I don’t claim to understand the grants process as we’ve never applied for one, but I think the issue that those of us who pay our APs in full sometimes struggle to understand is when grant applicants say that they need financial support from the scheme (that ultimately the rest of us subsidise) but then say that they want a car that requires them to pay several thousand pounds more. I guess there’s an obvious argument that if people can afford to do that, they shouldn’t need assistance and they should use the money that they have to get a more modest car than they might otherwise like, addressing needs not wants.
I know that Motability are really pushing EVs (presumably due to the massive deals that they are probably getting from manufacturers, given that private buyers aren’t embracing them in anywhere near the numbers required to achieve the ludicrous targets), but the APs of many EVs are still quite high and, as previously mentioned, aren’t practical for everyone, so I’m at a loss as to why the grants team are pushing these when there may be more suitable (and potentially cheaper) ICE cars. I’d be asking them that if I was in this situation.
Some of what you are being asked to do does sound ludicrous and there is no excuse for rudeness. Whilst I don’t agree with a number of things that Motability do (or don’t do), I have to say that I have never encountered anything other than polite and helpful staff. I wonder if it’s worth calling the general helpline (rather than the grants team) and ask how you might go about complaining about how you are being treated? They are a very KPI driven call centre and are assessed on how they deal with customers, so I’m sure if you can get hold of the right person you might get allocated a different case worker who will be more helpful and less confrontational.