Some very interesting views here and I’m all for as much choice as possible. The underlying principle of DLA, and it still exists in PIP, is that it should be a payment which those entitled to it get as cash and they can decide how it is spent. For me, the ‘clincher’ for using Motability is that, unlike any other lease/credit plan, if my PIP payment is stopped or reduced then I can (in fact must) return the vehicle and the contract is finished. There is no challenge of meeting payments on a lease/credit agreement with a very reduced income. I do realise that this a very risk averse strategy but, especially with the introduction of PIP, I’m very conscious that this payment is in no way guaranteed into the future.
That is it in a nutshell @bfoandc, allied with the fact that a change of car mid-term can be arranged under certain circumstances with little financial penalty. Not sure how that would work with a private lease.