I do not think it matters to Motability if customers leave the scheme. If I remember correctly, about 2 years ago, the motability numbers just passed 700K, and now its something like 900K. The more customers the more support staff they have to employ and the overheads grow. Now the company is not profitable, they will cut costs, less customers, less overheads, and a ton of cars being sold off that will generate income. Motability did send me a customer satisfaction survey, I told them the truth The car is outstanding, the scheme is brilliant, it’s so easy. Then I said I was looking to leave the scheme because of affordability and looking at alternative leasing options for my next vehicle I do not think they will care, the scheme has grown too big to be manageable. Hopefully it will improve over the next 6 months, and the AP,S become reasonable, I will not hold my breath..
Motability are still (and have always been) profitable. The ‘losses’ reported over the last 2 financial years weren’t losses as we’d understand them. They were primarily down to asset write downs as a result of the post Covid re-balancing of residual values (when they were era high due to problems with new vehicle supply) and their increased exposure to EV residual values, which remain severely depressed. On an operating level they were still profitable and continue to make a profit of many hundreds of pounds per lease, hence the bonuses that they still paid out.
I agree that Motability won’t bat an eyelid when individually we call them to say that we want to leave (I will find out for myself in a few months when we do the same), but they will probably be anxious about the Timms review next year. If (and it’s a big if), the review succumbs to the calls from Reform UK, the Conservatives and some within Labour (as well as most of the media and general public – if you believe the online commentary) and restricts access to the scheme to those with physical disabilities only, then the scheme will gradually revert to the size that it was a few years back before mental health conditions were reclassified as disabilities. However, the scheme was still very profitable then and will be again.
There are two areas where I don’t share your optimism. Firstly, I’m not convinced that Motability will trim the fat (if scheme members fall) for two reasons. They’ve never attempted to be more disciplined with things like pay and remuneration before and, for as long as they have been able to get away with charging the APs that they do, they have maintained their gold plated pay and benefits packages at all levels within the organisation (way above other call centre operations). Also, I’m pretty sure that they haven’t increased staff numbers in line with the growth in scheme members in recent years, so I don’t think that it necessarily follows that they will need to cut staff if customer numbers gradually fall over time. They may just do what many businesses do and just gradually reduce numbers through natural turnover.
Secondly, you most certainly don’t want to be holding your breath for APs to fall over the next 6 months, as you will definitely suffocate 😂 The simple reason is that the Labour government’s decision to charge Motability customers VAT on APs and Insurance Premium Tax on the whole lease comes into effect in July. Motability have already gone on the record to state that these changes will add around £300-400 per lease.
