The UK’s largest car leasing company for disabled drivers has come under fire after research found an increasing amount of fraudulent activity being used to purchase vehicles at the taxpayers' expense.
Motability Operations, which helps disabled drivers access new vehicles through the Government-funded disability allowances, recorded thousands of fraud cases last year.
Reports suggest more drivers have been abusing the system by allowing multiple people to use the vehicles, reaping the benefits of driving at a lower cost and discounted rate through the benefits scheme.
According to The Financial Times, the company dealt with a total of 35,899 fraud cases last year and removed 5,300 customers from the service.
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More than 2.4 million drivers benefit from mobility allowances in the UK
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The company's CEO Andrew Miller has decided to take action against the misuse of the service, saying: "We have to start looking at tracking more to try and counter some of the very valid challenges we’re getting on people using the scheme in not the way it’s intended.
"Are we perhaps being too generous on the insurance criteria? We’re having to look at that quite heavily at the moment.
"I can understand why the Motability Scheme, which I run, has become a proxy for a welfare state that has surged in recent years. But I am proud of what we do to support more than 800,000 disabled people to stay connected to work, education, healthcare and wider society."
Last week, Liz Kendall, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, announced a range of overhauls to the benefit systems to ensure they remain fit for purpose.
Addressing the House of Commons, Kendall said the social security system inherited from the Conservatives "is failing the very people that it is supposed to help and is holding our country back".
She shared: "The facts speak for themselves. One in 10 people of working age are now claiming a sickness or disability benefit. We know from nearly 50 years of working with some of society’s most in need that a lack of transport can be a barrier to work."
Across the UK, roughly 2.4 million people receive mobility allowances, which can be used to help purchase a vehicle at a cheaper rate.
In response to Kendall’s comments, Miller said that it was "an unfair criticism" because the bulk of customers are mainstream UK customers who happen to be disabled.
Miller also warned that external factors like inflation contributed to increased vehicle and insurance costs since more people are applying for the mobility scheme. In addition to providing cars for drivers with disabilities, the group also offers insurance, tax, servicing and breakdown cover.
He added: "Like everyone, I am concerned by online ‘sickfluencers’ exploiting a scheme designed to support the disabled. We encourage the reporting of misuse and we have an agreement with the national policing body to investigate any alleged malpractice. We remove thousands of people from the scheme every year thanks to this vital work."
However, Chris Curtis MP, co-chair of the Labour Growth Group, explained that the scheme was originally designed to deliver targeted support to the most vulnerable but now needs "serious reform of both the welfare system and the state more widely".
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Drivers can use their disability allowances to help purchase vehicles at a cheaper rate
PAMeanwhile, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Helen Whately said the scheme was a "textbook example of a well-intentioned idea that has got way out of hand".
