- This topic has 19 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 4 years, 5 months ago by
.
- Topic
Motability are sat on a cash reserve of 2 billion pounds. Car’s, especially EV’s are becoming more expensive. Those who need large automatics end up paying very high advance payments. I recently saw a job advert for Motability call centre staff starting at £26,580 + bonus with 27 days holiday plus bank holidays, 15% (none contributory) pension, free private health care, free gym membership and free life insurance.
My partner works in a call centre for a very very large Blue Chip company, after 20 years she earns nothing like that. Her miserable pension costs her £160 a month, no healthcare, no Gym membership, no life insurance, only 22 days holiday and mediocre bonus. This is pretty much the norm in call centre work.
Whilst I by no means object to someone earning a decent wage with decent benefits, these are not in line with what people earn in the real world for call centre work. It goes right to the top with inflated salaries and bonuses.
Who’s paying for this, you are, we are. The fact they have amassed a £2 billion reserve says they are overcharging.
Surely there’s a better way.
What about the PIP money going direct to the dealership or manufacturer, all manufacturers could have their own scheme, but all covered under the same insurance policy. This would surely bring down prices.
Just throwing this out there. Got my tin hat on ready for the responses.
- Replies
I totally agree, plus their offices are in the most expensive locations with millions of our money being spent on them. They are having a life of luxury paid for by our benefits. The least they could do is bring down the AP’s on the cars that suit the disabled the most. There should not be for instance a premium for having an automatic over a manual gearbox.
I’m glad someone else is going to take some flak for a post! In a previous post I did I mentioned that ethics (and morals, as they are inseperable from ethics) are behind charities – at least when they are first set up. Charities are set up to “help” people. The very word, “charity”, denotes giving to others to help them – morals and ethics underpin charities and give them their focus and drive. Very often, some charities become very big and they can lose touch with their initial ethics and morals that underpin them, they can become very business oriented because of the large sums of money involved and the wage bill becomes astronimical and they start to lose touch with the “grass roots” – and very often you will see other smaller charities grow as people turn to the more localised, personal, smaller charities. It’s difficult when you become a succesful charity and somehow you need to keep in touch with the people that you help and stay humble.
Having said all that, having one large organisation should have more clout, power and persuasion and so I would be concerned with Motability being broken up and of having more smaller “motabilities”. I am more for Motability being more representative. If you have a car on Motability then you are a member and as a member of a charity you should have some voting rights. I do not know the structure of Motability but they should have members participation in decisions and the direction and some form of annual voting for those members on key issues – maybe issues raised by members. So I would look for encouraging more member participation.
As a charity, Motability should always be looking at its spending and of justifying what it spends and why and this is why their should be some member input as its difficult to critique yourself.
Very interesting views and opinions..
I would like to see a tender process every five years where the other top, three or four, fleet companies are allowed to compete against motability operations for the right to run the business
Alternatively an independent outside body should be brought in to compare Motability’s spend on wages, conditions and bonuses to that of the top three or four fleet companies. Then guidelines should be imposed on the company to ensure best value for the motability customers.
JoJoe – you are spot on. I have been saying this for years. People used to get fixated on Mike Betts (the former CEO) remuneration package but that was just one person. The far bigger issue is exactly as you say – that they pay way over the odds for ALL staff. The total pay and benefits package for all levels of staff at Motability Operations are from a bygone era and completely out of kilter with the market these days. As you rightly say, what makes this morally reprehensible is that this is all paid for by the benefits sacrificed by disabled people, the vast majority of whom could only ever dream of a remuneration package like that.
Even if Motability Operations paid their staff say 10% ahead of other call centre organisations, they would save a fortune from where they are now, all of which could be used to reduce AP’s. So, to answer your question, yes I would like to see competition for the Motability business. You can be damned sure that no other entrant into the market would set up a new call centre with an entire workforce on the gilt edged remuneration package that Motability Operations staff all enjoy. Also, Motability are rubbish negotiators when it comes to vehicle manufacturers but they have no incentive to be anything else as they have a monopoly. Open this up to market forces and the scheme would improve massively IMHO.
I’m surprised some manufacturers haven’t got together to compete with motability with a scheme of their own.
<p style=”text-align: left;”>There a very good salary sacrifice scheme running in the NHS, one manager I know has a Tesla.</p>
I’m surprised some manufacturers haven’t got together to compete with motability with a scheme of their own.
I don’t think they could at the moment, as HMRC (presumably at the instruction of whichever government was in power when Motability was set up) have granted Motability Operations a block exemption on VAT, which any new entrant into the market would also need to have in order to be competitive. Also, Motability Operations (through Motability) have de facto been granted an official Monopoly, so a ‘hostile’ attempt to break it could be quite damaging to any challenger organisations reputations.
That being said, the government sponsored review into the Motability scheme a few years ago identified numerous ways in which the scheme could offer better choice and value to customers and more competition was an option that they said should be considered. Sadly, as far as I can recall, not a single one of the recommendations has been implemented, which is shameful.
The alternative is to use your allowance and try and lease a vehicle plus insurance, servicing, etc.
Over the years I have tried the alternatives, I am far better off with Motobility.
Many of our friends lease vehicles, they may have more choice but they are paying through their teeth, plus the insurance, servicing, etc.
I am happy with the scheme, personally I don’t care how much reserves they hold or how good their offices or staff are paid for me it’s is the bottom line, a new reliable trouble free vehicle all every 3 years
The VAT issue is an easy fix. Any disabled person buying a disability aid can currently get the item VAT free. This system could very easily be offered to the car dealers.
The VAT issue is an easy fix. Any disabled person buying a disability aid can currently get the item VAT free.
Not quite.
HM Revenue and Customs requirements which must be certificated by the applicant state:
Relief from VAT is only available if all four following
conditions are met:
• the individual purchasing the vehicle (or for whom the
vehicle is being purchased) is normally a wheelchair user
• the adapted motor vehicle is being purchased for the
wheelchair user’s personal and domestic use
• the vehicle has been permanently and substantially adapted
to meet the wheelchair user’s individual requirements
• the individual purchasing the vehicle (or for whom the
vehicle is being purchased) hasn’t (since 1 April 2017)
obtained a VAT free vehicle under this relief in the past 3
years (unless exceptions to the three year rule apply)Full Gov.uk Guidance here:
So basically, the vehicle has to be for a wheelchair user and also permanently and substantially adapted
to meet the wheelchair user’s individual requirements.An ambulant disabled person, requiring only minor adaptions, such as a steering wheel ball would not meet the requirements.
One huge thing that still frustrates is the price of auto cars I think I’m right in saying that automatics are the default choice these days.
I’ve never been one to celebrate the fact I have to pay a premium for an auto box, and yes I know auto’s cost more, but being an actual disabled driver with a non driving caring wife I feel were at a disadvantage with only myself on the insurance.
The future silver lining is all EV’s are by nature automatic so one day this won’t be a problem.
If paying a premium for auto’s was not enough Motability increased the cost of wheelchair / scooter hoist by over 100% plus more in Q4. That linked to the fact on Q2 they took away the option of transferring your current hoist to your next car although technically you can still do that if you don’t mind being ripped off by the hoist installers as they can charge whatever price comes off the top of their heads.
As for grants, when I asked Motability to justify the increases in hoist cost they passed the buck to the hoist manufactures, fair enough but when I put it to them they also took away the option of a transfer so what about a grant for the hoist they said and I quote “they will not give you a grant for a new hoist because the hoist you have is serviceable and working”.
Can you believe they no longer let you transfer your hoist but the hoist I’ve got is OK so have Hobson’s choice of buying another hoist or not.
While I think Motability overall is a good thing it just seems the past few years there starting to go in another direction as if them themselves think “why should the disabled have FREE cars”.
The VAT issue is an easy fix. Any disabled person buying a disability aid can currently get the item VAT free. This system could very easily be offered to the car dealers.
As BigDave says it’s far from an easy fix. In addition, a block exemption means no admin, no self declarations, no form filling etc etc. There are 600,000 Motability customers. Without a block exemption there would need to be an admin process and form filling for every customer, including self declarations that many customers would struggle with. The vast admin cost of that would make it unviable for a new competitor.
For any other organisation to be able to compete with Motability Operations they would have to be on a level playing field in all respects, including the block VAT exemption. As that would require changes to both legislation and taxation laws I don’t think we can expect anything to happen any time soon – if ever. And so the monopoly continues.
motability told me i would have to select another hoist but would get a grant. so maybe person i talked to was mistaken. anyway i decided not to. they also said if i take hoist out of old car, the car has to be returned to a condition where its never had one fitted at my expense(plus removal and reinstallation would be at my cost); ie, they dont want you to do it.
Current Car: Hyundai Kona Premium EV...2 way 40kg hoist
Last Car: Toyota C-HR Excel Hybrid...4 way 80kg hoistThe cost of those TV ads must be astronomic, paid for by us of course. It’s very easy to spend other peoples money, you only have to look at our current Government to see that. I wonder how many new people it encouraged on to the scheme and what that cost per new customer was.
motability told me i would have to select another hoist but would get a grant. so maybe person i talked to was mistaken. anyway i decided not to. they also said if i take hoist out of old car, the car has to be returned to a condition where its never had one fitted at my expense(plus removal and reinstallation would be at my cost); ie, they dont want you to do it.
Hi struth
Removing the hoist is something I’d thought about when my current car goes back but like you said, there could be implications doing so however there is nothing to stop us from taking out the parts of the hoist that are meant to be removable like the main lifting boon and the two motors by simply lifting them of the two pivots and just leaving the part that is bolted to the car.
You could say were just being funny as these part are next to useless without the other parts but I’m not leaving the complete hoist in the car for some installer to take the hoist out and sell it for a few hundred quid to a private buyer while we pay their vastly inflated prices for new ones.
Its something I’ve done a few time with the remote control adaptions I have in the car that I sometime remove the controller and steering ball but don’t touch the part that’s under the dash.
If the installer want to make me an offer for the equipment I’ve bought all very well but otherwise I make sure none of us benefit, a bit harsh but when I pay £1,600 every 3 years for adaptions I feel I’m being taken for a ride.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.