Drivers are talking their way out of bans by telling the courts their cars are provided through the controversial Motability scheme, according to reports.
The programme allows disability benefit claimants to swap their mobility allowance for a lease on a new car, which are also exempt from VAT and insurance premium tax.
The Government recently announced a crackdown on the scheme amid criticism that claimants with minor conditions were driving luxury cars like BMWs and Mercedes at taxpayers’ expense.
Now it has emerged that a string of drivers hauled before the courts for motoring offences have escaped disqualification by arguing they needed their Motability car to travel.
More than a dozen drivers avoided bans in the past six months by bringing up their involvement in the scheme, an analysis of court cases by The Sun revealed.
Among them was reported to be the case of Thomas Alcock, 18, who was caught doing 107mph in a 70mph zone – but escaped with a fine and five penalty points.
He was said to have told Lincoln Magistrates Court that his Seat Ibiza was a Motability car.
Court records seen by the newspaper said: ‘Imposed less penalty points as exceptional circumstances as clean driving record and disability. Magistrates took into account the Motability vehicle.’
The Government recently announced a crackdown on Motability amid that claimants with minor conditions were driving luxury cars like BMWs and Mercedes at taxpayers’ expense.
In another case, defendant Billie-Jo Morris, 28, faced court action after being caught speeding in a £50,000 Mercedes on the M6 toll road in Staffordshire.
But after telling magistrates she was the main driver of her uncle’s Motability car, the court reportedly accepted she faced ‘exceptional hardship’ and imposed a mere £40 fine and three points.
Court records also showed driver Eshrat Katiraie, 56, escaped a six-month ban despite already having 12 points on her licence after she was caught using her mobile phone at the wheel.
She told magistrates she was required to use her taxpayer-funded Toyota to regularly attend medical appointments in Nottingham, The Sun reported.
Lord Man criticised the findings, telling the newspaper: ‘There should be no preferential treatment to any driver, and that includes Motability. Any abuses undermine it.’
Currently, 85 per cent of Motability claimants make additional payments to get better models.
But out of the 300,000 vehicles currently leased through the scheme each year, only 10 per cent are wheelchair adapted – raising concern the scheme has become easily exploitable.
In November, luxury brands such as BMW, Mercedes and Audi were removed from the scheme after Rachel Reeves said it was ‘unfair’ for benefits claimants to receive such flash cars.
The Chancellor said Motability was offering ‘a premium motoring experience subsidised by the taxpayer’ that was out of reach to many working families.
Figures show nearly ten per cent of people in parts of the UK are entitled to lease a vehicle through the initiative.
Among those eligible for the initiative are people receiving an enhanced rate of the mobility component of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which is intended to help with the extra costs of living with a disability or health condition.
There are growing concerns that the scheme is also propping up Britain’s car market, with Motability vehicles more than one in five new cars sold last year.
Last year, the cost of the scheme to the taxpayer increased by almost 10 percent to a staggering £3 billion.
Motability Operations said in a statement: ‘We have no involvement in legal proceedings. We expect all users to drive in accordance with the law.’
