Mike lol. Of course every company should have a “stash” but it should be commensurate with the companies exposure to risk. Having £500,000,000 salted away, on top of what they still have in the bank seems a bit, how can I say this politely, cautious. It is in fact an absolute disgrace especially when we have people on the scheme really struggling to get a car that meets third needs.
In 2017, the net result of the cost of providing the scheme, after allowing for the income from PIP / DLA, Advanced Payments etc was a net profit, after tax, of £93.5m.
As with all such organisations, Motability Operations also build up ‘reserves’, which in layman’s terms, are accumulated and unspent profits to cover unforeseen eventualities – These total £2.3bn (yes, Brydo that’s billion, which seems excessive ), but , and this message needs to get ‘out there’, this has been built up over many years, since the last audit in 1996, some 22 years previous when the reserves were £61 m. So,most reasonable people will understand that the annual surplus is not excessive.
It has been accused of hoarding a fortune from Benefit cheques, but this is a blatant disregard of the truth, in that the Mobility benefits are granted to the disabled to assist them with their lack of mobility, which they receive WHETHER OR NOT THEY HAVE A MOTABILITY VEHICLE, in other words it is theirs and they can choose how to spend it how they please, including on a MOTABILITY VEHICLE!
Motability’s bulk buying power allows it to negotiate far better deals with car manufacturers than individuals can get , and the same applies to insurance , adaptions etc.
It is a fantastic scheme for the disabled, allowing them to contract hire a reliable vehicle ( or mobility scooter) very often at a low or even no advanced payment, in order for the ‘disabled person’ to become/ remain mobile.
We need people to ‘defend’ the Operations side of Motability, against scurrilous newspaper reporters and ‘opportunistic ‘ politicians and ensure the continued provision of decent transport for the disabled .
The National Audit Office report on Motability says-
“The Motability scheme delivers an excellent service to its customers, earning remarkable satisfaction levels. Motability Operations’ management deserves credit for having turned the business around and investing in features that have enhanced benefits for customers.
It’s good to have this sort of debate from time to time, just to remind people how good the Motability scheme is for the disabled!