitness centre’s car park that were most telling, however. In a video the gym uploaded to Instagram, Hooper can be seen demonstrating his strength by pulling his car several metres across the tarmac using a rope attached to the tow hitch of the vehicle.
A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson told The Sun: ‘The scheme comes at no additional cost to the taxpayer.
‘People claiming benefits must sacrifice some of their existing payments to lease a car.’
MailOnline has contacted the DWP for comment.
The Motability Foundation – the trading name of the Motability charity – is sitting on a cash stockpile of £1.7billion due to a combination of it being hopelessly overfunded given the limited range of disability causes it is entitled to support and a conservative approach to money management in order to ensure its ‘future financial stability’.
Motability claims its cash reserve is needed to protect it from tumultuous market conditions, such as changes in car prices and inflation. Indeed, last year it recorded a loss of £565 million.
As a result, the company’s new customers – who are given their cars in return for signing over a portion of their benefits and a down payment – will be saddled with higher advance payments.
A spokesman for Motability Operations said that its reserves ‘form £4 billion of our £14 billion vehicle fleet and are required to support the long-term sustainability of the scheme’.
He added that the company operated a ‘globally respected, UK-unique business… delivering significant social benefits to disabled individuals’.