Maybe the price cap should track / rise in line with some of the most popular makes / models sold in the open market, in other words if a mid spec Ford Focus, Vauxhall Astra, Nissan Qashqai, Mercedes A-Class rise by 5% from one year to the next then up the cap by the same amount.
The problem with increasing the price cap by say, the 5% year on year is that the allowances used to fund the scheme (WPMS/AFIP/DLA/PIP) all only rise with CPI inflation annually – 1.7% last year and presently forecast to be even lower next month (September) which is the median for next April’s increase. They will always tail behind the real cost of inflation and the margin will always widen.
The 5% is on an expensive product, so a greater increase in cash terms than the somewhat lowly amounts the allowances increase by.
The only metric that can be increased to cover the gap is the advance payment. There is an ongoing debate on the forum that the advance payments are already too high, particularly where one needs an automatic vehicle and thus such a rise would be unpalatable and unpopular to say the least.
To get around this, the government could increase the allowances used on the scheme, but in reality, there is as much chance of that as there is Donald Trump voting for the Democrats!
Or, Motability (the charity) could change the ‘means test’ level to permit grants towards the increased advance payments to more ‘low to mid-income’ customers. However, this could, in the medium to longer term drain the charity of funds used to subside the poorest customers or those requiring the most complex (thus expensive) adaptions.
So, to link the cap with the rise in vehicle prices, could end up pricing people off the scheme and losing the mobility solution the scheme currently offers. The tail of the prices list (the cheaper vehicles) could well end up rising by a larger amount to keep it in proportion to the head (most expensive vehicles).
By having the cap in place and not increasing it obviously limits the number and choice of vehicles available at the head but keeps both the head and thus the tail in check within the overall economics of the scheme to ensure there are at least some ‘nil Ap’ vehicles available.
Overall Motability are between a rock and a hard place on the subject of the cap.